LEFT SEAT CULTURE PILOT TOOLS

VFR Go/No-Go Assistant

Fetches live weather for your route and lines it up against legal VFR minima and your own personal minima, side by side. It doesn't tell you whether to fly.

VFR GO/NO-GO ASSISTANT · v1.4

Compare the forecast to your minima

Pulls live METAR/TAF for departure and destination, checks reporting stations near the direct track between them, and samples model freezing level along the route — then lines it all up against CAA legal VFR minima and your own personal minima. It does not tell you whether to fly — that stays your call.

Flight

Type an ICAO code or airfield name for live weather lookup.

Departure Destination

Departure date Departure time (UTC) Planned cruising altitude

Planned cruise IAS

Route (optional)

Departure time is used to select the relevant part of the TAF and to line up the winds-aloft/freezing-level forecast. Enter it in UTC.

Pilot & flight type

Used only to suggest a starting point for your personal minima below.

Licence / qualification Ratings held Night Rating

Time of flight

Day Night

Operation

Local Cross Country

Legal minima shown assume Class G airspace. If your route crosses controlled airspace, check the applicable clearance and minima separately.

Your personal minima

Starting suggestions load from your licence and ratings — treat them as a prompt, not gospel.

Minimum cloud base

Minimum visibility

Maximum crosswind

Weather

Fetches live METAR/TAF for both departure and destination (or each one's nearest reporting station), plus modelled winds-aloft and freezing level for the route.

Enter a departure airfield, then fetch.

Departure runway Destination runway

Winds-aloft (auto-filled) Freezing level (auto-filled)

Winds-aloft and freezing level come from open-meteo.com model data near the departure point, as a live stand-in for the F214 for the route generally — not the official Met Office chart, and not re-checked separately at the destination. Both fields stay editable.

F215 — surface pressure & fronts

Fronts, pressure systems and the wider synoptic picture aren't structured data, so this isn't scored above — it's a reference link for the wider picture, not part of the comparison.

View the live Met Office surface pressure chart →

How this tool sources its data

METAR and TAF are fetched live from aviationweather.gov's public data API using the departure airfield's coordinates. Many UK GA strips don't have their own reporting station, so the tool automatically falls back to the nearest one that does and tells you how far away it is. Winds-aloft and freezing level come from open-meteo.com's model data as a live stand-in for the Met Office F214 chart — not the official product itself. Fronts and the wider pressure picture (F215) aren't structured data, so that stays a link to the Met Office's live surface pressure chart rather than a number this tool can score.

Legal minima shown are a simplified reading of UK SERA.5001 for Class G airspace and may not reflect every rule that applies to your flight, especially near controlled airspace. Always confirm against an official briefing before you fly. Read the CAA Safety Sense 05: VFR Flight.

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