The U.S. aircraft register, updated daily
Plan a flight · Mon 11:03 am EDT (15:03 UTC)

Columbia Metro Airport to Wichita Dwight D Eisenhower Ntl Airport CAE → ICT

824 nautical miles (948 statute miles) west on a straight line, true course 290°, about 297° magnetic at the departure end (variation 7W). At 120 knots that is 7 h 42 min at the quickest height in today's winds (4,500 ft, a 13-knot headwind), arriving about 5:45 pm CDT (22:45 UTC). For planning, not a briefing: the legal preflight briefing comes from Flight Service (1-800-WX-BRIEF) or the FAA's own tools. Airlines fly this pair: 2 flights in the DOT's last twelve reported months, the route's page.

The return flight

The route the straight line, the warnings crossed, restrictions, pilot reports and the airports along the way · click a mark for its words

Green, blue, red and purple airport dots are the flying conditions reported there now (VFR, marginal VFR, IFR, low IFR); grey means no report. Red areas are SIGMETs, orange areas AIRMETs, hatched red areas temporary flight restrictions. Map tiles: OpenFreeMap, data © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Warnings the route crosses SIGMETs and AIRMETs whose area the line passes through or comes within 25 nm of

  • AIRMET TANGO 3W: moderate turbulence below 18,000 ft (due to mountain wave) up to 6,000 ft. Over the route from 109 to 169 nm out.
  • AIRMET TANGO 2W: low-level wind shear (due to air speed loss or gain of 20 knots or more below 2,000 ft above the ground). Over the last 169 nm of the route.

A SIGMET warns of weather hazardous to all aircraft; an AIRMET of weather that matters to small aircraft and to flying without instruments. "From 60 to 180 nm out" is measured along the route from CAE.

Pilot reports along the route within 50 nm of the line, last three hours, the serious ones first

Not fetched just now.

Winds aloft along the route, and the time en route the forecast for use 14:00–21:00 UTC · at 120 knots true airspeed

The westbound cruising heights for this course (VFR: even thousands plus 500 ft; above 18,000 ft the forecast levels), with the wind averaged along the line from the 9 forecast points nearest it (CAE, GSP, TYS, HSV, BNA, CGI, SGF, TUL, ICT). A plus sign is a headwind, a minus sign a tailwind.

HeightAverage windHead- or tailwindTemperatureGround speedTime en routeArrival
4,500 ft260° at 14 kt+13 kt107 kt7 h 42 min5:45 pm CDT (22:45 UTC)
6,500 ft270° at 15 kt+14 kt15 °C106 kt7 h 46 min5:49 pm CDT (22:49 UTC)
8,500 ft270° at 16 kt+16 kt13 °C104 kt7 h 55 min5:58 pm CDT (22:58 UTC)
10,500 ft270° at 17 kt+18 kt9 °C102 kt8 h 05 min6:08 pm CDT (23:08 UTC)
12,500 ft280° at 20 kt+20 kt6 °C100 kt8 h 14 min6:17 pm CDT (23:17 UTC)
14,500 ft280° at 22 kt+22 kt1 °C98 kt8 h 24 min6:27 pm CDT (23:27 UTC)
16,500 ft280° at 25 kt+25 kt-3 °C95 kt8 h 40 min6:43 pm CDT (23:43 UTC)
18,000 ft FL180280° at 27 kt+27 kt-6 °C93 kt8 h 52 min6:55 pm CDT (23:55 UTC)
24,000 ft FL240280° at 30 kt+30 kt-18 °C90 kt9 h 09 min7:12 pm CDT (00:12 UTC)
30,000 ft FL300290° at 49 kt+50 kt-31 °C70 kt11 h 46 min9:49 pm CDT (02:49 UTC)
34,000 ft FL340300° at 51 kt+51 kt-39 °C69 kt11 h 57 min10:00 pm CDT (03:00 UTC)
39,000 ft FL390300° at 46 kt+44 kt-49 °C76 kt10 h 51 min8:54 pm CDT (01:54 UTC)

Based on data from the 12th at 12:00 UTC; valid on the 12th at 18:00 UTC for use 14:00 to 21:00 UTC; temperatures above 24,000 ft are below zero. Heights are above sea level; a height is left out when the forecast has no wind for it over most of the line (the ground is higher). Ground speed is the airspeed less the headwind; the time en route is for the straight line and ignores climb, descent and routing around weather.

The forecast points as issued
PointFrom3,0006,0009,00012,00018,00024,00030,00034,00039,000
CAEused from 0 nm out; 25 nm from the line340/11330/13 14°350/24 11°350/26 8°340/26 -5°350/33 -18°340/31 -32°340/30 -41°330/32 -52°
GSPused from 50 nm out; 36 nm from the line330/14360/26 17°360/22 11°330/20 6°310/27 -5°320/24 -18°310/28 -33°320/38 -40°330/30 -51°
TYSused from 149 nm out; 59 nm from the line320/8330/17 16°320/17 9°310/24 6°290/23 -6°290/28 -19°300/36 -33°310/48 -40°320/46 -50°
HSVused from 199 nm out; 75 nm from the line290/11300/10 15°300/17 12°290/20 6°290/18 -5°290/25 -17°310/38 -31°320/47 -40°330/43 -50°
BNAused from 248 nm out; 46 nm from the line270/14270/10 14°280/19 11°280/26 6°280/25 -6°280/31 -18°300/44 -32°300/53 -40°310/51 -49°
CGIused from 397 nm out; 68 nm from the line250/22250/17 15°250/25 11°260/27 7°270/35 -7°280/38 -17°300/63 -31°300/62 -38°300/55 -49°
SGFused from 546 nm out; 62 nm from the line220/23240/29 16°240/21 13°240/15 7°270/28 -7°260/34 -18°280/67 -29°290/59 -37°290/51 -49°
TULused from 695 nm out; 72 nm from the line210/24220/29 18°240/17 14°250/16 8°260/28 -6°260/36 -18°270/63 -28°280/54 -37°290/46 -49°
ICTused from 744 nm out; 55 nm from the line200/26240/31 21°230/30 14°240/30 7°250/38 -8°240/49 -19°260/73 -27°270/69 -37°270/63 -48°

The weather now: both ends and the airports along the way public airports with a weather report within 25 nm of the line, one for each stretch

AirportWhereConditionsWindVisibilityCeilingElevationReported
CAE Columbia, SC departure no report just now 235 ft
GRD Greenwood, SC 60 nm out, 5 nm east of the line no report just now 631 ft
TOC Toccoa, GA 119 nm out, 4 nm east of the line no report just now 996 ft
CHA Chattanooga, TN 208 nm out, 6 nm southwest of the line, tower no report just now 682 ft
THA Tullahoma, TN 268 nm out, 1 nm southeast of the line no report just now 1,084 ft
MKL Jackson, TN 397 nm out, 25 nm south of the line, tower no report just now 434 ft
TKX Kennett, MO 457 nm out, 4 nm southwest of the line no report just now 261 ft
UNO West Plains, MO 556 nm out, 12 nm north of the line no report just now 1,228 ft
SGF Springfield, MO 625 nm out, 17 nm north of the line, tower no report just now 1,268 ft
JLN Joplin, MO 685 nm out, 4 nm southeast of the line, tower no report just now 977 ft
EQA El Dorado, KS 794 nm out, 13 nm north of the line no report just now 1,379 ft
ICT Wichita, KS destination no report just now 1,332 ft

The highest airport on this list sits at 1,379 ft; the ground between airports is higher still. Check the sectional chart for the terrain and the minimum safe heights along the line.

At ICT when you get there the forecast at the estimated arrival, 5:45 pm CDT (22:45 UTC)

ICT has no terminal forecast; use the nearest airport that does.

Temporary flight restrictions on the line or within 25 nm of it

No temporary flight restriction on or near this route right now.

Daylight

Sunset at CAE 6:54 pm EDT (22:54 UTC), at ICT 6:56 pm CDT (23:56 UTC) (civil twilight ends 7:23 pm CDT (00:23 UTC)).

Each restriction opens the FAA's own page with the exact area, heights and times. Ordinary notices to air missions (closed runways, lights out) are not shown: the FAA's notice search is not open to sites like this one at this time.

Radar and forecast charts for the regions crossed government pictures, the latest each time the page loads

Radar now, the Southeast
Radar now, the Southeast · loop National Weather Service
Radar now, the lower Mississippi valley
Radar now, the lower Mississippi valley · loop National Weather Service
Radar now, the upper Mississippi valley
Radar now, the upper Mississippi valley · loop National Weather Service
Radar, the whole country
Radar, the whole country · loop National Weather Service
Surface analysis now
Surface analysis now Weather Prediction Center
Forecast chart, 12 hours ahead
Forecast chart, 12 hours ahead Weather Prediction Center
Forecast chart, 24 hours ahead
Forecast chart, 24 hours ahead Weather Prediction Center

Sources: the Aviation Weather Center's data service (SIGMETs, AIRMETs, graphical AIRMETs, pilot reports, winds and temperatures aloft, observations and terminal forecasts), the National Weather Service radar, the Weather Prediction Center's charts, the FAA's temporary flight restriction list and shapes, and the FAA's airport file for the positions, elevations and magnetic variation. Fetched when the page is viewed and kept a few minutes. Each leg is the straight line between its two airports; airways, terrain and airspace are not considered. The airports in detail: Columbia Metro Airport, Wichita Dwight D Eisenhower Ntl Airport.