The U.S. aircraft register, updated daily
Plan a flight · Sun 9:14 pm CDT (02:14 UTC)

William P Hobby Airport to Dekalb-Peachtree Airport HOU → PDK

615 nautical miles (707 statute miles) northeast on a straight line, true course 063°, about 060° magnetic at the departure end (variation 3E). At 120 knots that is 4 h 37 min at the quickest height in today's winds (24,000 ft, a 13-knot tailwind), arriving about 2:51 am EDT (06:51 UTC), after sunset at the destination. 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 6W: moderate turbulence above 18,000 ft from 28,000 ft to 40,000 ft. Near the route, 555 nm along the route.
  • AIRMET SIERRA 4E: mountains obscured by cloud (due to mountains obscured by clouds, precipitation, mist). Over the last 10 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 HOU.

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 20:00–03:00 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 6 forecast points nearest it (HOU, LCH, JAN, MGM, BHM, ATL). A plus sign is a headwind, a minus sign a tailwind.

HeightAverage windHead- or tailwindTemperatureGround speedTime en routeArrival
3,500 ft280° at 8 kt−6 kt126 kt4 h 53 min3:07 am EDT (07:07 UTC)
5,500 ft310° at 11 kt−5 kt125 kt4 h 55 min3:09 am EDT (07:09 UTC)
7,500 ft310° at 12 kt−7 kt14 °C127 kt4 h 51 min3:05 am EDT (07:05 UTC)
9,500 ft300° at 14 kt−9 kt11 °C129 kt4 h 46 min3:00 am EDT (07:00 UTC)
11,500 ft300° at 17 kt−10 kt7 °C130 kt4 h 44 min2:58 am EDT (06:58 UTC)
13,500 ft300° at 19 kt−11 kt3 °C131 kt4 h 42 min2:56 am EDT (06:56 UTC)
15,500 ft300° at 20 kt−11 kt0 °C131 kt4 h 42 min2:56 am EDT (06:56 UTC)
17,500 ft300° at 21 kt−12 kt-4 °C132 kt4 h 40 min2:54 am EDT (06:54 UTC)
18,000 ft FL180300° at 21 kt−12 kt-5 °C132 kt4 h 40 min2:54 am EDT (06:54 UTC)
24,000 ft FL240300° at 24 kt−13 kt-16 °C133 kt4 h 37 min2:51 am EDT (06:51 UTC)
30,000 ft FL300310° at 34 kt−12 kt-32 °C132 kt4 h 40 min2:54 am EDT (06:54 UTC)
34,000 ft FL340320° at 36 kt−10 kt-41 °C130 kt4 h 44 min2:58 am EDT (06:58 UTC)
39,000 ft FL390320° at 36 kt−11 kt-51 °C131 kt4 h 42 min2:56 am EDT (06:56 UTC)

Based on data from the 11th at 18:00 UTC; valid on the 12th at 00:00 UTC for use 20:00 to 03:00 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
HOUused from 0 nm out; 25 nm from the line160/18160/14 17°180/19 12°190/11 8°260/12 -4°260/14 -13°310/26 -30°310/30 -40°320/21 -52°
LCHused from 50 nm out; 41 nm from the line190/6180/8 18°170/13 12°220/12 7°290/10 -4°280/15 -14°320/30 -31°320/32 -40°320/39 -53°
JANused from 198 nm out; 92 nm from the line260/6310/14 17°280/13 12°290/19 6°310/22 -5°310/28 -17°320/44 -32°330/48 -41°320/52 -51°
MGMused from 397 nm out; 77 nm from the line300/16330/30 16°330/34 11°320/31 7°310/28 -7°320/29 -17°290/25 -34°300/28 -41°320/28 -50°
BHMused from 446 nm out; 37 nm from the line300/16330/32 16°320/37 11°330/37 6°310/33 -7°310/30 -18°320/40 -34°330/43 -41°330/30 -49°
ATLused from 545 nm out; 35 nm from the line300/23320/26 14°320/34 10°320/41 5°290/32 -6°290/31 -18°280/28 -33°260/32 -41°250/28 -50°

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
HOU Houston, TX departure no report just now 46 ft
HPY Baytown, TX 20 nm out, 1 nm southwest of the line no report just now 33 ft
BPT Beaumont/Port Arthur, TX 69 nm out, 14 nm south of the line, tower no report just now 14 ft
ACP Oakdale, LA 149 nm out, 1 nm east of the line no report just now 107 ft
MKV Marksville, LA 188 nm out, 4 nm northwest of the line no report just now 78 ft
MEI Meridian, MS 377 nm out, 4 nm west of the line, tower no report just now 297 ft
EET Alabaster, AL 486 nm out, 8 nm northwest of the line no report just now 585 ft
SCD Sylacauga, AL 506 nm out, 2 nm southeast of the line no report just now 568 ft
CTJ Carrollton, GA 565 nm out, 5 nm northeast of the line no report just now 1,164 ft
PDK Atlanta, GA destination no report just now 998 ft

The highest airport on this list sits at 1,164 ft; the ground between airports is higher still. Check the sectional chart for the terrain and the minimum safe heights along the line.

At PDK when you get there the forecast at the estimated arrival, 2:51 am EDT (06:51 UTC)

PDK 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 HOU 6:54 pm CDT (23:54 UTC), at PDK 7:07 pm EDT (23:07 UTC) (civil twilight ends 7:32 pm EDT (23:32 UTC)). At 120 knots the arrival at PDK is before sunrise there (7:39 am EDT (11:39 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 southern Plains
Radar now, the southern Plains · loop National Weather Service
Radar now, the lower Mississippi valley
Radar now, the lower Mississippi valley · loop National Weather Service
Radar now, the Southeast
Radar now, the Southeast · 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: William P Hobby Airport, Dekalb-Peachtree Airport.