The U.S. aircraft register, updated daily
Plan a flight · Mon 4:45 am CDT (09:45 UTC)

William P Hobby Airport to South Bend International HOU → SBN

845 nautical miles (972 statute miles) northeast on a straight line, true course 029°, about 026° magnetic at the departure end (variation 3E). At 120 knots that is 6 h 10 min at the quickest height in today's winds (3,500 ft, a 17-knot tailwind), arriving about 11:55 am EDT (15:55 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 SIERRA 3E: low cloud or poor visibility (IFR conditions) (due to ceilings below 1,000 ft, visibility below 3 miles, precipitation, mist, fog). Near the route, 785 nm along 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 08:00–15:00 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 10 forecast points nearest it (HOU, SHV, LIT, MEM, CGI, STL, SPI, IND, JOT, FWA). A plus sign is a headwind, a minus sign a tailwind.

HeightAverage windHead- or tailwindTemperatureGround speedTime en routeArrival
3,500 ft240° at 19 kt−17 kt137 kt6 h 10 min11:55 am EDT (15:55 UTC)
5,500 ft240° at 18 kt−15 kt135 kt6 h 16 min12:01 pm EDT (16:01 UTC)
7,500 ft240° at 16 kt−14 kt14 °C134 kt6 h 18 min12:03 pm EDT (16:03 UTC)
9,500 ft250° at 16 kt−13 kt10 °C133 kt6 h 21 min12:06 pm EDT (16:06 UTC)
11,500 ft250° at 16 kt−12 kt7 °C132 kt6 h 24 min12:09 pm EDT (16:09 UTC)
13,500 ft260° at 17 kt−12 kt3 °C132 kt6 h 24 min12:09 pm EDT (16:09 UTC)
15,500 ft260° at 18 kt−11 kt-1 °C131 kt6 h 27 min12:12 pm EDT (16:12 UTC)
17,500 ft270° at 20 kt−11 kt-6 °C131 kt6 h 27 min12:12 pm EDT (16:12 UTC)
18,000 ft FL180270° at 21 kt−11 kt-7 °C131 kt6 h 27 min12:12 pm EDT (16:12 UTC)
24,000 ft FL240270° at 24 kt−12 kt-17 °C132 kt6 h 24 min12:09 pm EDT (16:09 UTC)
30,000 ft FL300290° at 37 kt−6 kt-31 °C126 kt6 h 42 min12:27 pm EDT (16:27 UTC)
34,000 ft FL340300° at 45 kt−5 kt-41 °C125 kt6 h 46 min12:31 pm EDT (16:31 UTC)
39,000 ft FL390310° at 46 kt+5 kt-51 °C115 kt7 h 21 min1:06 pm EDT (17:06 UTC)

Based on data from the 12th at 06:00 UTC; valid on the 12th at 12:00 UTC for use 08:00 to 15:00 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 line180/22180/20 16°170/7 15°L/V 8°220/11 -6°260/15 -13°310/20 -30°320/20 -40°350/32 -51°
SHVused from 99 nm out; 61 nm from the line210/20210/20 18°230/20 11°240/16 7°270/17 -7°250/11 -15°300/34 -30°310/34 -40°320/36 -51°
LITused from 248 nm out; 70 nm from the line250/22250/25 18°240/23 12°240/20 7°250/17 -6°260/25 -17°300/45 -29°300/49 -40°310/43 -51°
MEMused from 398 nm out; 71 nm from the line250/19260/19 17°270/20 12°270/16 6°270/21 -6°290/27 -17°300/37 -30°300/49 -40°310/40 -51°
CGIused from 447 nm out; 67 nm from the line260/22250/15 15°250/13 11°250/16 6°270/29 -7°280/30 -18°290/40 -31°290/55 -40°300/51 -51°
STLused from 596 nm out; 66 nm from the line250/26240/21 15°240/22 11°250/23 6°270/28 -7°260/30 -19°280/52 -31°280/57 -40°300/57 -49°
SPIused from 646 nm out; 68 nm from the line260/28250/22 15°250/14 9°260/20 6°280/27 -7°280/34 -19°280/48 -32°280/59 -41°300/60 -49°
INDused from 696 nm out; 72 nm from the line270/22290/19 15°270/19 8°270/18 4°290/28 -7°280/35 -20°270/37 -34°300/51 -42°300/61 -51°
JOTused from 745 nm out; 66 nm from the line250/25260/22 14°250/17 9°270/21 5°280/28 -8°280/36 -20°270/41 -35°280/57 -42°290/65 -50°
FWAused from 795 nm out; 69 nm from the line270/20300/16 15°290/14 10°280/17 3°290/25 -7°280/30 -19°280/34 -35°290/48 -44°300/64 -52°

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
IAH Houston, TX 20 nm out, 13 nm west of the line, tower no report just now 95 ft
JAS Jasper, TX 99 nm out, 21 nm southeast of the line no report just now 212 ft
DTN Shreveport, LA 189 nm out, 15 nm northwest of the line, tower no report just now 179 ft
CDH Camden, AR 268 nm out, 5 nm northwest of the line no report just now 129 ft
LIT Little Rock, AR 338 nm out, 15 nm northwest of the line, tower no report just now 266 ft
ARG Walnut Ridge, AR 447 nm out, 2 nm west of the line no report just now 279 ft
MDH Carbondale/Murphysboro, IL 576 nm out, 15 nm southeast of the line, tower no report just now 411 ft
SLO Salem, IL 626 nm out, 2 nm west of the line no report just now 573 ft
CMI Champaign/Urbana, IL 716 nm out, 20 nm northwest of the line, tower no report just now 754 ft
LAF Lafayette, IN 765 nm out, 20 nm southeast of the line, tower no report just now 605 ft
SBN South Bend, IN destination no report just now 798 ft

The highest airport on this list sits at 798 ft; the ground between airports is higher still. Check the sectional chart for the terrain and the minimum safe heights along the line.

At SBN when you get there the forecast at the estimated arrival, 11:55 am EDT (15:55 UTC)

SBN 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 SBN 7:09 pm EDT (23:09 UTC) (civil twilight ends 7:36 pm EDT (23:36 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 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 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: William P Hobby Airport, South Bend International.