The U.S. aircraft register, updated daily
Plan a flight · Mon 1:33 am CDT (06:33 UTC)

Des Moines International to Manchester Boston Regional DSM → MHT

989 nautical miles (1,138 statute miles) east on a straight line, true course 078°, about 077° magnetic at the departure end (variation 1E). At 120 knots that is 5 h 55 min at the quickest height in today's winds (39,000 ft, a 47-knot tailwind), arriving about 8:28 am EDT (12:28 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: 1 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: 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 first 150 nm of the route.
  • AIRMET SIERRA 3E: low cloud or poor visibility (IFR conditions) (due to ceilings below 1,000 ft, visibility below 3 miles, precipitation, mist). Over the last 669 nm of the route.
  • AIRMET TANGO 3W: moderate turbulence above 18,000 ft from 21,000 ft to 33,000 ft. Over the last 260 nm of the route.
  • AIRMET SIERRA 4E: mountains obscured by cloud (due to mountains obscured by clouds, precipitation, mist). Over the route from 759 to 959 nm out.
  • AIRMET ZULU 1C: moderate icing up to 22,000 ft. Over the last 160 nm of the route.
  • AIRMET TANGO 2W: moderate turbulence below 18,000 ft up to 10,000 ft. Over the last 60 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 DSM.

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 02:00–09:00 UTC · at 120 knots true airspeed

The eastbound cruising heights for this course (VFR: odd 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 (DSM, DBQ, JOT, MKG, CLE, BUF, SYR, ALB, BOS). A plus sign is a headwind, a minus sign a tailwind.

HeightAverage windHead- or tailwindTemperatureGround speedTime en routeArrival
3,500 ft260° at 12 kt−13 kt133 kt7 h 26 min9:59 am EDT (13:59 UTC)
5,500 ft280° at 12 kt−11 kt131 kt7 h 33 min10:06 am EDT (14:06 UTC)
7,500 ft300° at 10 kt−9 kt10 °C129 kt7 h 40 min10:13 am EDT (14:13 UTC)
9,500 ft300° at 9 kt−8 kt7 °C128 kt7 h 44 min10:17 am EDT (14:17 UTC)
11,500 ft290° at 10 kt−9 kt4 °C129 kt7 h 40 min10:13 am EDT (14:13 UTC)
13,500 ft290° at 13 kt−12 kt0 °C132 kt7 h 30 min10:03 am EDT (14:03 UTC)
15,500 ft290° at 17 kt−15 kt-4 °C135 kt7 h 20 min9:53 am EDT (13:53 UTC)
17,500 ft290° at 21 kt−19 kt-8 °C139 kt7 h 07 min9:40 am EDT (13:40 UTC)
18,000 ft FL180290° at 22 kt−19 kt-9 °C139 kt7 h 07 min9:40 am EDT (13:40 UTC)
24,000 ft FL240280° at 27 kt−25 kt-21 °C145 kt6 h 49 min9:22 am EDT (13:22 UTC)
30,000 ft FL300290° at 32 kt−29 kt-36 °C149 kt6 h 38 min9:11 am EDT (13:11 UTC)
34,000 ft FL340280° at 42 kt−39 kt-43 °C159 kt6 h 13 min8:46 am EDT (12:46 UTC)
39,000 ft FL390280° at 51 kt−47 kt-51 °C167 kt5 h 55 min8:28 am EDT (12:28 UTC)

Based on data from the 12th at 00:00 UTC; valid on the 12th at 06:00 UTC for use 02:00 to 09:00 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
DSMused from 0 nm out; 25 nm from the line230/40250/33 17°250/18 12°240/17 5°260/28 -8°270/34 -19°260/41 -33°260/55 -41°270/62 -51°
DBQused from 50 nm out; 69 nm from the line230/33250/30 16°280/15 9°260/15 5°260/21 -7°260/24 -20°250/37 -33°270/42 -43°280/63 -52°
JOTused from 200 nm out; 49 nm from the line250/23270/22 15°250/16 10°240/9 4°280/22 -7°280/29 -19°300/29 -34°290/50 -43°300/64 -52°
MKGused from 300 nm out; 44 nm from the line260/22290/16 15°300/11 10°290/5 3°300/26 -9°300/32 -20°320/48 -36°320/61 -45°310/74 -53°
CLEused from 449 nm out; 98 nm from the line340/7010/16 13°350/18 8°350/20 3°340/31 -10°340/46 -21°340/54 -37°330/62 -44°340/65 -49°
BUFused from 549 nm out; 94 nm from the line320/10010/16 10°360/10 6°340/13 2°330/22 -11°300/25 -23°320/31 -38°300/29 -44°280/36 -50°
SYRused from 749 nm out; 12 nm from the line280/13350/18 10°340/10 6°300/15 1°280/17 -12°270/16 -23°280/25 -38°250/40 -42°240/53 -50°
ALBused from 849 nm out; 18 nm from the line120/9270/8 10°L/V 5°260/9 1°260/34 -10°250/42 -22°240/57 -35°240/70 -42°240/65 -50°
BOSused from 949 nm out; 52 nm from the line110/20200/26 12°280/24 8°260/29 3°250/47 -10°230/59 -19°230/74 -33°240/95 -41°240/96 -53°

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
DSM Des Moines, IA departure no report just now 957 ft
CID Cedar Rapids, IA 90 nm out, 3 nm north of the line, tower no report just now 869 ft
SFY Savanna, IL 160 nm out, 2 nm east of the line no report just now 616 ft
RFD Chicago/Rockford, IL 210 nm out, 2 nm west of the line, tower no report just now 742 ft
BTL Battle Creek, MI 380 nm out, 16 nm south of the line, tower no report just now 951 ft
PTK Pontiac, MI 459 nm out, 4 nm southeast of the line, tower no report just now 980 ft
CYQS St Thomas, 559 nm out, 7 nm southeast of the line no report just now 776 ft
BUF Buffalo, NY 669 nm out, 1 nm southwest of the line, tower no report just now 726 ft
SYR Syracuse, NY 779 nm out, 8 nm northeast of the line, tower no report just now 421 ft
SCH Schenectady, NY 879 nm out, 8 nm south of the line, tower no report just now 377 ft
DDH Bennington, VT 909 nm out, 5 nm south of the line no report just now 826 ft
MHT Manchester, NH destination no report just now 266 ft

The highest airport on this list sits at 980 ft; the ground between airports is higher still. Check the sectional chart for the terrain and the minimum safe heights along the line.

At MHT when you get there the forecast at the estimated arrival, 8:28 am EDT (12:28 UTC)

MHT 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 DSM 6:38 pm CDT (23:38 UTC), at MHT 6:08 pm EDT (22:08 UTC) (civil twilight ends 6:36 pm EDT (22:36 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 upper Mississippi valley
Radar now, the upper Mississippi valley · loop National Weather Service
Radar now, the central Great Lakes
Radar now, the central Great Lakes · loop National Weather Service
Radar now, the Northeast
Radar now, the Northeast · 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: Des Moines International, Manchester Boston Regional.