The complete flight planning guide: from route selection to go/no-go

Route planning begins with the basics: where are you going, and what is between here and there? For VFR, plot the direct course on a current sectional chart and evaluate what lies along that line — terrain elevation, airspace boundaries, restricted or prohibited areas, TFRs, and the availability of emergency landing options.

VFR route considerations: Avoid routing directly through complex airspace (Class B, restricted areas) unless you have the appropriate clearance or equipment. Plan to fly along recognizable landmarks — highways, rivers, railroad tracks — when possible. Select an altitude that provides adequate terrain clearance, complies with the hemispheric rule (91.159 above 3,000 AGL), and keeps you in VMC. Identify emergency landing fields at regular intervals along the route.

IFR route considerations: File via published airways (Victor or Jet routes) or GPS direct. Check for FAA preferred IFR routes between major city pairs — these are published and using them increases the likelihood of receiving your filed route. Verify MEAs along the route provide adequate performance for your aircraft, especially in mountainous terrain. Consider the approach options at the destination and select a route that provides a logical transition to the expected approach.

For both VFR and IFR, identify diversion airports along the route with appropriate runway length, services, and weather reporting. Having alternates pre-selected reduces workload if a diversion becomes necessary in flight.

14 CFR 91.103 requires familiarity with weather reports and forecasts for every flight. The standard briefing from 1800wxbrief.com (Leidos Flight Service) is the primary source and includes:

Synopsis: A broad overview of the weather systems affecting the region. Fronts, pressure systems, and large-scale weather patterns that set the context for detailed forecasts.

Current conditions (METARs): Actual observed weather at airports along your route. Check departure, destination, alternate, and en route reporting stations. Compare current conditions to the forecasts — significant differences indicate forecast uncertainty.

Terminal forecasts (TAFs): Detailed weather forecasts for airports, typically covering a 24-hour period. TAFs include expected winds, visibility, ceiling, and weather phenomena. Pay attention to TEMPO (temporary) and FM (from) groups that indicate expected changes.

Winds aloft: Forecast wind direction and speed at various altitudes. These directly affect your groundspeed, fuel burn, and true heading. Strong headwinds may make a trip impractical from a fuel standpoint even if weather conditions are otherwise acceptable.

AIRMETs and SIGMETs: AIRMETs warn of moderate icing, moderate turbulence, sustained surface winds above 30 knots, extensive mountain obscuration, and widespread IFR conditions. SIGMETs warn of severe or extreme conditions including severe turbulence, severe icing, volcanic ash, and thunderstorms. Convective SIGMETs address thunderstorm activity. These are mandatory-review items.

PIREPs: Pilot Reports from aircraft already in flight. PIREPs provide real-world data on actual conditions — turbulence, icing, cloud tops, visibility — that may differ from forecasts. Recent PIREPs along your route are among the most valuable planning tools available.

Notices to Air Missions (NOTAMs) communicate temporary changes to the National Airspace System. Checking NOTAMs is mandatory — an unread NOTAM is not a defense for a violation or a near-miss:

Airport NOTAMs: Runway closures, taxiway restrictions, lighting outages, navaid shutdowns, and construction activity. These directly affect your ability to use the planned departure, destination, and alternate airports.

FDC NOTAMs: Flight Data Center NOTAMs cover regulatory changes, airspace amendments, and instrument approach procedure modifications. An FDC NOTAM might change the minimums on your planned approach or close an airway segment.

TFRs (Temporary Flight Restrictions): TFRs restrict or prohibit flight in defined areas for reasons including presidential movement (VIP TFRs), sporting events, firefighting operations, space launches, and disaster response. TFR violations are taken seriously by the FAA and can result in enforcement action, interception by military aircraft, or both. Check TFRs at tfr.faa.gov and through your weather briefing.

Review NOTAMs for every airport you plan to use and for the airspace along your route. On long flights, check for NOTAM updates before departure — a NOTAM issued after your initial briefing could affect your flight.

These three calculations are interconnected and must be performed for every flight:

Weight and balance: Calculate total weight and CG position for the planned loading. Verify both are within the approved envelope at takeoff and at estimated landing weight (after fuel burn). If the aircraft is over gross or outside CG limits, adjust the loading before adjusting fuel — reducing fuel to solve a weight problem creates a fuel problem.

Fuel planning: Calculate fuel required for taxi, takeoff, climb, cruise (at the planned power setting with forecast winds), descent, approach, and regulatory reserves (91.151 for VFR, 91.167 for IFR). Add fuel for the alternate if IFR. Compare the required fuel to the fuel onboard. Ensure you carry at least a one-hour total reserve beyond regulatory minimums for practical safety.

Performance: Using the POH performance charts, calculate takeoff distance (ground roll and distance to clear a 50-foot obstacle), rate of climb, cruise true airspeed and fuel flow, and landing distance for the expected conditions. Input the correct pressure altitude, temperature, wind, and runway surface. Apply the 50% safety factor to takeoff and landing distances recommended by the FAA Safety Team: if the POH says 1,500 feet, plan for 2,250 feet.

VFR:File through 1800wxbrief.com, by phone (1-800-WX-BRIEF), or through an EFB application. Remember to activate the plan (by contacting Flight Service after departure or filing "propose" time for automatic activation) and close it upon arrival. Failure to close a VFR flight plan triggers search and rescue procedures.

IFR: File at least 30 minutes before your proposed departure to ensure the flight plan is in the ATC system. Include: aircraft ID, type and equipment suffix, departure airport, proposed time, cruising altitude, route, destination, estimated time en route, alternate (if required), fuel on board, and pilot information. The equipment suffix (e.g., /G for GPS, /L for RNAV+DME) determines what approaches and routes ATC can assign.

ICAO vs domestic format:The FAA now uses ICAO flight plan format domestically. When filing online, the system handles formatting. When filing by phone, Flight Service specialists will assist with the format. The key difference is the equipment and surveillance capability codes in the ICAO format, which provide more detail about your aircraft's avionics.

The go/no-go decision is the most important decision in every flight. It should be made systematically, not emotionally. Establish your decision criteria before you begin planning — when you are objective and not yet invested in making the trip.

Personal minimums: Define your limits for ceiling, visibility, crosswind, turbulence, icing, and aircraft condition before each flight. These should be more conservative than regulatory limits and should tighten when factors increase risk: unfamiliar airport, unfamiliar aircraft, nighttime, fatigued, or carrying passengers.

Risk assessment: Use a structured risk assessment tool. The PAVE checklist evaluates four risk categories: Pilot (experience, currency, fitness), Aircraft (equipment, performance, maintenance), enVironment (weather, terrain, airspace, airport), and External pressures (schedule, passengers, commitments). If any single category is high risk, the flight requires mitigation. If multiple categories are elevated, the flight should not go.

The 3-strike rule: Some pilots use a three-strike approach: if three factors are not ideal (mild crosswind AND unfamiliar airport AND rusty currency), the flight is a no-go. No single factor might be a dealbreaker, but the combination increases overall risk beyond acceptable levels.

Departure and en route decision points:The go/no-go decision is not a one-time event. Continue evaluating throughout the flight. Set decision points before departure: "If weather at the halfway point is below my minimums, I will divert to [specific airport]." Having pre-planned decision criteria prevents in-flight rationalization.