Waypoints
Waypoints are optional. They are also the single biggest thing you control in the quality of a report, which is why the app shows a short explainer the first time you open the request form.
Why they matter
Without waypoints the analysis has two points and a straight line between them. That is enough to be useful, but it is a crude picture of where you are actually going to be.
With waypoints, the report knows the shape of the route, and that changes:
- Weather along the track — observations and forecasts are sampled near your waypoints, not just at the ends
- Terrain and obstacles — the ridge you are routing around stops being averaged into a straight line
- Airspace and TFRs — a dogleg that keeps you clear of a restricted area is visible to the analysis
- NOTAMs — notices are matched to the corridor you will fly
- Timing — where you will be, and roughly when
Even one waypoint noticeably sharpens all of that. Three is the maximum, and three well-chosen ones describe most light-aircraft cross-countries.
What the boxes accept
- Airports — by identifier or by name
- Navaids — VORs and other fixes
- Cities and towns — pick a city on your route and it snaps automatically to the nearest weather-reporting airport, so that area's conditions feed the report
That last one is the part most pilots miss. You do not need to know the nearest airport identifier; name the town.
Picking waypoints on the map
On airplane and helicopter briefings each waypoint box has a small pin button. The map opens over your route with departure and destination marked. Tap a spot to see the nearest reporting airport it will use, then Use this point. Typing still works as before.
- Route line and leg stats — the whole route is drawn and redrawn as you drop pins. A line under the map shows total distance, the extra distance over direct, and each leg's course and distance. Courses are true, not magnetic.
- Weather dots — past a regional view, reporting airports show as dots: green VFR, blue MVFR, red IFR, purple LIFR. Tap one for its METAR.
- Airspace outlines — Class B, C, D and special-use airspace. The Weather and Airspace buttons turn each layer on and off. The FAA service sometimes refuses requests; the map then says outlines may be missing.
- Resize — drag the bar under the map to make it taller or shorter, or use the expand button in the top-right corner. Every map on the form (glider, balloon, seaplane, area work) works the same way.
Choosing good waypoints
- Space them out. Three points clustered near the departure describe very little.
- Put one at the part of the route you are least comfortable with — the mountain pass, the water crossing, the corridor under a shelf.
- On a long leg, roughly quarter, half and three-quarter points give an even picture.
- If your route doglegs, put a waypoint at the bend. That is the whole point of the bend.
When there is nothing to name
Some routes genuinely have no usable airports or navaids. Describe the route in plain language in the Pilot Notes and Personal Constraints box instead:
"My proposed route has no usable navaids or airports as waypoints. After departing KBGR I will fly direct to the city of Skowhegan, Maine, direct to Rumford, Maine, then direct to my destination KLCI."
The analysis reads that and treats it as route information.
The explainer dialog
The waypoint explainer appears the first time you open the request form and has a Don't show this again box, remembered for your account. One-time guest purchases see it once per visit, because each purchase is a fresh report for someone who may never have seen the form before.
Enter waypoints in the order you'll fly them
The form reminds you to enter waypoints in flying order: departure, first waypoint, second, and so on to the destination. If the route doubles back on itself or runs much longer than flying direct, an amber note shows both distances. It never stops the report.
- A small × next to each filled waypoint clears just that one.
- Clear all waypoints wipes all three and leaves departure and destination in place.
- Reorder along route sorts them for you.
Tip: if the route zig-zags, the quickest fix is to clear the waypoints and pick them again in order — like wiping a chalkboard — leaving departure and arrival as they are. The waypoint map window has the same reminder and its own Clear button, and its WP1, WP2, WP3 pins show the order.
Direct flights and the en-route weather checkpoint
When the waypoint boxes are empty, the form shows a checked Direct box so you can see at a glance that you are planning a straight line. Add any waypoint and the box disappears; clear them all and it comes back. Nothing is placed on your course line for you.
The classic cross-country trap is fine at departure, fine at destination, bad in the middle. So on direct flights of 50 NM or more, the report quietly adds an en-route weather checkpoint: weather from the reporting airport nearest the middle of your course.
- It is weather only — never a turn, a stop, or extra distance, and it does not change fuel or timing.
- Gliders and balloons don't get it.
- Older saved requests that already hold a midpoint waypoint keep it until you clear it.
Map-pin waypoints
A waypoint picked on the map is flown over its exact spot for terrain, obstacle and over-water checks. Weather comes from the nearest reporting airport, which the report names. A pin with no airport nearby is allowed as a turning point, but not as a fuel stop.
Remote and water sites as endpoints
When you pin a helicopter landing zone or a seaplane water site as your departure or arrival, the route starts or ends at that pin — distance, maps, obstacles and terrain all use the exact spot you chose, and the report names the site (for example Moosehead Lake (weather from KMLT)). The nearest airport only supplies weather and notices.