[Flightgear-devel] Airports Database (was Around the world...)

[Mally <ma...@tk...>]

David wrote:
> Thanks for the pointer, but that's not the information we need; at a
> minimum, we need to know the runway number, length, width, heading,
> precise center location (lat/lon) and surface type of each runway for
> each airport; other information, such as lighting, taxiways, and
> precision markings, is also useful, but we can start without it.

Did you click on the airport name?  Clicking on JOSE MARTIN INTL would have
taken you to http://www2.fallingrain.com/air/index.cgi?info=1882 which has
info on lat/lon to 6 dec places (not necessarily runway center though),
elevation, mag. variation, airport type, atis/approach/tower/ILS
frequencies, runway dimensions, orientation and surface (ASP=asphalt?) plus
other information.

In any case, the point I was trying to make was that finding the information
generally isn't a problem, it's getting it encoded.  I was just checking the
details of Jose Martin Intl when I came across another even more
comprehensive database at http://worldaerodata.com/ .  This even lists
separate lat/lon/elev for each runway, and is very detailed (no taxiway info
though).

A little bit of digging showed that this website is based on the US
Government DAFIF data, which used to be available only on CD (for a fee),
but now appears to be freely downloadable online from the National Imagery
and Mapping Agency with no restrictions on use other than a couple of
acknowledgements and disclaimers.  In addition to the database files,
there's comprehensive information on the database structure, and updates on
a 28 day cycle (certified for aeronautical use).  See
http://164.214.2.62/products/digitalaero/dafifindex.html for details.

Mally