Route overview

Go or No Go: never judge a forecast by its radar image

No matter how often your instrument instructor told you to look beyond the radar image, you still start every preflight planning session with a look at the green and yellow on ForeFlight's Maps page. Unfortunately, today's map looks quite colorful, with rain all over the eastern half of the US. That could be a problem, since you're trying to fly your Mooney 201 from your home in Richmond, VA (RIC), to Charleston, SC (JZI), for a family vacation. Read the forecast below and tell us if it's a go or a no go.
Radar map

Go Or No Go: skirting a low

General aviation worked its magic for the first half of this trip, with your Piper Saratoga delivering you and your spouse to the Bonnaroo music festival in rural Tennessee in just over two hours compared to the six it would have taken to drive. Now can it work on the way home? Departure time is 1900Z—read the weather reports below and let us know if it's a go or a no go for you.
ForeFlight radar map

Go or No Go: spring cold front

Sometimes it feels like Mother Nature has access to your Flights tab on ForeFlight: it sees your planned trip and places a front right across your route. That's what today looks like a first glance, as a solid line of rain stretches from Maine to Texas—right in the middle of your planned Atlanta (FTY) to Memphis (MEM) trip. Read the weather briefing below and then tell us if this flight is a go or a no go.
Route overview

Go or no go: Appalachian IFR

Today's trip, from Chattanooga, Tennessee, to Greensboro, North Carolina, is perfect for general aviation. Instead of a six hour drive along the winding roads of the Appalachian Mountains, you can fly your Mooney there in less than 90 minutes. That's assuming the weather cooperates, of course, and a quick look at ForeFlight suggests there might be some work involved. Your airplane is well-equipped and you are instrument current, but is that enough today? Read the weather briefing below and decide what you would do.

Go or No Go: hurricane evacuation

Just as the weather forecasters have been warning for a week, Hurricane Ian is bearing down on Florida. You've been watching with interest from your home on the east coast of the state, and the latest projection shows it moving right up the heart of Florida. Your wife is already in Montgomery, Alabama, staying with family—now it's time for you to make a decision.
Radar overview

Go or no go: desert storms

Living in Arizona, you make it a habit to land by noon in the summertime—after that, the heat of the desert often leads to turbulence or thunderstorms. That's not an option today, since it's already 12:30 local time, but it's close. Ideally you'd like to fly from Scottsdale, Arizona (SDL), to Las Vegas, Nevada (VGT) before things get too sporty. The flight in your well-equipped Turbo Cessna 310 should take just under 1 hour and 30 minutes en route.
Route

Go or no go: how much ice is too much?

Just because the calendar says spring doesn't mean in-flight icing is no longer a concern—especially around your home base in Chicago. So today's proposed flight home from Detroit (PTK) to Gary, Indiana (GYY), might be a challenge. You are instrument rated and current, and you're planning on an IFR flight. Your Cirrus SR22 has a TKS deice system but not a "known ice" system.
ForeFlight overview

Go or No Go: VFR ahead of a cold front

It's Monday morning, and that means it's time for work. This week that means (hopefully) a one hour and ten minute flight in your Cessna 172, from your home in Greenville, South Carolina (GSP), to your satellite office location in Danville, Virginia (DAN). Read the weather briefing below and then decide whether it's a go or a no go.

Go or No Go: cut-off low conundrum

After a beautiful early fall, a cut-off low has installed itself over the southeastern United States and brought with it rain, storms, and IFR conditions. You need to get to Nashville from your home outside Cincinnati, so you've been trying to pick the right time for the two hour trip in your Cessna 182. Is this it?

Go or No Go: Cirrus vs. southern storms

You had hoped to get away earlier today, but business meetings have a way of running long and that's exactly what happened. As a result, your proposed flight will depart Nashville, Tennessee (JWN), at 3pm local, for a two hour and 30 minute flight to Shreveport, Louisiana (DTN). Read the weather briefing below, then tell us if you would make the flight or cancel.

Go or No Go: summertime in Florida

Summer in Florida means thunderstorms, but often the cells are widely scattered and easy to avoid. Will that be the case today? The mission is to fly your Cessna 172 from Orlando Sanford Airport (SFB) up the east coast of Florida, landing at Saint Simons Island (SSI). It should take about 1:15, and while you'll be able to monitor the weather with your iPad and ADS-B receiver, the flight will be VFR since you are not instrument rated.

Go or No Go: ice and storms over Montana

Today is one of those "in between" days, which are frustratingly common in flying. The weather isn't great, with some rain and potential in-flight icing, but it's not terrible either, and you fly a well-equipped airplane. The mission today is to fly from your home in Bismarck, North Dakota, to Billings, Montana, the first leg on a five-day tour of the Western United States. The flight should take just under two hours—if you can go.

Go or no go: how bad is the turbulence?

Over the last 10 years, you've gotten to know your Mooney 201 quite well, using it to travel around the central United States at 160 knots. You're hoping to do that again today, on a flight from your home in Wichita, Kansas (ICT), to Amarillo, Texas (AMA). Read the weather reports below and tell us if it's a go or a no go for you.

Go or No Go: home before the rain?

The goal today is to fly your club's Cessna 172 from Marathon (MTH) to Orlando (ORL), Florida. It should take about two hours, and with a proposed departure time of 4:15pm, you would be landing a little before sunset. But the weather you see on ForeFlight isn't exactly quiet. Since you do not have an instrument rating, this flight will have to be made VFR. Can you get to Orlando safely?

Go or No Go: over the ice at night?

Today's mission is to fly from Duluth, Minnesota (DLH), to your home in Columbus, Ohio (OSU). It's nearly 5pm in Duluth, so this flight will be completely in the dark. Your airplane is a Cirrus SR22T, with a full Garmin G1000 glass cockpit, autopilot, and datalink weather. Read the weather briefing below and tell us if you would take off or cancel.

Go or No Go: above or below the clouds?

You earned your instrument rating years ago, but you haven't been current in a long time. Now you're kicking yourself for that lapse in currency, because your VFR-only limitation is going to make an easy IFR flight into a marginal VFR flight. You're hoping to fly your 1972 Cessna 182 from your home in Middletown, Ohio (MWO), to Marion, Illinois (MWA). Will the weather cooperate?

Go or No Go: above the bumps, below the ice?

Fall in Maine is simply wonderful, as you've seen for yourself this week. The air was crisp and the colors on the trees were beautiful, but now it's time to fly home. Your Cessna 310 is fueled up and ready to make the 3.5 hour flight from Bar Harbor (BHB) to your home near Gaithersburg, Maryland (GAI). Will the weather cooperate?

Go or No Go: smoky San Carlos

The overall weather for your flight today from Scottsdale, Arizona (SDL), to San Carlos, California (SQL), looks excellent—no fronts, no storms, no ice, hardly any clouds—with one exception. Huge wildfires have covered much of Northern California with smoke. That means widespread IFR conditions near your destination. Can you make the trip?

Go or No Go: another summer day in the Southeast

Another summer afternoon, another radar splattered with red and yellow cells. After many years of flying in the Southeast, you're used to this picture but that doesn't mean you ignore it—thunderstorms are a serious threat for any airplane. The goal today is to fly from Sarasota, Florida, to Atlanta, Georgia, in your Cirrus SR22. Will the weather allow it?

Go or No Go: dodging storms in the Southeast

The mission today is to fly from your home in Louisville, Kentucky, to visit your business in Atlanta, Georgia. With the coronavirus pandemic, you're trying to do it in a day and save the hotel stay. You made it to Atlanta easily with an 8am takeoff, but now the question is whether you can make it home. As you review the weather in the pilot's lounge at PDK, ForeFlight shows some pop-up storms.