The U.S. aircraft register, updated daily
Plan a flight · Mon 12:16 am CDT (05:16 UTC)

Dane County Rgnl/Truax Field to Central IL Rgnl/Bloomington-Normal Airport MSN → BMI

161 nautical miles (185 statute miles) south on a straight line, true course 173°, about 176° magnetic at the departure end (variation 3W). At 120 knots that is 1 h 04 min at the quickest height in today's winds (39,000 ft, a 32-knot tailwind), arriving about 1:20 am CDT (06:20 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: 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). Near the route, 19 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 MSN.

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

  • B38M at 29,000 ft, 35 nm east, 11:52 pm CDT (04:52 UTC): no turbulence from 23,000 ft to 29,000 ft. At the destination end, 35 nm east of the line.
    as filed, and in English
    TIP UA /OV RBS/TM 0452/FL290/TP B38M/TB NEG 230-290
    Report
    a routine report filed through TIP
    Where
    over RBS
    Time
    04:52 UTC
    Height
    at 29,000 ft
    Aircraft
    B38M
    Turbulence
    no from 23,000 ft to 29,000 ft

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 3 forecast points nearest it (DBQ, JOT, SPI). A plus sign is a headwind, a minus sign a tailwind.

HeightAverage windHead- or tailwindTemperatureGround speedTime en routeArrival
3,500 ft240° at 25 kt+9 kt111 kt1 h 27 min1:43 am CDT (06:43 UTC)
5,500 ft260° at 24 kt+3 kt117 kt1 h 23 min1:39 am CDT (06:39 UTC)
7,500 ft260° at 20 kt+1 kt12 °C119 kt1 h 21 min1:37 am CDT (06:37 UTC)
9,500 ft260° at 16 kt+1 kt9 °C119 kt1 h 21 min1:37 am CDT (06:37 UTC)
11,500 ft250° at 12 kt+2 kt5 °C118 kt1 h 22 min1:38 am CDT (06:38 UTC)
13,500 ft260° at 14 kt+1 kt2 °C119 kt1 h 21 min1:37 am CDT (06:37 UTC)
15,500 ft270° at 17 kt−1 kt-2 °C121 kt1 h 20 min1:36 am CDT (06:36 UTC)
17,500 ft270° at 21 kt−3 kt-6 °C123 kt1 h 19 min1:35 am CDT (06:35 UTC)
18,000 ft FL180270° at 22 kt−4 kt-7 °C124 kt1 h 18 min1:34 am CDT (06:34 UTC)
24,000 ft FL240270° at 27 kt−5 kt-19 °C125 kt1 h 17 min1:33 am CDT (06:33 UTC)
30,000 ft FL300280° at 29 kt−8 kt-34 °C128 kt1 h 15 min1:31 am CDT (06:31 UTC)
34,000 ft FL340280° at 47 kt−17 kt-43 °C137 kt1 h 11 min1:27 am CDT (06:27 UTC)
39,000 ft FL390290° at 62 kt−32 kt-52 °C152 kt1 h 04 min1:20 am CDT (06:20 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
DBQused from 0 nm out; 67 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 47 nm out; 51 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°
SPIused from 142 nm out; 58 nm from the line220/21250/23 16°260/27 9°270/14 6°270/23 -7°270/31 -19°270/28 -33°290/48 -42°300/55 -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
MSN Madison, WI departure no report just now 886 ft
JVL Janesville, WI 28 nm out, 10 nm east of the line, tower no report just now 807 ft
RFD Chicago/Rockford, IL 57 nm out, 4 nm east of the line, tower no report just now 742 ft
VYS Peru, IL 104 nm out, 6 nm southwest of the line no report just now 654 ft
PNT Pontiac, IL 133 nm out, 17 nm east of the line no report just now 666 ft
BMI Bloomington/Normal, IL destination no report just now 871 ft

The highest airport on this list sits at 886 ft; the ground between airports is higher still. Check the sectional chart for the terrain and the minimum safe heights along the line.

At BMI when you get there the forecast at the estimated arrival, 1:20 am CDT (06:20 UTC)

BMI 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 MSN 6:19 pm CDT (23:19 UTC), at BMI 6:20 pm CDT (23:20 UTC) (civil twilight ends 6:47 pm CDT (23:47 UTC)). At 120 knots the arrival at BMI is before sunrise there (7:03 am CDT (12:03 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, 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: Dane County Rgnl/Truax Field, Central IL Rgnl/Bloomington-Normal Airport.