Short explanations of every feature, written for pilots. New here? Start with the three steps below, then dip into whatever you're using.
Set your home field
Everything is measured from the airport you call home.
Pick what you want to do
Lunch run, practice approaches, a weekend away, or cheap fuel.
Explore with live weather
Every candidate shows current conditions, runway data, and reviews.
Discover answers one question: where should we fly today? Pick a trip idea (grab a bite, day in the area, practice approaches, overnight, cheap fuel) or leave it on All airports to browse everything in range.
Trip ideas measure one-way distance from your home field. Practice approaches is the exception: the budget there is total flight time, including the approaches themselves — about 20 minutes is reserved per approach.
Use Filters to set runway length, surface, lighting, airspace, towered/untowered, amenities, and ratings. Filters edit a draft — nothing changes until you press Apply.
Airports inside the DC SFRA/FRZ are hidden by default because they need a filed flight plan. Turn on 'Include SFRA' in Filters if you want them. Class B fields are skipped by default too; select Class B in the airspace filter to include them.
Choose Practice approaches in Discover, set your total flight time and the approaches you want (ILS, RNAV, VOR, or any type). Airports show how many published procedures they have.
Open an airport to see its procedures with FAA chart links, and a 'best for current wind' hint when the wind favors a runway.
Add airports to your practice day, then open Review day to pick the specific approach at each stop and how it terminates — full stop, touch-and-go, low approach, circling, or a missed that returns or diverts. Times update live.
The review page prints a clean PDF briefing with frequencies (ATIS/AWOS, approach, tower, ground, CTAF), weather, and your chosen approach highlighted at each stop.
Enter a departure and destination and NextField finds airports in the corridor between them — not just clustered near one end.
If you've saved your aircraft's fuel burn and usable fuel in your profile, the planner estimates legs between fuel stops and warns when a leg would run past your reserves.
On the map, markers show time ticks along the route, the halfway point, and where fuel runs out — handy for picking a fuel or rest stop.
Copilot is a trip-planning assistant that searches live airport, weather, and place data. Ask things like 'plan three approaches within an hour of KMQS' or 'find a weekend trip with an on-field restaurant'.
If you've saved pilot parameters, Copilot asks to confirm them before searching, and it will not suggest runways shorter than your minimum or non-hard surfaces when you require pavement.
Practice-day plans from Copilot open straight into the Review day page where you can adjust approaches and export the PDF.
Your profile holds the numbers NextField plans with: home airport, minimum runway, hard-surface and lighting needs, IFR capability and currency, night operations, Class B avoidance, weather minimums, lodging distance, and ground transport.
Aircraft details — cruise speed, fuel burn, usable fuel, and reserves — drive the range and fuel-stop calculations in Discover, Along the way, and Copilot.
Discover applies your saved parameters automatically and says so in a banner; you can Clear them for the session or Change them in your profile at any time.
Why don't I see private strips or military fields?
Search covers public-use airports. Private and military fields are excluded because access, fuel, and services can't be counted on for trip planning.
Why is an airport I know missing from results?
The usual cause is a filter — most often a minimum runway length, the Class B skip, or SFRA exclusion. Clear filters and search again; the page tells you when results were trimmed.
How fresh are fuel prices?
Prices come from pilot reports and live lookups. Each price shows when it was reported — treat anything old as a hint, and report what you see on the pump to help the next pilot.
How far ahead can I plan weather?
METAR is current conditions, TAFs reach roughly 30 hours out, and beyond that you get a multi-day outlook labeled as a planning aid only.
Does Discover know where I am?
No — everything is measured from the home airport you set. That's deliberate: you're planning where to fly, not searching from your phone's GPS.
What's the difference between a review and Hangar Talk?
Reviews are star-rated impressions of one airport, posted on its Reviews tab. Hangar Talk is open discussion — ask questions, share a trip report, or start a thread that isn't tied to any airport.
Ready? Head back to Discover or set up your pilot parameters.
Trips, Collections, and Hangar Talk
Save any airport with the heart, and add a note about why you saved it. Add airports to a trip — an existing one or a new one — from the airport page.
Trips can be shared with a public link, so friends can see your route and stops without an account.
Collections are idea lists built around your home field: food on the field, overnight stays, approach variety, cheap fuel, and fields you haven't visited yet. The hand-picked lists sit below.
Hangar Talk is the community board — start a general discussion, or comment on a specific airport, event, or trip. Reviews live on each airport's Reviews tab.