The U.S. aircraft register, updated daily
Plan a flight · Mon 12:59 am CDT (05:59 UTC)

General Mitchell International to Wichita Dwight D Eisenhower Ntl Airport MKE → ICT

540 nautical miles (621 statute miles) southwest on a straight line, true course 237°, about 241° magnetic at the departure end (variation 4W). At 120 knots that is 5 h 06 min at the quickest height in today's winds (10,500 ft, a 14-knot headwind), arriving about 6:05 am CDT (11:05 UTC), after sunset at the destination. Right now MKE is VFR, wind from the south-southwest (210°) at 8 knots; ICT is VFR, wind from the south (190°) at 15 knots. 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: 8 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 last 400 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 MKE.

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

No pilot reports within 50 nautical miles of the line in the last three hours.

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 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 6 forecast points nearest it (JOT, DBQ, BRL, DSM, MKC, ICT). A plus sign is a headwind, a minus sign a tailwind.

HeightAverage windHead- or tailwindTemperatureGround speedTime en routeArrival
4,500 ft230° at 32 kt+32 kt88 kt6 h 08 min7:07 am CDT (12:07 UTC)
6,500 ft250° at 28 kt+27 kt16 °C93 kt5 h 48 min6:47 am CDT (11:47 UTC)
8,500 ft260° at 19 kt+18 kt12 °C102 kt5 h 18 min6:17 am CDT (11:17 UTC)
10,500 ft260° at 15 kt+14 kt9 °C106 kt5 h 06 min6:05 am CDT (11:05 UTC)
12,500 ft250° at 15 kt+14 kt4 °C106 kt5 h 06 min6:05 am CDT (11:05 UTC)
14,500 ft260° at 17 kt+16 kt0 °C104 kt5 h 12 min6:11 am CDT (11:11 UTC)
16,500 ft260° at 20 kt+18 kt-3 °C102 kt5 h 18 min6:17 am CDT (11:17 UTC)
18,000 ft FL180260° at 22 kt+19 kt-7 °C101 kt5 h 21 min6:20 am CDT (11:20 UTC)
24,000 ft FL240250° at 30 kt+28 kt-19 °C92 kt5 h 52 min6:51 am CDT (11:51 UTC)
30,000 ft FL300260° at 42 kt+39 kt-32 °C81 kt6 h 40 min7:39 am CDT (12:39 UTC)
34,000 ft FL340270° at 49 kt+41 kt-41 °C79 kt6 h 50 min7:49 am CDT (12:49 UTC)
39,000 ft FL390280° at 59 kt+43 kt-51 °C77 kt7 h 01 min8:00 am CDT (13:00 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
JOTused from 0 nm out; 73 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°
DBQused from 50 nm out; 63 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°
BRLused from 150 nm out; 32 nm from the line230/24240/29 15°290/16 10°280/15 4°260/23 -7°260/32 -19°260/36 -33°280/48 -41°280/59 -52°
DSMused from 250 nm out; 79 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°
MKCused from 300 nm out; 57 nm from the line220/44250/28 18°250/18 13°240/12 6°280/24 -6°240/34 -18°260/47 -30°260/51 -40°270/58 -50°
ICTused from 450 nm out; 65 nm from the line200/48230/39 19°240/24 14°240/20 8°240/22 -6°250/31 -18°250/61 -29°260/58 -38°270/54 -49°

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
MKE Milwaukee, WI departure VFR Sky: a broken layer at 25,000 feet from the south-southwest (210°) at 8 knots 10+ mi 25,000 ft 728 ft 12:52 am CDT (05:52 UTC)
JVL Janesville, WI 50 nm out, 12 nm northwest of the line, tower VFR from the south (180°) at 3 knots 10+ mi none 807 ft 05:35 UTC
RFD Chicago/Rockford, IL 70 nm out, 9 nm southeast of the line, tower VFR Sky: a broken layer at 25,000 feet calm 10+ mi 25,000 ft 742 ft 05:54 UTC
MLI Moline, IL 150 nm out, 11 nm southeast of the line, tower VFR from the south (190°) at 9 knots 10+ mi none 589 ft 05:52 UTC
MUT Muscatine, IA 170 nm out, 4 nm west of the line reported, no category from the south-southeast (160°) at 4 knots 10+ mi none 547 ft 05:55 UTC
TVK Centerville, IA 260 nm out, 15 nm northwest of the line VFR from the south (190°) at 6 knots 10+ mi none 1,023 ft 05:35 UTC
TRX Trenton, MO 310 nm out, 5 nm north of the line no report just now 757 ft
EZZ Cameron, MO 350 nm out, 8 nm north of the line VFR from the south (170°) at 7 knots 10+ mi none 1,040 ft 05:35 UTC
MCI Kansas City, MO 380 nm out, 2 nm east of the line, tower VFR from the south-southwest (200°) at 16 knots, gusting to 23 10+ mi none 1,027 ft 05:53 UTC
EMP Emporia, KS 470 nm out, 5 nm southeast of the line VFR from the south (190°) at 15 knots, gusting to 25 10+ mi none 1,207 ft 05:53 UTC
EQA El Dorado, KS 510 nm out, 13 nm southeast of the line VFR from the south (190°) at 13 knots, gusting to 18 10+ mi none 1,379 ft 05:35 UTC
ICT Wichita, KS destination VFR from the south (190°) at 15 knots 10+ mi none 1,332 ft 12:53 am CDT (05:53 UTC)

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, 6:05 am CDT (11:05 UTC)

Wind from the south at 12 knots, gusting to 21, visibility more than 6 miles, low-level wind shear, a few clouds at 25,000 feet VFR

The whole forecast for ICT
  • From Mon 1:00 am CDT (06:00 UTC): wind from the south at 12 knots, gusting to 21, visibility more than 6 miles, low-level wind shear, a few clouds at 25,000 feet
  • From Mon 9:00 am CDT (14:00 UTC): wind from the south-southwest at 18 knots, gusting to 28, visibility more than 6 miles, a few clouds at 25,000 feet
The forecast for MKE, the departure
  • From Mon 1:00 am CDT (06:00 UTC): wind from the southwest at 8 knots, visibility more than 6 miles, a broken layer at 25,000 feet
  • From Mon 10:00 am CDT (15:00 UTC): wind from the southwest at 10 knots, gusting to 20, visibility more than 6 miles, scattered clouds at 25,000 feet
  • From Mon 8:00 pm CDT (01:00 UTC): wind from the southwest at 7 knots, visibility more than 6 miles, low-level wind shear, a few clouds at 4,000 feet, scattered clouds at 11,000 feet
  • From Tue 4:00 am CDT (09:00 UTC): wind from the west-southwest at 10 knots, visibility more than 6 miles, clear skies

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 MKE 6:14 pm CDT (23:14 UTC), at ICT 6:56 pm CDT (23:56 UTC) (civil twilight ends 7:23 pm CDT (00:23 UTC)). At 120 knots the arrival at ICT is before sunrise there (7:35 am CDT (12:35 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 southern Plains
Radar now, the southern Plains · 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: General Mitchell International, Wichita Dwight D Eisenhower Ntl Airport.