The U.S. aircraft register, updated daily
Plan a flight · Sun 9:43 pm EDT (01:43 UTC)

Capital Region International to St. Louis Lambert International LAN → STL

357 nautical miles (411 statute miles) southwest on a straight line, true course 229°, about 234° magnetic at the departure end (variation 5W). At 120 knots that is 2 h 49 min at the quickest height in today's winds (24,000 ft, a 7-knot tailwind), arriving about 11:32 pm CDT (04:32 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: 3 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

No SIGMET or AIRMET covers any part of this route right now.

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 LAN.

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 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 5 forecast points nearest it (MKG, FWA, JOT, SPI, STL). A plus sign is a headwind, a minus sign a tailwind.

HeightAverage windHead- or tailwindTemperatureGround speedTime en routeArrival
4,500 ft260° at 8 kt+7 kt113 kt3 h 10 min11:53 pm CDT (04:53 UTC)
6,500 ft290° at 12 kt+5 kt15 °C115 kt3 h 06 min11:49 pm CDT (04:49 UTC)
8,500 ft300° at 16 kt+6 kt11 °C114 kt3 h 08 min11:51 pm CDT (04:51 UTC)
10,500 ft300° at 18 kt+4 kt7 °C116 kt3 h 05 min11:48 pm CDT (04:48 UTC)
12,500 ft310° at 20 kt+2 kt3 °C118 kt3 h 02 min11:45 pm CDT (04:45 UTC)
14,500 ft310° at 20 kt+2 kt-1 °C118 kt3 h 02 min11:45 pm CDT (04:45 UTC)
16,500 ft310° at 20 kt+1 kt-6 °C119 kt3 h11:43 pm CDT (04:43 UTC)
18,000 ft FL180320° at 20 kt+1 kt-9 °C119 kt3 h11:43 pm CDT (04:43 UTC)
24,000 ft FL240330° at 30 kt−7 kt-20 °C127 kt2 h 49 min11:32 pm CDT (04:32 UTC)
30,000 ft FL300320° at 47 kt−4 kt-36 °C124 kt2 h 53 min11:36 pm CDT (04:36 UTC)
34,000 ft FL340320° at 53 kt−2 kt-44 °C122 kt2 h 56 min11:39 pm CDT (04:39 UTC)
39,000 ft FL390320° at 61 kt+2 kt-49 °C118 kt3 h 02 min11:45 pm CDT (04:45 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
MKGused from 0 nm out; 67 nm from the line250/5320/10 15°310/19 9°320/21 3°310/23 -10°330/37 -22°330/51 -38°320/44 -47°300/60 -49°
FWAused from 50 nm out; 66 nm from the line350/9350/24 15°360/25 9°360/29 4°350/31 -10°340/39 -22°330/40 -37°320/38 -43°320/48 -48°
JOTused from 99 nm out; 68 nm from the line230/11290/12 16°300/19 10°320/19 4°300/17 -9°330/31 -20°320/49 -37°320/53 -45°320/67 -49°
SPIused from 198 nm out; 70 nm from the line210/13260/11 17°270/18 10°290/21 4°310/20 -8°330/25 -19°320/49 -34°320/60 -44°320/59 -50°
STLused from 298 nm out; 35 nm from the line210/13260/16 17°270/21 10°280/24 5°310/20 -7°320/22 -18°320/44 -33°320/59 -43°310/69 -51°

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
LAN Lansing, MI departure no report just now 860 ft
BTL Battle Creek, MI 40 nm out, 2 nm south of the line, tower no report just now 951 ft
AZO Kalamazoo, MI 50 nm out, 5 nm west of the line, tower no report just now 873 ft
SBN South Bend, IN 99 nm out, 3 nm northwest of the line, tower no report just now 798 ft
RZL Rensselaer, IN 159 nm out, 5 nm southeast of the line no report just now 698 ft
TIP Rantoul, IL 218 nm out, 4 nm southeast of the line no report just now 737 ft
DEC Decatur, IL 258 nm out, 4 nm south of the line, tower no report just now 681 ft
SPI Springfield, IL 288 nm out, 25 nm northwest of the line, tower no report just now 597 ft
ALN Alton/St Louis, IL 337 nm out, 5 nm south of the line, tower no report just now 543 ft
STL St Louis, MO destination no report just now 617 ft

The highest airport on this list sits at 951 ft; the ground between airports is higher still. Check the sectional chart for the terrain and the minimum safe heights along the line.

At STL when you get there the forecast at the estimated arrival, 11:32 pm CDT (04:32 UTC)

STL 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 LAN 7:01 pm EDT (23:01 UTC), at STL 6:27 pm CDT (23:27 UTC) (civil twilight ends 6:54 pm CDT (23:54 UTC)). At 120 knots the arrival at STL is before sunrise there (7:07 am CDT (12:07 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 central Great Lakes
Radar now, the central Great Lakes · 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: Capital Region International, St. Louis Lambert International.