GA Pre-Flight Planning

A $25/yr subscription to Windy is money well spent. It's not the only weather I check, but it's the one I use most often. There are great layers to it and you can get skew-t charts in the app.

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CaptMcMooney@reddit

weather channel first for big picture then 1800wxbrief.com

check it again on the efb before takeoff if anything is questionable. will call if things are a bit difficult. honestly, at this point if i feel i have to call, i'm 90% not going

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RyzOnReddit@reddit

ForeFlight + Windy and/or Gramet generally.

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TxAggieMike@reddit

DUATS does not exist anymore.

Many will go to 1800WXBRIEF.com.

Some will call the human briefer.

Many will do the briefing through their EFB such as ForeFlight.

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West_Read_8698@reddit

“If this flight is seen on paper/reviewed for an accident, am I going to be seen as liable?”

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CaptMcMooney@reddit

follow the same mental steps every flight

pave/imsafe

weather, are we okay, within my minimums.

flight plan, notams, etc...

aircraft,

wallet, do i really want to pay for this trip

the wallet step has to be last, while you're at the airport keys in hand, if you ever think about it before leaving home, it's never worth it

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14Three8@reddit

For a local flight, if there’s any particularly nasty wx or wind. The gliders I tow stop flying far before the Pawnee.

For a longer XC, I call a briefer the night before and get a picture then. Wind forecast above demo xwind, convective activity that I can’t get around on a single tank of gas, etc. that’s where jdugrment comes in.

Also helping me, I imagine Juan Browne commentating like it’s one of his incident reviews.

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threeleafcloverspy@reddit

There are obvious no-gos, so I don’t think we’re talking about that.

On the borderline cases I like to limit myself to one thing I’m uncomfortable with. So if it’s at the top end of my comfort zone on wind, then I’m not going to go to a brand new airport. If I want to play around with a new tool (got a Sentry recently, or trying something new on ForeFlight) then I want a super easy flight where I’m comfortable with everything I’m doing. If I have an important meeting after my scheduled flight, I don’t want to do a longer trip where Im more likely to have delays or end up rushed.

It’s easy to say you shouldn’t fly if you’re uncomfortable but there really is a reality that you don’t improve if you don’t push yourself.

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BZ2USvets81@reddit

That's a good thought process. Thank you for sharing.

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BagOfMoneyNoChange@reddit

For long flights, I keep an eye on the prog charts on the days leading up to it. If they prog charts don't look conducive to a successful outcome, or having to stop, I'll adjust my strategic plan.

Otherwise, I just take a peek at the radar and METARs/TAFs along my route before driving to the airport.

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mirassou3416@reddit

This, I review weather starting a few days before the trip and adjust accordingly. There have been times when it's iffy and I've just decided to drive. I can recall one of those. We were flying back from PVD to HEF with an overnight at ISP. The morning of the flight from ISP there was a low pressure system sitting south of Long Island but everything from New Jersey southward was fine. I could have flown north and west around it and I was on an IFR flight plan.

I preflighted, started up, had clearance and called ground ready to taxi. I thought for a moment, called ground, shut down at the FBO and drove. Flew back commercially on the weekend and had a beautiful flight home.

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SimilarTranslator264@reddit

If where I’m going is better then were I am, I’m going.

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-burnr-@reddit

Check wxx. Above minimums = go.

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Kemerd@reddit

Try this ForeFlight course, it will revolutionize your planning

https://youtu.be/a61fznC69aU?si=qRQ_R-J-nufv3p2Z

It should be very structured, checking weather. Have you gotten your IFR yet? Once you do, how you flight plan will go up a level.

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vintageripstik@reddit

This includes some information on FAA recommended practices: https://youtu.be/6pmuprjAscg?si=3o-XwO27nrwSh3eP

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twistenstein@reddit

Kind of hard to type out a catch-all ADM decision.

If the winds are less than 40kts, and the nothing is outside the aircraft limitations, then I send it.

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BrtFrkwr@reddit

When it starts sounding like an accident report, I don't go.

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DanThePilot_Mann@reddit

I just default to go. Nothing bad has happened to me yet, so why not.

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DisregardLogan@reddit

ADM tells campfire stories about bro

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jet-setting@reddit

FRAT tools are what we try to teach to students, and how to use that objective approach towards risk assessment and mitigation.

A user here shared an app they created for this and I think its great

https://apps.apple.com/us/app/pilot-minima/id6756037844

The FAA also has a tool that is OK at least for understanding the concept.

https://explore.dot.gov/t/FAA/views/FRATTOOL/FRATTool?%3Aembed=y&%3Aiid=1

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__joel_t@reddit

For me this morning, it was three strikes: 1. Forecast strong gusting cross-winds at my home airport (near max demonstrated) 2. Forecast MVFR at my destination 3. Would have been the furthest I've flown from my home airport

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Competitive-Ask5157@reddit

I make the weather go/no go call well before I waste time driving to the airport.

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Random61504@reddit

Nothing worse than getting to the airport, preflighting the plane, ready to go, then realizing it isn't good weather and now you gotta tie it back up and drive all the way back home...

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Mundane-Reality-7770@reddit

Personal minimums contract. Takes out the guesswork.

At least that works for local to short xc

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Due-Letterhead6372@reddit

For a local area flight I'll just check the TAF. For an XC I'll get a weather briefing and make a decision based on what I see.

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rFlyingTower@reddit

This is a copy of the original post body for posterity:

How do you actually make your go/no-go decision before a flight?

I've been flying GA (as well as military) for a while and noticed almost everyone does it differently - some have a system, most just 'feel it out'.

Curious what the community actually does. Is there a structured process you follow, or is it mostly experience and gut?

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