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Creating a basic airport database (merged)

Peter_Mundy wrote:

I have zero idea if it is possible but the kind of thing which would solve the language problem would be to buil a “Translate” button into each PIREP which would push the text to Google Translate or something similar

Yes that’s very doable. It may be more important right now to focus on the user experience and find a way to incentivize people who’ve never flown for lunch to take a first trip, but proper internationalization is on the list.

As Michael Caine said at the end of some bank robbery movie: I have a great idea. Why don’t you go for convergence. People pay any money for convergence (camera+phone)

Build an airport database.

90% of the effort will be the overall functionality.

Look at eddh.de (which is IMHO a horribly designed site) and make it work properly for modern browsers and non German speakers.

Most people who fly to places don’t just sit at the airport restaurant. That is a sure way to drop flying pretty quick. I have landed at some 150+ airports and I reckon 90% of them barely had a vending machine and certainly no edible food. The biggest contributors to a project like this will be people who fly quite a bit (most contribs to eddh.de are a very small band of pilots who have loads of money to spend on avgas) and that isn’t the people who fly to airport restaurants.

Administrator
Shoreham EGKA, United Kingdom

@Peter, I agree that a nice, modern airport database would be helpful. I used airnav.com in the US; it doesn’t qualify as modern but it was a decent entry point in most of the cases.

This project stems from the observation that a large number of pilots at the flying clubs I got the chance to visit over the past 6 months seldom venture beyond the local area. I would like to show these pilots that going farther isn’t necessarily very complicated and that it is a very rewarding experience, and I would like to help them “spread their wings” as much as I could.

I started with “short trips to have lunch somewhere” because that’s the simplest mission I could think of that would have a non-aviation goal in it. Eventually it could grow

So, for these pilots, what would the tipping point where they actually start scheduling trips? Is it because they have a directory of “experiences” to choose from? Is it because they have an app to connect to other people within the same flying club interested in the same kind of destinations (some kind of reverse wingly in a sense)? Is it because they have access to an online handler who would take care of all the details such as ground transportation, parking fees?

(Sorry if that question has been debated many times over..)

A “directory of experiences” is a great concept.

When I started flying, c. 2001, I had somehow acquired a French airfield guide. Don’t recall the name. It was about 30mm thick and for each airport listed a ton of restaurants and hotels. Very colourful, and only in French. The establishments presumably paid to be listed. I doubt anybody buys that book 17 years later, but you never know…. In more general terms and without any “presentation” the worldwide ACUKWIK airport directory performs some of that function, but is very expensive and clumsy and AFAIK only corporate pilots use it.

I think a database which covers not just the airport (and airport specific stuff like whether Handling ripped you off €100 for a 100m bus ride ) and not just the airport restaurant, but nearby experiences (places to see) would be the way to do it. As I said, most people don’t fly “to the airport” so this would make a much better use of the assets which you will be developing.

Administrator
Shoreham EGKA, United Kingdom

The Pilot Stopover Guide – no longer available to the best of my knowledge. Invaluable guide to the airfields and surrounding area.

EHLE / Lelystad, Netherlands, Netherlands

It had a French name, I think.

Administrator
Shoreham EGKA, United Kingdom

Pilot Stopover Guide was the sub title – the book was long, narrow and thick. They also had an app at one time but I can’t find it in the app store.

EHLE / Lelystad, Netherlands, Netherlands

I haven’t tried this app yet, but with some additional features it could be useful: http://www.runwaymap.com/

Slovakia

@Peter, wasnt’it called the “Delage” ?

LFOU, France

Yes that’s the one.

Administrator
Shoreham EGKA, United Kingdom
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