Pilot Corner

Aviation weather: live METAR and TAF

Type an aerodrome's ICAO code (EGLL, LFPG, LFBO...): the Weather tab shows its latest METAR and TAF as published, with the METAR decoded into plain language (wind, visibility, cloud, temperature, dew point, QNH) and its flight category (VFR, MVFR, IFR, LIFR). The reports come from NOAA's Aviation Weather Center, a US public service that publishes observations from around the world.

Around the aerodrome you searched for, a map places the nearby aerodromes by their true bearing and distance, coloured by flight category, within an adjustable radius. The runway diagram calculates the headwind (or tailwind) and crosswind components from the METAR wind, on the aerodrome's real runways (public OurAirports data): it is an estimate of the best-aligned runway, not information on the runway in use.

To help you prepare a cross-country flight, the tab also shows a recent precipitation radar (Météo-France in France, EUMETNET OPERA in Europe, NOAA in the United States, RainViewer elsewhere, or NASA's satellite estimate), a forecast vertical profile of wind and temperature by pressure level, with the clouds, the 0 °C isotherm and the layers where icing is possible (Open-Meteo model), as well as sunrise and sunset times and aeronautical night (from sunset plus 30 minutes to sunrise minus 30 minutes).

VFR flight planning: nav log, frequencies and flight plan

The Planning tab prepares a complete VFR cross-country flight: draw your route on the map (aerodromes, VOR and NDB beacons, free points), find your aircraft by its registration, and get the navigation log with the forecast wind at your altitude, the magnetic variation, the headings to fly, the times and the fuel summary.

From the official SIA data, it lists the airspace crossed (CTR, TMA, FIS areas, restricted areas) at your altitude and the frequency to call all along the route, the beacons abeam and the nearby parachuting sites, then fills in the ICAO flight plan item by item. It all downloads as a PDF.

All about the flight planner →

Aviation unit converter

Distances (metres, kilometres, nautical miles, statute miles, feet), speeds (knots, km/h, mph, m/s), masses (kg, pounds), pressures (hPa, inches of mercury), fuel volumes (litres, US gallons) and temperatures: all the conversions that come up in PPL and ATPL theory, both ways.

The converter also turns a fuel volume into a mass using a typical Jet A-1 or AVGAS density, and gives an approximate density altitude using the rule of about 120 ft per degree of deviation from the standard atmosphere: a revision approximation, clearly flagged as such.

Navigation computer: the wind triangle

Enter the true track, the true airspeed (TAS) and the wind (direction and speed): the calculator gives the wind correction angle, the true heading to fly and the ground speed, like a mechanical flight computer. Two other blocks solve time, distance and ground speed, then the fuel required from a fuel flow and a flight time.

It is a chance to check by hand the navigation calculations covered in PPL and ATPL theory: a pure crosswind, for example, gives a ground speed equal to the square root of TAS squared minus wind speed squared.

FTL calculator: maximum flight duty period

The FTL calculator applies the fixed, well-known part of Table 2 of ORO.FTL.205 (Regulation (EU) No 965/2012, non-augmented, acclimatised crew): a maximum flight duty period of 13:00 for one or two sectors when the duty starts between 06:00 and 13:29, reduced by 30 minutes for each sector beyond two, never below 9:00.

Outside this time band, the regulation reduces this maximum further according to a detailed scale: rather than risk a wrong value, the calculator says so clearly, and it also warns you when the start of the duty falls within the window of circadian low (02:00 to 05:59).

Tools to revise for the BIA, PPL and ATPL

Reading a METAR, converting feet into metres, solving a wind triangle or finding a flight duty limit: these questions come up in the exams. To practise on the questions themselves, see the question banks for the BIA (FR), the PPL (FR) and the ATPL (FR), the aviation glossary (FR) for abbreviations, and the psychometric tests to prepare for a pilot selection.

Frequently asked questions