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Why not a Europe map with GA 'friendly' airfields?

Yes - that's the main one I had in mind.

The chap who seems to have contributed the most appears to be based in Greece (F. Ragousas).

The last visit to my base (EGKA) is 2004 and the avgas price is less than 50% of today's

That's the problem with that kind of data. It changes so fast that one still needs to verify it.

What is perhaps most useful in such a database is notes on transport options, the quality of the surfaces, quality of refreshments, etc. That isn't going to be in the AIP, and the airport staff are not likely to usefully comment on it even if you directly ask them.

Administrator
Shoreham EGKA, United Kingdom

A bit more information on my original post and why I suggested this... I own an Archer and next week I will make my first cross-channel trip to Caen, France. Baby steps. Larger ambition is to use the plane to tour around Europe. The problem is where to begin planning fuel, lunch, and overnight stops? For example, I am looking at a trip to Corsica and Carcassonne. Where do I stop along the way for fuel? There are numerous airfields on Corsica. Which one is the best to fly into? These are the questions anyone planning such a trip would seek answers to. To answer these questions, I had the daft idea to look through old posts from the last few years on various forums with the ambition of making a list of airfields where people seemed to have a good experience. I started putting this into GoogleEarth but it’s overwhelming and some of the feedback may be out of date. Plus I don’t know where half these airfields are and they may not even be along my route of flight. That’s a trip through France I am researching. I assume there are more off the beaten corners of Europe that are less well visited where a pilot’s feedback would be invaluable. The solution IMHO...a MAP BASED application where you can view airfields along the route. I wouldn’t over complicate this IMHO. It doesn’t need to be a flight planning, all singing and dancing application. Just a map accessible on a website (EuroGA) where airports are shown as symbols colour coded by feedback maybe? Or maybe the 1 to 5 star system like TripAdvisor uses? Again, I wouldn’t make this over complicated. What was your experience at airfield XXXX rated 1 to 5 and a box to leave comments? Ideas? -Jason

Great Oakley, U.K. & KTKI, USA

A map based airfield directory would be nice but probably not all that useful in itself because anybody planning a flight nowadays is likely to be doing it with a laptop/PC based flight planning app, not by spreading the charts on the floor and looking for airfields.

And such an app will show the airports.

When I do VFR planning I use Navbox Pro which, on a right-click, pops up a load of airfield contact details (which are mostly right, especially in N. Europe) so shooting off faxes etc to them is fairly easy.

You also at that point get the ICAO code which could be put into some airfield database where you could look up the other stuff.

OTOH it probably isn't that hard to have a google map based map of Europe and have the airports showing on that.

Administrator
Shoreham EGKA, United Kingdom

I can see the value in google map based web site where you can see at a glance (no click. symbols and maybe short labels):

  • Customs
  • PPR
  • AVGAS yes/no
  • Hard / Grass
  • A landing fee "level indicator" ( green, yellow, red )
  • ICAO code

Peter and Kerwin - The map I am suggesting isn't for FLIGHT planning, but rather TRIP planning if you get my drift. I think it would be useful to see on a map where fellow pilots have left positive feedback on their experience. Once you have sussed out where you want to stop and overnight or get fuel/lunch then you can use the likes of SkyDemon etc for flight planning. Does that make sense?

I don't see any reason to have yet another website with fuel prices, phone numbers, etc as it will be all out of date and it is in the various AIPs/websites anyway.

I am just suggesting a map to highlight the great stops/experiences that I see so prevalent on the trip forums.

The UKGA and you-fly websites are a start but it's not displayed on a map!

I can envision a map where the airfields with positive feedback are coloured green, negative red etc.

-Jason

Great Oakley, U.K. & KTKI, USA

The question I have to ask is whether you are flying to some place or to some airport!

It's true that many people just fly to an airport, have something in the cafe at the airport, and then fly back.

But I think they are the minority, among pilots who fly significant distances.

Most people fly to some city or other location.

And often a nice location has a crappy (or stupidly overpriced) airport, or vice versa.

If I understand you right, you are looking for a map showing nice places to go, rather than anything to do with airports - correct? Your original post said airports.

Administrator
Shoreham EGKA, United Kingdom

Kerwin - thanks for your post. I'd suggest all you list is in the AIP or SkyDemon etc. I am suggesting a map for the exclusive purpose of lining up airports for a trip based on needs such as:

-Is the airfield GA friendly? -Has someone had a bad experience there? -Has someone left a comment about some local knowledge that isn't in the AIP etc? -Was the stop a good place to overnight? -Did their plane get broken into? -Did stopping there facilitate a quick turn around? -Did they enjot the cafe?

I again reference my future planned trip to Corsica. Just a hypothetical example: I'd love to look at a map on a website, zoom into Corsica, and see that one airport is coloured green and has more reviews that the others. Just like searching for a hotel or restaurant feedback on Trip Advisor, the one with numerous reviews and 5/5 starts is the place to stay/eat/land!

-Jason

Great Oakley, U.K. & KTKI, USA

A colleague of mine who knows about this subject reports that 80% of the writeups on Tripadvisor are fakes....

I suppose a map based database where people just enter stuff in a free text format would be OK.

Administrator
Shoreham EGKA, United Kingdom

Peter - yes sort of. See my reply to Kerwin. If I am looking for a fuel stop in central France and don't want to mess with an overly bureaucratic airfield, where do I find a place to land? I can ask on the Forums, or I could use the suggested map to find a location along my route that fellow pilots have left positive feedback.

Great Oakley, U.K. & KTKI, USA
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