It’s always a bit iffy planning an IFR trip that will last more than 48 hours or so. You can make educated guesses on what the weather will be in four or five days (I check the forecasts on Yahoo), but anything beyond the NOAA’s ADDS prog charts (click here) is getting into increasingly uncertain territory. Of course, your airplane’s weather capability has a lot to do with how much this flexibility, or lack thereof, enters into your planning. For example, flight into known ice (FIKI) capability adds a lot of utility, especially this time of year. And even for a non-advanced technology aircraft like mine, a portable GPS with XM Weather is a huge help.
Still, I made a point each evening during last week’s National Business Aviation Association Convention in Atlanta to check the long-range forecasts for my planned return trip to New Jersey on Thursday. Everything looked good. High pressure was moving in, and Fltplan.com promised strong tailwinds, especially for the latter portions of the flight (only fair, given the headwinds on the way down). When I left DeKalb Peachtree Airport about noon, I was looking forward to a relaxed flight home at 7,000 feet with strong groundspeeds. Well, I suppose one out or two ain’t bad.
