Favorite Flight Planning Websites

TXTBOOK

Well-Known Member
I'm in the middle of my PPL cross countries, and I'm trying to decide which website is best to plan my flight.

Instead of asking a personalized question about my situation, I thought I'd just open it up to you guys: what flight planning websites do you use? I know there are flight planning software out there... I'd like to keep this a "free resource" discussion, as I and I'm sure many other student pilots can't afford to spend any money on flight planning.

Above is a poll of the flight planning websites I know of. Let me know what you think is best. I've made it so you can choose multiple sites if you use some sort of combination.
 
Skyvector all the way.

It has all the charts you need in an easy-to-read format. Great for looking into an area you've never flown into before and getting an idea of what to expect.
 
I agree, I love SkyVector. However, I need the flight plan sheet thing filled out, with frequencies, distances, etc. and SkyVector doesn't provide that (or atleast I don't know how to do it).
 
I voted duats but it really is a mesh of things.
DUATS+
Aviationweather.gov+
Skyvector+
PaperCharts & A/FD
= success.
 
Skyvector all the way.

It has all the charts you need in an easy-to-read format. Great for looking into an area you've never flown into before and getting an idea of what to expect.

I prefer runwayfinder with its google maps interface, especially for a quick check of weather, airmets/sigmets, and visual inspection of an area I've never been to before. This is especially useful for VFR planning for private pilot training.

Otherwise fltplan.com is the only site to use for creating and filing flight plans, as well as checking weather, NOTAMs and GPS RAIM availability.
 
my E6B :D

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Flight planning websites make you lazy and you don't learn the necessary skills needed to plan a flight without them by using them. Forget the websites. Get a sectional, pencil, E6-B, and a plotter. You will be a much better aviator for doing so.
 
Sectional and plotter with duats weather with manual E6B for time and fuel and an A/FD for airport info when doing PPL.

Now I use a combination, Skyvector, AOPA, AIRNAV and Aviation Weather.gov plus the sectional and plotter and duats right before the flight. Just depends on the day I guess. But my favorite is still the old pencil and plotter.
 
Flight planning websites make you lazy and you don't learn the necessary skills needed to plan a flight without them by using them. Forget the websites. Get a sectional, pencil, E6-B, and a plotter. You will be a much better aviator for doing so.

Word. I've never used the internet for anything other than getting weather, NOTAMS, etc.
 
Flight planning websites make you lazy and you don't learn the necessary skills needed to plan a flight without them by using them. Forget the websites. Get a sectional, pencil, E6-B, and a plotter. You will be a much better aviator for doing so.

I disagree. It's very important to know how to do it old school and be able to do it old school at a moment's notice, but flight planning websites add a huge convenience that in my opinion does not compromise on safety.

It's the same as going to DUATS instead of calling the briefer, or using a glass panel instead of the six-pack. It's important to know how to do it all, but there's no harm in picking the more convenient. :)
 
I agree, I love SkyVector. However, I need the flight plan sheet thing filled out......distances, etc. and SkyVector doesn't provide that (or atleast I don't know how to do it).


okay, i see what you are saying now. Really the best tools for a VFR xc with non airport checkpoints is a pencil, plotter and sectional.
 
Word. I've never used the internet for anything other than getting weather, NOTAMS, etc.

Those are the only things you should use the internet for. Especially aviationweather.gov. That site rocks. I beleive it's not a "legal" sorce of weather info though as opposed to calling FSS or using DUATS.
 
Flight planning websites make you lazy and you don't learn the necessary skills needed to plan a flight without them by using them. Forget the websites. Get a sectional, pencil, E6-B, and a plotter. You will be a much better aviator for doing so.

Word. I've never used the internet for anything other than getting weather, NOTAMS, etc.

I've said this before, but it's okay to use technology sometimes. The internet is a great resource for planning (SkyVector, DUATS, etc.); just make sure that what you're seeing on the screen passes the TLAR test. That is, "That looks about right." :)
 
I disagree. It's very important to know how to do it old school and be able to do it old school at a moment's notice, but flight planning websites add a huge convenience that in my opinion does not compromise on safety.

It's the same as going to DUATS instead of calling the briefer, or using a glass panel instead of the six-pack. It's important to know how to do it all, but there's no harm in picking the more convenient. :)

I agree that using them is a nice convienence once u have the skills to do it old school, but nobody should ever use them in PPL training, ever!

Just my 2 cents.
 
Those are the only things you should use the internet for. Especially aviationweather.gov. That site rocks. I beleive it's not a "legal" sorce of weather info though as opposed to calling FSS or using DUATS.

Incorrect. Fltplan.com is a QICP weather service provider certified by the FAA. Aviationweather.gov just recently became a QICP site as well. You need to follow the directions and apply for an account in order to receive QICP services.
 
I never liked the way duats is layed out when you print it. It looks overly complicated. A good VFR flight log is much easier to read i think.
 
Incorrect. Fltplan.com is a QICP weather service provider certified by the FAA. Aviationweather.gov just recently became a QICP site as well. You need to follow the directions and apply for an account in order to receive QICP services.

Oh, nice. Thanks for the heads up. :D
 
If you're going to just be tooling around the area, I've found using the hourly forecast on weather.com and then looking at the METARs for specifics is a very effective yet simple method of determining whether or not a VFR flight is doable. For a cross country, call a briefer :)

Going to weather.com first is good idea because it will give you an idea of whether or not going through the work of checking the METARs and TAFs is even worth the effort. For instance, if it's winter and i see anything worse than flurries, that tells me that I shouldn't even bother checking aviationweather.gov
 
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