How do I determine the appropiate altitude for my flight?

[David Vega]

Simple approach first. Go to http://www.fltplan.com, log in with user id: sax, and password: pilot. On the opening screen, find the section titled "Quick Info," select the aircraft you're using, enter departure and destination airports, and click on "Press Here for Quick Info" button. You should then see a quick info box showing you a suggested flight level based on the aircraft selected and the average, most favorable winds aloft. You also have the option to select "New Flt Plan" from the opening screen. Fill in the blanks there, including the route of flight, and you will then see winds aloft for each point on the route.

What other method do you use? Feel free reply to this posting with your preferred method.

0702/Vega.David/STL/04Jan05.1950z

[orac]

Dave, the link got lost in formatting. Working link is http://www.fltplan.com

The "suggested" flight level seems to be accurate only for flights starting and ending in the US. For any European or North Atlantic flights I enter, it seems to automatically pick FL370, regardless of which direction I'm going. Hmmm, it doesn't know Honolulu, either (PHNL).
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Neil

[David Vega]

Neil, thank you for the link correction. You've confirmed this site only has valid winds aloft info for the continous US. In their FAQ, they say:

Q: What geographical area is served by FltPlan.com?
A: At the present time, we provide full flight planning coverage for the contiguous U.S. only. We provide world-wide coverage of airport information (runways, communications, airport navaids, etc.), and also a means for simple distance and ETE calculations.

Now, does anybody know of a similar site that would offer winds aloft data for the rest of the world, or specific locations outside the USA?

Neil, what other method could one use to determine an optimal flight level(s) for a flight?

Dave, the link got lost in formatting. Working link is http://www.fltplan.com

The "suggested" flight level seems to be accurate only for flights starting and ending in the US. For any European or North Atlantic flights I enter, it seems to automatically pick FL370, regardless of which direction I'm going. Hmmm, it doesn't know Honolulu, either (PHNL).
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Neil

[orac]

Neil, what other method could one use to determine an optimal flight level(s) for a flight?

No idea Dave. In FS2004 the wing incidence isn't modeled, so the planes fly too far nose up. As a result, my primary altitude choice is one that keeps the nose down far enough to let me see out the windshield. FL350 westbound, FL370 eastbound. I've flown only one North Atlantic flight that caused me problems with 125+ knot headwinds at my FL, but since I didn't know what the winds were like at other FLs, and I had enough fuel, I just stuck it out. Passengers didn't like being 2 hrs late in arriving, but what else could I do.

I have been using http://www.flightplanning.navcanada.ca/ as a semi-decent resource for North Atlantic weather information.
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Neil

[chriszdc]

Dave -

It's not the best - it doesn't show Oceanic winds, but it gives a good representation of the land mass winds aloft

http://www.wunderground.com/US/Region/US/JetStream.html

[David Vega]

One can clearly see major wind patterns on this image, thanks. Another source of winds aloft is here, http://aviationweather.gov/products/nws/fdwinds/

This one gives you visual indicators on wind direction: http://www.usairnet.com/cgi-bin/Winds/Aloft.cgi

Dave

Dave -

It's not the best - it doesn't show Oceanic winds, but it gives a good representation of the land mass winds aloft

http://www.wunderground.com/US/Region/US/JetStream.html