Tutorials

Crosswind Calculator

The Crosswind Calculator is designed for student pilots, flight instructors, and experienced aviators looking to refine their crosswind landing skills. By targeting specific wind conditions, it enables safer and more effective training.

How it works: The calculator analyzes current weather conditions at airports within your specified search area and identifies which ones have crosswind components that fall within your desired training range. For each airport, it examines every runway and calculates the crosswind component by comparing the current wind direction and speed against each runway's magnetic heading.

The system starts with your location and searches outward, filtering airports based on your runway requirements (length and surface type). For each qualifying airport, it retrieves the latest METAR weather data and performs trigonometric calculations to determine the exact crosswind component for each runway. It then identifies runways where the crosswind falls within your specified range (e.g., 8-15 knots) and presents them as training opportunities.

When forecast mode is enabled, the calculator uses TAF (Terminal Aerodrome Forecast) data instead of current conditions, allowing you to plan training sessions hours in advance. The system accounts for wind direction changes throughout the forecast period and shows you when specific crosswind conditions are expected to occur.

What to expect: A curated list of nearby airports that match your specified crosswind conditions, including wind speed, direction, runway characteristics, and optionally forecasted winds based on time of departure. Each result shows the calculated crosswind component, headwind/tailwind component, and the specific runway that provides your desired training conditions.

1. Enter the ICAO code for your current or desired location.
2. Set your desired crosswind range (e.g., 5 kt - 15 kt).
3. Define runway parameters such as minimum length and surface type (hard or soft).
4. Select a filtering method: by distance or flight time.
5. Toggle forecast mode to use weather forecasts, specifying a future departure time.
6. Click Search to see qualified airports, along with wind data, runway headings, and filtering logs.

Glide-Aware Flight Planner

The Glide-Aware Flight Planner is aimed at safety-conscious pilots, especially those flying gliders, single-engine aircraft, or conducting VFR flights. It ensures that your chosen route always maintains access to nearby airports within gliding range.

How it works: The planner creates a route that maximizes your emergency landing options by connecting navigation fixes that keep you within gliding distance of suitable airports. Instead of flying a direct line from departure to destination, the system plots a path through waypoints where you can always reach an airport if your engine fails.

The algorithm starts by drawing a "safety corridor" around your direct route, then searches for navigation fixes within that corridor that are glide-safe (meaning you can reach an airport from that position given your altitude and glide ratio). When it finds a glide-safe fix, it adds it to your route and redraws the corridor from that new position to your destination, continuing this process until you reach your final airport.

If no glide-safe fixes are available in a section, the planner will choose the fix that makes the best progress toward your destination while staying within your specified deviation limits. The system also accounts for terrain by assuming that airports at high elevations have surrounding terrain at similar altitudes - so if you're flying at 7,000 feet, an airport at 6,000 feet is considered unsafe due to terrain proximity.

What to expect: A route with waypoints that prioritize safety over efficiency - your path may be longer than direct routing, but you'll have continuous emergency landing options throughout most of your flight. You'll also receive airport filtering, wind forecasts, and terrain-aware planning.

1. Input departure and destination ICAO codes.
2. Specify your aircraft's cruise altitude, glide ratio, and true airspeed.
3. Filter results using runway length and surface type if needed.
4. Enable the forecast checkbox to input a departure time and retrieve weather-influenced route calculations.
5. Click Generate Flight Plan to display the safest route, a detailed results section, and a coverage map.