The U.S. aircraft register, updated daily
Plan a flight · Mon 12:47 am CDT (05:47 UTC)

Dane County Rgnl/Truax Field to Richmond International MSN → RIC

645 nautical miles (742 statute miles) southeast on a straight line, true course 118°, about 121° magnetic at the departure end (variation 3W). At 120 knots that is 3 h 53 min at the quickest height in today's winds (39,000 ft, a 46-knot tailwind), arriving about 5:40 am EDT (09:40 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

  • SIGMET E19E: thunderstorms (a convective SIGMET) up to 43,000 ft, moving from the southwest at 20 knots, until 1:55 am CDT (06:55 UTC). Over the route from 506 to 625 nm out.
    as issued
    WSUS31 KKCI 120455
    MKCE WST 120455
    CONVECTIVE SIGMET 19E
    VALID UNTIL 0655Z
    CT NY NJ PA DE MD VA DC WV AND DE NJ NY MD CT VA CSTL WTRS
    FROM 20NNW HTO-70SSE HTO-90SE SIE-20WNW LYH-40ESE AIR-20NNW HTO
    AREA EMBD TS MOV FROM 24020KT. TOPS TO FL430.
  • AIRMET SIERRA 3E: low cloud or poor visibility (IFR conditions) (due to ceilings below 1,000 ft, visibility below 3 miles, precipitation, mist). Over the last 516 nm of the route.
  • AIRMET SIERRA 4E: mountains obscured by cloud (due to mountains obscured by clouds, precipitation, mist). Over the route from 427 to 565 nm out.
  • AIRMET TANGO 3W: moderate turbulence above 18,000 ft from 21,000 ft to 33,000 ft. Over the last 99 nm of the route.
  • AIRMET TANGO 5W: moderate turbulence below 18,000 ft (due to mountain wave) up to 10,000 ft. Over the route from 546 to 556 nm out.

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

Not fetched just now.

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 8 forecast points nearest it (DBQ, JOT, MKG, FWA, CMH, CRW, EKN, RIC). A plus sign is a headwind, a minus sign a tailwind.

HeightAverage windHead- or tailwindTemperatureGround speedTime en routeArrival
3,500 ft290° at 17 kt−16 kt136 kt4 h 45 min6:32 am EDT (10:32 UTC)
5,500 ft310° at 18 kt−18 kt12 °C138 kt4 h 40 min6:27 am EDT (10:27 UTC)
7,500 ft320° at 18 kt−18 kt11 °C138 kt4 h 40 min6:27 am EDT (10:27 UTC)
9,500 ft320° at 18 kt−17 kt8 °C137 kt4 h 42 min6:29 am EDT (10:29 UTC)
11,500 ft330° at 15 kt−13 kt4 °C133 kt4 h 51 min6:38 am EDT (10:38 UTC)
13,500 ft320° at 16 kt−15 kt0 °C135 kt4 h 47 min6:34 am EDT (10:34 UTC)
15,500 ft320° at 19 kt−19 kt-4 °C139 kt4 h 38 min6:25 am EDT (10:25 UTC)
17,500 ft310° at 22 kt−22 kt-8 °C142 kt4 h 33 min6:20 am EDT (10:20 UTC)
18,000 ft FL180310° at 23 kt−23 kt-9 °C143 kt4 h 31 min6:18 am EDT (10:18 UTC)
24,000 ft FL240310° at 29 kt−29 kt-20 °C149 kt4 h 20 min6:07 am EDT (10:07 UTC)
30,000 ft FL300310° at 37 kt−36 kt-35 °C156 kt4 h 08 min5:55 am EDT (09:55 UTC)
34,000 ft FL340310° at 46 kt−45 kt-41 °C165 kt3 h 55 min5:42 am EDT (09:42 UTC)
39,000 ft FL390310° at 47 kt−46 kt-49 °C166 kt3 h 53 min5:40 am EDT (09:40 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; 89 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 50 nm out; 64 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°
MKGused from 99 nm out; 67 nm from the line260/22290/16 15°300/11 10°290/5 3°300/26 -9°300/32 -20°320/48 -36°320/61 -45°310/74 -53°
FWAused from 149 nm out; 56 nm from the line300/17320/20 16°330/20 10°340/15 3°310/27 -8°320/37 -20°330/52 -36°330/65 -43°330/60 -50°
CMHused from 298 nm out; 30 nm from the line330/15340/22 14°340/24 9°340/23 4°340/35 -9°340/49 -20°340/58 -37°330/70 -42°340/55 -47°
CRWused from 397 nm out; 75 nm from the line330/20330/23 11°340/25 8°340/21 2°340/33 -9°340/41 -20°330/42 -35°320/44 -39°320/43 -47°
EKNused from 446 nm out; 28 nm from the line330/21 12°330/25 7°350/22 2°330/24 -10°310/27 -21°320/33 -35°290/31 -39°290/34 -47°
RICused from 595 nm out; 25 nm from the line270/23280/19 11°270/18 8°240/22 4°230/39 -7°220/55 -18°220/75 -30°230/83 -39°230/64 -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
MSN Madison, WI departure no report just now 886 ft
UES Waukesha, WI 50 nm out, 18 nm north of the line, tower no report just now 911 ft
ENW Kenosha, WI 69 nm out, 1 nm east of the line, tower no report just now 742 ft
EKM Elkhart, IN 169 nm out, 4 nm south of the line, tower no report just now 777 ft
FWA Fort Wayne, IN 228 nm out, 24 nm southwest of the line, tower no report just now 814 ft
MNN Marion, OH 317 nm out, 7 nm northeast of the line no report just now 993 ft
CMH Columbus, OH 347 nm out, 20 nm southwest of the line, tower no report just now 815 ft
PKB Parkersburg, WV 427 nm out, 18 nm southwest of the line, tower no report just now 858 ft
CKB Clarksburg, WV 466 nm out, 12 nm northeast of the line, tower no report just now 1,223 ft
CHO Charlottesville, VA 575 nm out, 4 nm southeast of the line, tower no report just now 640 ft
LKU Louisa, VA 605 nm out, 8 nm north of the line no report just now 493 ft
RIC Richmond, VA destination no report just now 167 ft

The highest airport on this list sits at 1,223 ft; the ground between airports is higher still. Check the sectional chart for the terrain and the minimum safe heights along the line.

At RIC when you get there the forecast at the estimated arrival, 5:40 am EDT (09:40 UTC)

RIC 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 RIC 6:36 pm EDT (22:36 UTC) (civil twilight ends 7:02 pm EDT (23:02 UTC)). At 120 knots the arrival at RIC is before sunrise there (7:14 am EDT (11:14 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 central Great Lakes
Radar now, the central Great Lakes · loop National Weather Service
Radar now, the Northeast
Radar now, the Northeast · 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, Richmond International.