How I Actually Use PlaneWX
By Mark Wolfgang, Founder
"I don't rely solely on PlaneWX, and neither should you."
I built PlaneWX because I needed it — not because I thought it would be a good business, but because I was making real trips, under real pressure, with real people in my airplane, and I didn't have a good answer to the question: is Saturday going to work?
This is how I use it, week to week. Not as a replacement for the tools I've trusted for years — as an intelligence layer that sits alongside them.
Every trip goes in immediately
I don't wait until I'm close to departure to add a trip. Every flight I'm planning — regardless of how far out it is — goes into PlaneWX now.
Trip to visit family next month? Already in. Business leg three weeks out? In. Oshkosh in July? In.
Here's why it matters: the moment a trip exists in PlaneWX, Synoptic Intelligence™ starts building an intelligence picture from NWS Area Forecast Discussions — updated four times a day and describing pattern-level weather trends well beyond the TAF window. I want that picture developing before I'm emotionally invested in the trip.
Trip Watchers go on immediately too
I add Trip Watchers — family, passengers, anyone with a stake in the trip — at the same time I add the flight. They don't see my WX Score directly, but they get early indications of how the trip is shaping up from a weather standpoint.
When we made the plans, the conversation was already "you know it's always weather dependent — we might drive, we might flex the timing." Trip Watchers doesn't create that conversation. It keeps it alive with real data behind it. When someone sees early signals that Saturday isn't looking great, there's no surprise. The door to talk is already open.
And honestly — knowing someone else is watching makes you a better pilot. You're not just accountable to your personal minimums anymore. You're accountable to a person with skin in the game who can see the picture evolving.
Briefings start — I start watching
Once I'm inside the 2-week window, PlaneWX generates full briefings with a WX Score. At this stage the score is driven by Synoptic Intelligence™ and extended model data — it's pattern-level intelligence, not precision, and I treat it that way.
What I'm looking for this early:
- Any persistent red flag — a trough that keeps showing up, a frontal system tracking toward my route?
- Is the WX Score trending in the right direction or the wrong one?
- Any early signals in the multi-model icing or turbulence analysis?
I'm not making a go/no-go decision at two weeks. But I'm watching, and my stakeholders are watching with me.
If my WX Score drops below 75, I start cross-checking
Around a week out, if my WX Score is below 75 — into CAUTION territory — I get more active. I pull up the tools I've trusted for years: prog charts, extended models, the AFDs directly, and compare what they're showing me against what PlaneWX is telling me.
This isn't because I don't trust PlaneWX. It's because I don't rely on any single source. That's the whole point. PlaneWX is synthesizing three independent weather models (HRRR, GFS, and the European ECMWF) at multiple points along my route and corroborating with real-world PIREPs and AIRMETs — but it's still one system. Cross-checking is good airmanship.
If my WX Score is strong at this stage, I'm still watching. The score becomes more precise as departure approaches and more data sources come online.
Continuous cross-checking, all the way to wheels-up day
From one week out until departure, I'm continuously comparing what PlaneWX tells me against the tools I've relied on for years. Every time my briefing auto-refreshes — which happens automatically at every major planning milestone — I'm looking at the WX Score alongside what I'm seeing elsewhere.
Within 12 hours of departure, I complete the PAVE Risk Assessment inside PlaneWX. That's where everything converges: the weather intelligence, my pilot readiness, my aircraft's status, and external pressures. All four PAVE factors, pre-filled from my trip context, in one place.
ForeFlight gets a full independent briefing — always
When everything I've seen across PlaneWX and the tools I trust points to a go, I open ForeFlight and pull a complete, fully independent weather briefing. Not as a sanity check. As a requirement.
PlaneWX told me conditions look favorable. My other tools need to agree. If there's any divergence, I find out why before anything else happens.
This is what "not your sole source" actually looks like in practice.
PlaneWX is the intelligence layer — the long-range watch, the WX Score evolving toward departure, the synthesis that no EFB provides. The final pre-flight briefing is always independent.
That's what the Mentor service is for
If I get to departure and I'm not settled — borderline weather, something in the briefing not adding up, a gut feeling I can't shake — I use the Mentor service.
I'm matched with an experienced pilot who sees my exact briefing. Not a verbal description. Not a text summary. My actual WX Score, my personal minimums, my PAVE assessment. The conversation starts with real, shared data.
I've been flying for years. I still use it. A second opinion is not a sign of weakness when other lives are involved.
The Workflow at a Glance
| When | What I do |
|---|---|
| Any time | Add the trip immediately |
| Trip creation | Add Trip Watchers — family, passengers, stakeholders |
| 2+ weeks out | Briefings generate; watch for early red flags |
| ~1 week out | WX Score below 75? Actively cross-check with trusted tools |
| 1 week → departure | Continuous cross-checking; watch WX Score evolve |
| Within 12 hours | Complete PAVE Risk Assessment |
| Go decision | Open ForeFlight; pull a full independent briefing |
| Any doubts | Use the Mentor service |
PlaneWX is the intelligence layer I didn't have before — the thing that watches every trip I'm planning, continuously, and gives me a clear picture before I'm locked in. But it's one tool in a stack. It works alongside the tools you already trust. Always.
That's how it was designed. That's how I fly it.
— Mark
PlaneWX is an experimental decision-support tool. It is not a substitute for a complete, independent pre-flight weather briefing. Always obtain a full briefing from an independent source before any flight. Read the full disclaimer →