OpenAI METAR/TAF Go-No-Go for Hot Air Balloon + Telegram

OpenAI METAR/TAF Go-No-Go for Hot Air Balloon — Automated Dispatch + Telegram Alerts

This n8n workflow automatically checks METAR/TAF weather at 04:30, classifies balloon launch risk with OpenAI, applies FAA Part 91 minimums, then posts the final GO/MARGINAL/NO_GO decision to your dispatch board and sends crew notifications via Telegram.

What this workflow does

Built for hot-air-balloon operations, it performs the following steps every day:

• Scheduled execution: Runs daily at 04:30.
• Fetch + normalize weather: Pulls METAR/TAF data for your configured launch site ICAO station using an HTTP request and normalizes key weather fields.
• OpenAI-powered classification: Uses an OpenAI text classifier to categorize raw weather remarks into GO, MARGINAL, or NO_GO.
• FAA Part 91 minimum enforcement: Deterministically checks hard limits for wind, gust spread, visibility, and ceiling. If any limit is violated, the workflow forces the outcome to NO_GO.
• Decision routing:
  • GO: Optionally runs a weight-and-balance sub-workflow, then posts GO or HOLD to the dispatch-board API based on pass/fail.
  • MARGINAL: Posts a deferred status to the dispatch board.
  • NO_GO: Posts a cancellation to the dispatch board.
• Telegram notification: Sends a Telegram message to the pilot/ground crew (or ops) matching the dispatched status.

Use cases

• Automate daily launch readiness decisions for a hot-air-balloon operation with METAR/TAF-driven risk classification.
• Ensure compliance by automatically overriding AI recommendations with FAA Part 91 minimums when hard weather limits are exceeded.
• Keep dispatch boards and crews synchronized through Telegram alerts and API status updates.

Technical details

• n8n schedule (runs daily at 04:30)
• HTTP requests for METAR/TAF and dispatch-board API calls (with header auth)
• OpenAI credential for the chat model-based text classifier
• Logic and control nodes: if, switch, set, code
• Telegram node for crew notifications
• sticky note (workflow documentation)

Setup includes adding OpenAI API credentials, HTTP header auth credentials for aviation weather + dispatch APIs, a Telegram Bot credential, and replacing REPLACE_WITH_LAUNCH_SITE_ICAO with your launch site ICAO station code.