Aviation charts online: VFR sectionals and IFR enroute, with live weather
The map above is the same chart engine that ships in the SkyReady pilot app, running in your browser: current FAA sectionals and enroute charts, the airspace and navaids drawn over them, and the weather that decides whether you go — free, no account needed.
What is on the map
Charts
The VFR sectional for the whole country, with the terminal area chart taking over automatically around busy Class B airports, and the IFR low and high enroute charts. Underneath them sit an aeronautical vector map, plus shaded terrain and satellite imagery (free once you sign in), and a hillshade and 3D view for the mountain flying that needs it.
Airspace and navigation
Class B, C, D and E airspace, Mode C veils, special use airspace, national defense airspace and stadium TFR sites, plus VORs and other navaids, fixes, airways and obstacles — drawn from the current FAA cycle. Tap any boundary and you get the altitudes, hours and controlling agency, not just a shape.
Weather
SIGMETs and convective outlooks, G-AIRMETs, freezing levels, pilot reports, station flight categories, NEXRAD radar and temporary flight restrictions. Filter the whole picture by the altitude you plan to fly: advisories that do not touch it drop out, and pilot reports away from it fade rather than vanish.
Time
The seeker along the bottom runs from two hours ago to the end of the published forecast. Drag it back and radar replays its five-minute frames while advisories switch to the snapshot published in that hour; drag forward and you see the validity the forecast actually carries. Press play to watch it move.
Chart cycles, and why they matter here
VFR charts change on a 56-day cycle and IFR enroute charts on the 28-day AIRAC cycle. SkyReady rebuilds its tiles each cycle from the FAA’s published files, and the Charts tab tells you which cycle you are looking at and how many days are left on it — so a chart that is about to lapse says so instead of quietly ageing. When a new cycle has not been built yet, the map says that too rather than showing you last cycle’s airspace as if it were current.
Where the data comes from
Charts and airspace come from the FAA (aeronautical charts, NASR, the TFR list); weather comes from the NWS Aviation Weather Center; radar is the NEXRAD composite via the Iowa Environmental Mesonet. SkyReady ingests each feed on its own cadence and serves it from its own cache, so the map reads the same products a briefer would — and keeps working when a source has a bad afternoon.
Planning map, not a navigation display
This page is for flight planning. It is advisory only: it does not replace an official weather briefing, current charts, or the FAA’s own NOTAM search, and it does not show your aircraft’s position. If you want the same map with your position on it, offline charts, alerts as you approach airspace and a logbook that keeps your currency, that is the SkyReady app.
More free tools
The aviation weather map is this map framed with an explainer of every advisory product it draws. The flight planner turns two airports into heading, ETE and fuel with live winds aloft and a weather cross-section along the route, and the diversion finder ranks nearby airports with fuel, an approach or a long enough runway. Every US airport also has its own page with live weather, runways and frequencies.
Questions
Which charts are here?
The FAA VFR sectional (with the terminal area chart taking over at close zooms), the IFR low and high enroute charts, an aeronautical vector map, terrain and satellite. The charts are the current published cycle, rendered by SkyReady from the FAA’s own source files and served as map tiles — they draw at every zoom level, so you can see the whole country or a single pattern.
Is it free? Do I need an account?
Free, and no account. Nothing on this page asks you to sign in. If you do have a SkyReady account, the map opens at your home airport instead of the continental US.
How current are the charts?
VFR charts follow the FAA’s 56-day cycle and IFR enroute charts the 28-day AIRAC cycle. The Charts tab names the cycle being drawn and how many days are left on it, and says so plainly when a cycle is about to turn over.
What weather does it show?
SIGMETs and convective outlooks, G-AIRMETs, freezing levels, pilot reports, station flight categories, NEXRAD radar and temporary flight restrictions — from the Aviation Weather Center and the FAA, refreshed every few minutes.
Can I look at earlier weather?
Yes. The time seeker at the bottom scrubs from two hours ago to the end of the published forecast. Drag it back and the radar replays its five-minute frames while the advisories switch to the snapshot published in that hour; press play to run the whole loop. Radar has no forecast, so it is hidden once you move past now.
Does it show airspace?
Class B, C, D and E airspace, Mode C veils, special use airspace (restricted, prohibited, MOAs, warning and alert areas), national defense airspace and stadium TFR sites, plus navaids, fixes, airways and obstacles. Tap any boundary for its altitudes, hours and controlling agency.
Can I use this for navigation in flight?
No. This is a planning map — advisory only, and not a substitute for an official weather briefing or current paper or EFB charts. It does not show your position and it is not certified for navigation. Brief and file through official channels.