The U.S. aircraft register, updated daily
Plan a flight · Mon 3:41 am EDT (07:41 UTC)

South Bend International to William P Hobby Airport SBN → HOU

845 nautical miles (972 statute miles) southwest on a straight line, true course 214°, about 219° magnetic at the departure end (variation 5W). At 120 knots that is 6 h 49 min at the quickest height in today's winds (39,000 ft, a 4-knot tailwind), arriving about 9:30 am CDT (14:30 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), from 2:00 am EDT (06:00 UTC). Over the first 60 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 SBN.

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 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 10 forecast points nearest it (FWA, JOT, IND, SPI, STL, CGI, MEM, LIT, SHV, HOU). A plus sign is a headwind, a minus sign a tailwind.

HeightAverage windHead- or tailwindTemperatureGround speedTime en routeArrival
4,500 ft230° at 15 kt+15 kt105 kt8 h 03 min10:44 am CDT (15:44 UTC)
6,500 ft240° at 15 kt+13 kt15 °C107 kt7 h 54 min10:35 am CDT (15:35 UTC)
8,500 ft250° at 16 kt+12 kt12 °C108 kt7 h 49 min10:30 am CDT (15:30 UTC)
10,500 ft260° at 14 kt+9 kt9 °C111 kt7 h 37 min10:18 am CDT (15:18 UTC)
12,500 ft270° at 12 kt+5 kt5 °C115 kt7 h 21 min10:02 am CDT (15:02 UTC)
14,500 ft280° at 13 kt+6 kt1 °C114 kt7 h 25 min10:06 am CDT (15:06 UTC)
16,500 ft280° at 15 kt+6 kt-3 °C114 kt7 h 25 min10:06 am CDT (15:06 UTC)
18,000 ft FL180280° at 16 kt+6 kt-6 °C114 kt7 h 25 min10:06 am CDT (15:06 UTC)
24,000 ft FL240280° at 22 kt+7 kt-17 °C113 kt7 h 29 min10:10 am CDT (15:10 UTC)
30,000 ft FL300300° at 32 kt0-31 °C120 kt7 h 02 min9:43 am CDT (14:43 UTC)
34,000 ft FL340300° at 42 kt−1 kt-41 °C121 kt6 h 59 min9:40 am CDT (14:40 UTC)
39,000 ft FL390310° at 44 kt−4 kt-52 °C124 kt6 h 49 min9:30 am CDT (14:30 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
FWAused from 0 nm out; 69 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°
JOTused from 50 nm out; 66 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°
INDused from 99 nm out; 72 nm from the line290/16310/20 16°320/21 10°330/13 3°300/25 -7°320/32 -19°330/46 -34°320/61 -43°320/63 -50°
SPIused from 149 nm out; 68 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°
STLused from 199 nm out; 66 nm from the line250/24250/24 16°260/23 9°270/16 6°260/25 -6°270/29 -19°290/34 -33°290/48 -41°290/54 -51°
CGIused from 248 nm out; 39 nm from the line240/20270/15 15°280/15 11°300/13 6°290/20 -6°280/24 -18°300/34 -32°300/47 -41°310/49 -51°
MEMused from 398 nm out; 71 nm from the line230/19260/16 15°270/17 12°300/13 6°300/15 -5°300/26 -18°300/34 -32°300/41 -40°310/46 -52°
LITused from 447 nm out; 34 nm from the line220/21230/17 16°250/24 12°260/15 7°260/13 -5°280/25 -16°290/35 -30°300/42 -40°300/40 -52°
SHVused from 596 nm out; 43 nm from the line200/18230/24 18°230/24 12°240/14 8°260/12 -4°240/11 -15°300/31 -29°300/32 -40°300/36 -52°
HOUused from 745 nm out; 75 nm from the line160/22150/27 19°180/16 14°250/7 9°270/10 -5°270/16 -13°310/23 -29°310/26 -40°330/20 -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
SBN South Bend, IN departure no report just now 798 ft
LAF Lafayette, IN 80 nm out, 20 nm southeast of the line, tower no report just now 605 ft
CMI Champaign/Urbana, IL 129 nm out, 20 nm northwest of the line, tower no report just now 754 ft
SLO Salem, IL 219 nm out, 2 nm west of the line no report just now 573 ft
MDH Carbondale/Murphysboro, IL 268 nm out, 15 nm southeast of the line, tower no report just now 411 ft
ARG Walnut Ridge, AR 398 nm out, 2 nm west of the line no report just now 279 ft
SRC Searcy, AR 467 nm out, 9 nm northwest of the line no report just now 264 ft
LIT Little Rock, AR 507 nm out, 15 nm northwest of the line, tower no report just now 266 ft
DTN Shreveport, LA 656 nm out, 15 nm northwest of the line, tower no report just now 179 ft
JAS Jasper, TX 745 nm out, 21 nm southeast of the line no report just now 212 ft
IAH Houston, TX 825 nm out, 13 nm west of the line, tower no report just now 95 ft
HOU Houston, TX destination no report just now 46 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 HOU when you get there the forecast at the estimated arrival, 9:30 am CDT (14:30 UTC)

HOU 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 SBN 7:09 pm EDT (23:09 UTC), at HOU 6:54 pm CDT (23:54 UTC) (civil twilight ends 7:18 pm CDT (00:18 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 now, the lower Mississippi valley
Radar now, the lower 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: South Bend International, William P Hobby Airport.