Review stages
Every request carries a review stage. It tells the analysis where you are in the decision, and it changes what the report emphasises.
Initial Planning Check
Days or hours out, while the flight is still an idea.
Forecasts dominate, observations matter less, and the report leans towards what to watch and what would change the answer. Use it to decide whether the trip is realistic, whether the route is sensible, whether you need an alternate plan or a different day.
Updated Conditions Check
The morning of, or a few hours before departure.
The picture is now a mix of current observations and short-range forecasts. This stage is about what has changed since you planned — a front that moved faster, a TAF amendment, a runway closure that appeared overnight.
Final Preflight Check
Standing at the aeroplane, about to go. This is the default.
Current observations carry the most weight, timing is matched tightly to your window, and the report is written as a go/no-go call rather than as planning material. Items to resolve are the things to settle before you start the engine.
Which to use
Use the one that describes where you actually are. A Final Preflight Check run three days early reads current weather that will be long gone by departure, and an Initial Planning Check run at the hold short line is softer than the moment deserves.
Running more than one on the same flight is normal and expected: plan with one, confirm with another. Each is a separate report.
A "Critical Flight" package that buys a set of stage-timed reports for one flight — scheduled against your ETD — is planned. Today each stage is requested individually.