al@qiclab.UUCP (Al Peterman) (06/02/88)
Does anyone know where to acquire a database of airport information.
What we need is the information in the Airports Facilities Directory in
a format that can be converted to MacIntosh Hypercard. Essentials include
latitude, longitude, airport name, identifier and hopefully runway lenghts.
It would be nice to have any other info available such as radio frequencies,
altitude etc.
If neccessary, we can convert from IBM format data, if we can get the
data in IBM format. That will require some conversion work, but ought to
be possible...
Please mail me any leads, or feel free to call my work number from
8:30 to 4:30 PDT. If there is some cost involved, we probably can pay
a reasonable amount for the data...
Thanks - Alan Peterman
--
Alan L. Peterman Aero Air Hillsboro, OR (503)-640-3711 wk
(503)-684-1984 hm
Airborne N33291 Cessna Cardinal RG
Net !tektronix!(psu-cs,reed)!qiclab!almentat@juniper.UUCP (Robert Dorsett) (06/03/88)
al@qiclab.UUCP (Al Peterman) writes: > Does anyone know where to acquire a database of airport information. > What we need is the information in the Airports Facilities Directory in > a format that can be converted to MacIntosh Hypercard. MacIntosh? Hmm... :-) ^ > Essentials include > latitude, longitude, airport name, identifier and hopefully runway lenghts. > It would be nice to have any other info available such as radio frequencies, > altitude etc. > If there is some cost involved, we can probably pay a reasonable amount for > the data. As I indicated in a post about three weeks ago, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration distributes the navaid information. They are treat- ing it very seriously, however, and, in conformity with a 1985 recommendation to impose mandatory updates to data, will ONLY sell the data as a subscrip- tion (and no, pleading as a Mac developer won't help--I tried). If you are interested, the data can be ordered from Richard Powell at 301-443-8761. The prices for the data (Visa/MC/check) are: Magnetic tape: (ASCII or EBCDIC, 1600 BPI, 0.5"): $600.00 Floppy disk (ASCII): $320.00 Paper: $270.00 And no, I haven't dropped any decimal points. The data is updated every 56 days, which should place it at about $50 a pop. I strongly encourage the net (software developers) to call Richard and bug him about releasing single-edition samples. He does not appear to have discretionary power, but perhaps, if he can report enough demand to his superiors, they will start to release sample copies. The data isn't in "HyperCard" format, but any competent programmer should be able to do something with the data. The data appears in text format, one navaid per line. Data includes mnemonic name, class, long/lat, city or location, range, altitude, operating times, state, and a variety of other information. If anyone on the net has this data, I would be grateful for one rel- atiely recent (within the last three years) copy. I'm able to proceed with my project, since the NOS *does* provide extremely detailed format information, but sooner or later, I'm going to need data to test it on. I still have not been able to find any *airport* information, however. I need (urgently) geometric databases: runways, taxiways, etc., in machine- readable form. Preferably for the entire planet, but I only need the Southwestern US (esp. Texas) to begin with. I am almost convinced that such data exists: the Jeppesen charts these days appear to be computer- generated, and no draftsman produced the NOS plates . If anyone has any tips, please forward them to me (earlier posters thought that IBM and the USGS might have the data, but I haven't been able to penetrate the bureaucracy far enough). NOAA/NOS does NOT handle the airport data; they, in turn, pointed me to FAA and the DOD's mapping agency. -- Robert Dorsett {allegra,ihnp4}!ut-emx!walt.cc.utexas.edu!mentat University of Texas mentat@walt.cc.utexas.edu at Austin {allegra, ihnp4}!ut-emx!juniper!mentat
jack@csccat.UUCP (Jack Hudler) (06/06/88)
In article <2726@juniper.UUCP> mentat@juniper.UUCP (Robert Dorsett) writes: > >al@qiclab.UUCP (Al Peterman) writes: > >> Does anyone know where to acquire a database of airport information. >> What we need is the information in the Airports Facilities Directory in >> a format that can be converted to MacIntosh Hypercard. > >As I indicated in a post about three weeks ago, the National Oceanic and >Atmospheric Administration distributes the navaid information. They are treat- >ing it very seriously, however, and, in conformity with a 1985 recommendation >to impose mandatory updates to data, will ONLY sell the data as a subscrip- >tion (and no, pleading as a Mac developer won't help--I tried). And rightfully so! How do they really know what you data will be used for!? Say you are working on a fight planner for pilots.. and you go and distribute this program for a fee or for nothing. And a pilot files a flight plan using the data and the data has an error concerning.. oh say a frequency of a VOR on the way.. or something just as trivial. Or the program fails to tell the pilot of in flight obsticals like moutains. The pilot may get pissed off or worse and then the lawyers start making money. Or a student pilot plays around with it :-). Anyway I am getting carried away with this tangent as I really don't know what you are going to use the data for.. but one could guess and I am tring to make a point (i hope). The goverment wants to know everyone who has the data so that as errors are found in the data (and there are errors) the corrections (ie. updates) can be sent out to those who are registered. I get astronomical data from NASA and they impose the same types of limits and astronomical data is not as important as airport data. They just don't want alot of outdated data out there and they have to make it as painfull as possiable to make sure your damn serious and not playing around. -- See above (214)661-8960
wms@cevax.berkeley.edu (Wiley Sanders) (06/08/88)
Re: Request for sample of NOAA naviad database: I have a copy of the complete database that was distributed through rec.aviation about a year or so ago (through the good graces of marcum@sun.com , a frequent contributor to rec.aviation.) Bear in mind the database is DEFINITELY out of date and NOT TO BE USED FOR NAVIGATION, but I will make it available to anyone who needs it, I suppose. It takes up three full-size 1600 bpi tapes so that's a lot of data. Let me know if you're interested. -wiley