PlaneWX
EAA AirVenture 2026 · Forum Stage 10
Advanced Aviation
Risk Management
Mark Wolfgang · Founder
Forum Stage 10 · Wednesday 4 PM
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Giveaway · try the app free
The question every pilot dreads
"Are we going to be able to
make the flight?"
That's the question we're here to answer — earlier and better.
Quick show of hands
Who's in the room?
1 · Who is a PlaneWX user?
2 · Who used it to plan the flight here?
3 · Who is using PlaneWX to get back home?
Look around. You're not alone in this room — or in the decision.
AirVenture 2026
This week · right here
PlaneWX pilots who briefed inbound to the Oshkosh area
116
Pilots briefed in
60
Already planning outbound
~150
Inbound assessments
94
Direct to KOSH
KATW · Appleton KFLD · Fond du Lac KGRB · Green Bay + satellites
The PlaneWX community
Pilots assessing weather risk every day
1,750+
Pilots
~1,950
Aircraft
10,000+
Briefings
3.1M
Flight hours
Cessnas · Cirri · VLJs · Eclipse Jets · Citations · turboprops — same decision problem across the fleet
About Mark
Risk management
as a profession
  • U.S. Navy veteran
  • 22 years — professional penetration tester
  • IT risk management for a living
  • Sold consulting firm Dec 2022
Mark with aircraft
Personal risk
Willing to take the risk —
not willing to be surprised by it
I'll do things many people would call risky. I just want every risk on the table — so I can mitigate as much as possible.
The activity
  • ~7 years freediving & spearfishing
  • Breath-hold dives to 150 ft
  • Cave exits · fight the fish · surface
The mitigation
  • Every certification course available
  • Best practices — always
  • Risk work done *before* the dive
A lot of flying
in a short time
  • DA40 NG → PPL in ~6 weeks
  • IFR rating in 5 days
  • Now: TBM 900
  • ~1,000 hrs total time — in under two years
  • Commercial / Instrument · SEL/MEL
ForeFlight flight log
PlaneWX
"I built PlaneWX
because I needed it."
— Mark Wolfgang, Founder
The origin story
Thanksgiving 2024
  • Trip planned weeks out
  • Bentonville, AR → Fremont, NE
  • Bags packed · Dog ready
  • Family waiting
Thanksgiving 2024 flight — Bentonville to Fremont
What I told my wife every time:
"Yeah, we should be fine.
I'll know after the
TAF tonight."
TAFs only go 24 hours
Your trip planning window is much longer.
D-7
Plans made
No forecast
D-3
Commitments
accumulate
D-1
TAF arrives
Pressure: max
D-day
Decision forced
under pressure
Good information arrives at the worst possible moment.
External pressure kills judgment
Personal
  • Family commitments
  • Hotel reservations
  • Event tickets
  • "I said I'd be there"
Professional
  • Business meetings
  • Charter dispatch pressure
  • "Less cautious pilots" threat
  • Ego
The FAA names get-there-itis and external pressures as contributing factors in thousands of accidents. It is not a character flaw — it is a system failure.
Before TAFs exist
Area Forecast Discussions
Written by NWS meteorologists — for other meteorologists. Not for pilots.
Departure
Tulsa
covers Bentonville
En route
Wichita
corridor weather
Arrival
Omaha
covers Fremont
  • I tried to learn every technical term
  • Updated four times a day
  • Read three · synthesize · repeat until departure
November 2024 · the lightbulb
I sent the Tulsa AFD to AI and asked:
"What are my chances of making
the Thanksgiving flight?"
It gave me something useful. I saw the potential for AI — but I didn't start building yet.
Why I waited
When I start something,
I go all in.
  • Sold my security company · Dec 2022
  • I'd been retired — and liked it
  • I wasn't ready to get back to work
  • So the idea stayed an idea
Thanksgiving 2025
Same problem.
One year later.
The exact same issue showed up again. That's when I decided — I had to get back to work and build PlaneWX.
2024: saw the potential  ·  2025: started building
The gap
TAFs don't go out far enough
You need a call before the pressure is on — while you can still move the trip.
What that became
Synoptic Intelligence™
NWS Area Forecast Discussions — synthesized for your route — in language a pilot can use. The big-picture layer before TAFs exist.
Synoptic · days out
Schedule decisions — reschedule or don't lock that day
TAFs · day-of
Execution decisions — still required, still yours
Regional Watch — powered by Synoptic Intelligence
Regional Watch · Synoptic Intelligence™ The big picture — before TAFs exist
PlaneWX
At its core
We quantify weather risk
Aircraft
Your aircraft capabilities
FIKI · cruise · equipment · performance
Pilot
Your personal minimums
Ceiling · visibility · wind · icing · turb
Not generic weather — a WX Score for this airplane and this pilot.
Decision support — not a weather display. You still own the call.
WX Score card — quantified weather risk
The go / no-go decision
Three pillars
Weather is one element. The call is bigger than the briefing.
01
Weather briefing
Aircraft-specific risk — scored as a WX Score you can act on.
02
PAVE self-assessment
Pilot, Aircraft, Environment, External pressures — structured and timed.
03
Mentor network
A second set of eyes on your exact briefing — when the call still feels hard.
Together — a cleaner go / no-go. You still own the call.
Pillar 1 · Weather briefing
KUES → KOSH
Planned 13:30 · Departed 14:34 · Same briefing that scored me at 0%
WX Score 0% — KUES to KOSH
WX Score · planned 13:30 0% — arrival visibility below my minimums
How to read a 0%
Not mission impossible.
High workload.
  • Many of the risks can be mitigated
  • Experienced pilot in the right seat
  • Backup plan: divert — or return to origin
  • I chose to fly · knowing it would be tough
Flight Window Explorer
Flight Window Explorer Later windows were clearly better — I still left at 14:34
What happened
Departed into marginal VFR.
Held. Diverted.
  • Marginal VFR · traffic stacking for KOSH
  • Circled south · held · monitored the radio
  • Too much traffic to attempt the arrival
  • Returned to KUES — the backup plan we briefed
Ceilings and visibility with wildfire smoke
Ceilings · visibility · smoke Wildfire smoke in the briefing — scored against my VFR minimums
While You're There — ground weather
While You're There · new Ground weather at the destination — protect the airplane
How I actually use PlaneWX
"I don't rely solely on PlaneWX,
and neither should you."
Intelligence layer
  • Every trip in immediately
  • Watch big patterns early
  • Trip Watchers · pressure early
  • Cross-check when score drops
Final preflight
  • ForeFlight — full independent brief
  • Not a sanity check — a requirement
  • PAVE within ~12 hours
  • Mentors if I'm not settled
One tool in a stack — alongside what you already trust.
Automation & AI
AI synthesizes — never invents
Synoptic started as a 2024 experiment — PlaneWX as a company in 2025. Critical calculations stay deterministic code — AI does not decide your flight.
What AI is used for
  • Briefing narrative synthesis
  • Synoptic Intelligence™ (AFDs)
  • Pattern / trend explanation
  • Pilot-friendly language
What AI is NOT used for
  • WX Score math
  • Personal minimums checks
  • Weather product retrieval
  • Winds · icing · turb scoring
Fed only verified NOAA / NWS / FAA data · required to cite sources · code validates critical numbers independently
Pillar 1 · Aircraft-specific
Same route · Same day · Two aircraft
SR22T (non-FIKI)
61
WX SCORE
SR22T
non-FIKI
  • Icing: beyond mins above 8,000 ft
  • Route requires FL120
  • Ceiling marginal departure
TBM 900 (FIKI + pressurized)
86
WX SCORE
TBM 900
FIKI
  • FIKI handles en-route icing
  • FL260 available: above weather
  • TAS: 330 kts — minimizes exposure
Pillar 2 · PAVE self-assessment
PAVE — with teeth
Weather fills the V. You still own Pilot, Aircraft, and External pressures.
  • Opens ~12h before departure
  • Briefing feeds Environment automatically
  • You add: fatigue, currency, stress, pressure
  • Objective weather + subjective readiness — together
PAVE final decision — PIC owns the call
PAVE · Your decision You document the call — PlaneWX does not make it
Pillar 3 · Mentor network
No pilot faces the call alone
Mentors see your exact briefing — same WX Score, weather analysis, aircraft, and minimums. The conversation starts with real data.
Need Help Now
Broadcast to available mentors. Shared briefing. Off-platform call — phone, text, WhatsApp.
Browse Mentors
Find someone who flies your type. Direct request. Experience finally transfers.
"A second opinion is not a sign of weakness when other lives are involved."
Ask a Mentor — Need Help Now and Browse Mentors
Ask a Mentor They see your briefing — you still own the call
What's been shipping
Not a static product
Flight risk changes every season — so does PlaneWX.
Live radar corridor
MRMS along your route for near-term departures
Wildfire smoke scoring
En-route vis scored vs your VFR minimums
While You're There
Ground weather — protect the airplane after you land
And more
Flight windows · Trip Watchers · mentors · free WX Score + PAVE
The confidence to go,
or the courage to stay.
™
PlaneWX
PlaneWX
Thank you
To every PlaneWX pilot who used the product, sent feedback, and helped shape what it became.
I couldn't have built PlaneWX without the input of other pilots.
This is your product as much as mine.
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