http://flight-plan-database.tk News and Updates for the Flight Plan Database http://flight-plan-database.tk/webicon.png http://flight-plan-database.tk Sat, 08 Oct 2011 04:04:22 +0000 8613985ec49eb8f757ae6439e879bb2a
Seven months have flown by without so much as a whisper from me, so I think it's about time I update on the status of projects and the development schedule:

The ground up rebuild of the entire site (for terseness we'll call it FPD 2.0) is flying along and I expect it to be roughly four or so weeks till it is in a state ready for general release. The base work is in place and the slow part is getting it to look right. There'll also be some new additions coming in the following weeks, such as the introduction of an API to allow you to access the data within your own applications. Initially the data will be served in JSON, but XML shouldn't be far behind and other formats can be requested if you find the need. Some other parts, such as weather cycle access, will be missing from the initial release (it has been used ~4 times in as many months) and the reintroduction will depend on whether it is deemed worthwhile.

Flight Canvas has been sitting ready for about four months now, but I have been waiting until FPD 2.0 is out before that is released as it relies on some of the new , so expect that shortly after the new site is out.

2012 Edit: Well, things happened and the amount of time I can work on this site has been drastically cut to near nil. These sorts of massive delays seem to be the story of life at the moment...but I'll get back to it when I can.]]> Thu, 11 Aug 2011 15:11:53 +0000 7647966b7343c29048673252e490f736 It is, however, a little bit slower than the old one due to the more complex algorithm used, but I should be able to slowly bring the generation times down with fixes here and there. Basically, the longer the route the longer it'll likely take to build due to the nature of the method used.
This is hopefully the beginning of the phasing out of the old generated plans, although I'm yet to determine to what extent this will continue. The new method is far from perfect, but it's at least a step in the right direction. As a quick example, here is a comparison between a real route and a generated route:



If you find any bugs in your routes, send me an email with a link to the plan in question.]]> Wed, 12 Jan 2011 05:30:52 +0000 2a38a4a9316c49e5a833517c45d31070 Weather Cycle Search. When set to X-Plane format, the file can be dropped straight into the X-Plane root directory and then used for the sim weather, so you can have fun experiencing some of the record breaking weather we've had in the past few months.
As with the other data, this is dated back to August 2010, so there isn't a huge amount of data choice available yet.

In terms of how big the weather database is getting (~30MB per day), I can envision needing to come up with a strategy to minimise this. My current idea is to only store the daily average for data older than 30 days, this should hugely reduce the space necessary for the database. I will not be implementing any of this yet though until I better understand how the size increase is likely affect the speed, as currently the 4GB database searches essentially just as fast as it originally did.]]> Wed, 12 Jan 2011 05:10:56 +0000 c7e1249ffc03eb9ded908c236bd1996d
Today, the first access to this data is being enabled in the Airport lookup, with the temperature and dewpoint data initially available. Some work needs to be done on making the transfer more efficient before other data such as pressure, visibility, precipitation and cloud cover is accessible as the Chart API is lagging with this volume of data (Up to a few thousand data points).

With the freezing temperatures that has been experienced in many places recently, it's interesting to see just how far the mercury dropped. To finalise, here are a few fun facts:

Average temperature (30 days): 2.8210 C
Average pressure (30 days): 2996.3742
Average windspeed (30 days): 6.9327 Knots

Merry Christmas]]> Fri, 24 Dec 2010 01:49:59 +0000 93db85ed909c13838ff95ccfa94cebd9 The decoder also allows for a much finer grain control over the altitudes selected and hints at some of the newer features that are on their way.
Currently, the new decoder is only accessible through the Advanced generation page and the sidebar is therefore still relying on the older system. It is my intention to migrate all generation over to the decoder, meaning the old generator should be scrapped before the year is out. Interpretation of airways is also on the list to add.

Additionally, in an effort to make this new decoder more open to everyone, I have removed the restriction of membership for accessing the advanced generation page.]]> Thu, 23 Dec 2010 06:35:35 +0000 3ef815416f775098fe977004015c6193 Sat, 13 Nov 2010 20:35:46 +0000 68d30a9594728bc39aa24be94b319d21
1. The route generator that has now generated ~6000 plans has long been in need of an update, mainly due to the significant lack of any credible realism or interest in the flight plans. However, if you head into the 'Categories' section you will find a range of other plans that have not been auto-generated and generally have a much greater quality, all of these are thanks to the uploads and input of users over the time this site has been running.

2. The Flight Canvas project is now back on track for a release at least to initial testing in a month or two, after a >6 month hiatus from any development and a major rewrite. This will allow you to create the plans exactly how you want and should at least be a start to creating realistic plans online.

So in summary, I am aware of the issues surrounding the quality of the current flight plan generation system and I am looking into ways to address this.]]> Thu, 02 Sep 2010 20:35:20 +0000 fe9fc289c3ff0af142b6d3bead98a923 I don't have anything major today to release, as I seem to have a whole stack of things that are half complete and need to be finished; so hopefully, at some point soon, I should have a whole stack of updates to offer.]]> Sun, 22 Aug 2010 02:22:18 +0000 9778d5d219c5080b9a6a17bef029331c Sun, 20 Jun 2010 23:54:39 +0000 f033ab37c30201f73f142449d037028d Mon, 07 Jun 2010 22:06:42 +0000 d1fe173d08e959397adf34b1d77e88d7 Fri, 04 Jun 2010 19:54:28 +0000 35f4a8d465e6e1edc05f3d8ab658c551 Mon, 03 May 2010 10:46:02 +0000 28dd2c7955ce926456240b2ff0100bde - Proper history and back button support: This also allow linking to searches and pretty much anything. This solves a few problems that arose from being a AJAX site.
- Large plan view: There is now a new 'View' button added to the search results for each plan. Clicking it will take you to a larger view of the flight with a bigger map and the like.
- Adaptive titles: nothing special here, just tells you where you are...vaguely.
If you find any problems or you have some feedback, you can contact me at the bottom of this page.]]> Sat, 01 May 2010 21:21:08 +0000 fbd7939d674997cdb4692d34de8633c4 Sun, 25 Apr 2010 22:15:14 +0000 ad61ab143223efbc24c7d2583be69251 Sun, 28 Feb 2010 05:05:31 +0000 e2c420d928d4bf8ce0ff2ec19b371514 If you find any problems, use the contact me link at the bottom of the page.]]> Fri, 26 Feb 2010 03:29:58 +0000 7cbbc409ec990f19c78c75bd1e06f215 Tue, 16 Feb 2010 18:50:27 +0000 14bfa6bb14875e45bba028a21ed38046 In other news, this news system has been updated and the upload section is undergoing an overhaul.]]> Wed, 10 Feb 2010 17:24:45 +0000 735b90b4568125ed6c3f678819b6e058 Thu, 04 Feb 2010 04:22:58 +0000 44f683a84163b3523afe57c2e008bc8c Mon, 01 Feb 2010 22:42:27 +0000 093f65e080a295f8076b1c5722a46aa2 In other news, the maps above have been fixed and should be working properly again now.]]> Fri, 22 Jan 2010 03:36:58 +0000 66f041e16a60928b05a7e228a89c3799 Well, it is now one year that the Flight Plan Database has been open, and what a brilliant year it has been. In this one year I am proud to say we have amassed more than 4500 flight plans and a growing user base too. I hope that 2010 will be an equally good year and that I can keep up with supplying you new features. I owe thanks to all who have contributed plans and helped with the frequent evolutions of the database.
As a quick modification, the flight plan database has moved from lemon.x10hosting.com/fpd to http://flight-plan-database.tk/ . This is still on the same server, so the old address will lead you to the same page and all the old links will still work, fortunately.

The Future
So, you may be wondering what my intentions are for this year? My first priority is getting Flight Canvas out the door, after that there are a number of other major and minor updates needed. A small sample of possibilities include:
A complete rewrite of the route generator, it works but the plans it produces are far from realistic
New upload page, to actually make it vaguely easy to get your plans uploaded
Improved integration with X-Plane
If there is anything else you would like me to consider, PM or email me and I'll see what I can do.

Anyway, thank you all for an excellent first year, enjoy.]]> Fri, 15 Jan 2010 21:05:13 +0000 72b32a1f754ba1c09b3695e0cb6cde7f Also updated this week were many of the server side systems, although there are still a few left to go.]]> Fri, 15 Jan 2010 04:18:35 +0000 9f61408e3afb633e50cdf1b20de6f466 If the decorations are causing you any problems, or you are the grinch, you can remove them
Merry Christmas all.]]> Mon, 21 Dec 2009 02:58:06 +0000 b53b3a3d6ab90ce0268229151c9bde11 Thanks go to Robin Peel of data.x-plane.com for providing the source files from which this data is built.]]> Thu, 17 Dec 2009 00:59:18 +0000 a684eceee76fc522773286a895bc8436 Sun, 29 Nov 2009 01:11:49 +0000 d82c8d1619ad8176d665453cfb2e55f0 Sun, 15 Nov 2009 23:25:40 +0000 9a1158154dfa42caddbd0694a4e9bdc8 In other news, we have nearly hit 4000 plans, I expect we will surpass it in the next couple of days.]]> Thu, 12 Nov 2009 02:37:27 +0000 2838023a778dfaecdc212708f721b788 There may be some smaller updates just before the large update to create some better integration, so you may notice some things becoming more polished.]]> Wed, 16 Sep 2009 01:06:54 +0000 c0c7c76d30bd3dcaefc96f40275bdc0a Sun, 09 Aug 2009 02:48:26 +0000 f457c545a9ded88f18ecee47145a72c0 As thanks to you all, I will soon be releasing the newest update to the FPD. For now, you can look at the following two links to see just how much the database has expanded:
Global Flight Plan Map -> http://lemon.x10hosting.com/fpd/fpmap.php
Database Growth Chart -> http://lemon.x10hosting.com/fpd/graph.php]]> Tue, 28 Jul 2009 15:24:49 +0000 642e92efb79421734881b53e1e1b18b6 Sat, 25 Jul 2009 21:13:36 +0000 67c6a1e7ce56d3d6fa748ab6d9af3fd7 Wed, 24 Jun 2009 03:04:51 +0000 d9d4f495e875a2e075a1a4a6e1b9770f Wed, 24 Jun 2009 02:29:32 +0000 6c8349cc7260ae62e3b1396831a8398f Sun, 14 Jun 2009 02:45:17 +0000 f7177163c833dff4b38fc8d2872f1ec6 Wed, 10 Jun 2009 00:54:27 +0000 17e62166fc8586dfa4d1bc0e1742c08b Sun, 31 May 2009 02:35:04 +0000 a1d0c6e83f027327d8461063f4ac58a6 We are also making good progress with fixing issues in the route generator and the update for that should be coming soon.]]> Wed, 27 May 2009 15:35:37 +0000 3416a75f4cea9109507cacd8e2f2aefc As for my other development progress, I am still trying to locate the source of the error in some plans. In regard to the resizing of the site, that it taking longer than expected as I have to redo many of the graphics.]]> Mon, 25 May 2009 18:43:48 +0000 d645920e395fedad7bbbed0eca3fe2e0 I'll post when the database update is complete.]]> Sat, 23 May 2009 15:40:27 +0000 d67d8ab4f4c10bf22aa353e27879133c In terms of updates, I have a few other things set to do; the first, most major, being to fix a bug that causes some plans not to load properly in X-Plane.
Secondly, I am considering improving the generated flight plans to include FIXs and VORs along the route and, if I can find a suitable data source, I may even try to add SIDs and STARs.]]> Sat, 23 May 2009 15:40:27 +0000 a5771bce93e200c36f7cd9dfd0e5deaa Sat, 23 May 2009 15:40:27 +0000 a5bfc9e07964f8dddeb95fc584cd965d Sat, 23 May 2009 15:40:27 +0000 19ca14e7ea6328a42e0eb13d585e4c22 Sat, 23 May 2009 15:40:27 +0000 1c383cd30b7c298ab50293adfecb7b18 Until I have solid confirmation that the exported plans work in FS the function will remain in the 'beta' stage.]]> Sat, 23 May 2009 15:40:27 +0000 e369853df766fa44e1ed0ff613f563bd Sat, 23 May 2009 15:40:27 +0000 182be0c5cdcd5072bb1864cdee4d3d6e Sat, 23 May 2009 15:40:27 +0000 6364d3f0f495b6ab9dcf8d3b5c6e0b01 Sat, 23 May 2009 15:40:27 +0000 c16a5320fa475530d9583c34fd356ef5 Sat, 23 May 2009 15:40:27 +0000 34173cb38f07f89ddbebc2ac9128303f Sat, 23 May 2009 15:40:27 +0000 6ea9ab1baa0efb9e19094440c317e21b Sat, 23 May 2009 15:40:27 +0000 33e75ff09dd601bbe69f351039152189 Sat, 23 May 2009 15:40:27 +0000 02e74f10e0327ad868d138f2b4fdd6f0 Sat, 23 May 2009 15:40:27 +0000 4e732ced3463d06de0ca9a15b6153677 Sat, 23 May 2009 15:40:27 +0000 8e296a067a37563370ded05f5a3bf3ec All of these plans, stretched end to end would be 2,229,604km long.
To put that into perspective, 2,229,604km:
- takes you round the earth 55 times
- takes you to the moon and back 2.9 times
- is 0.000000236 lightyears
- is 445,920,800,000,000,000 Beard-Seconds (the distance the average beard grows in one second, inspired by the light year, equal to about 5 nanometers)]]> Sat, 23 May 2009 15:40:27 +0000 1ff1de774005f8da13f42943881c655f Sat, 23 May 2009 15:40:27 +0000 37693cfc748049e45d87b8c7d8b9aacd Sat, 23 May 2009 15:40:27 +0000 b6d767d2f8ed5d21a44b0e5886680cb9 This basically removes the requirement for opening the popups each time for each plan and just makes it nicer to navigate. Obviously, I have removed the 'Map' button, as the functionality is now mirrored in the expanded window.
Eventually, you will also be able to see interpreted METAR data for the departure and arrival airports in the window as well.]]> Sat, 23 May 2009 15:40:27 +0000 3c59dc048e8850243be8079a5c74d079 Sat, 23 May 2009 15:40:27 +0000 98f13708210194c475687be6106a3b84 Sat, 23 May 2009 15:40:27 +0000 1f0e3dad99908345f7439f8ffabdffc4 Sat, 23 May 2009 15:40:27 +0000 6f4922f45568161a8cdf4ad2299f6d23 Sat, 23 May 2009 15:40:27 +0000 70efdf2ec9b086079795c442636b55fb Sat, 23 May 2009 15:40:27 +0000 c74d97b01eae257e44aa9d5bade97baf Sat, 23 May 2009 15:40:27 +0000 9bf31c7ff062936a96d3c8bd1f8f2ff3 Sat, 23 May 2009 15:40:27 +0000 aab3238922bcc25a6f606eb525ffdc56 Sat, 23 May 2009 15:40:27 +0000 c51ce410c124a10e0db5e4b97fc2af39 Sat, 23 May 2009 15:40:27 +0000 c20ad4d76fe97759aa27a0c99bff6710 Sat, 23 May 2009 15:40:27 +0000 6512bd43d9caa6e02c990b0a82652dca Sat, 23 May 2009 15:40:27 +0000 d3d9446802a44259755d38e6d163e820 Sat, 23 May 2009 15:40:27 +0000 45c48cce2e2d7fbdea1afc51c7c6ad26 Sat, 23 May 2009 15:40:27 +0000 c9f0f895fb98ab9159f51fd0297e236d this. It is a google map that includes a line for every flight plan in the database. They are simple two-point lines, as lines with all that waypoints would be too slow.]]> Sat, 23 May 2009 15:40:27 +0000 8f14e45fceea167a5a36dedd4bea2543 Sat, 23 May 2009 15:40:27 +0000 1679091c5a880faf6fb5e6087eb1b2dc Sat, 23 May 2009 15:40:27 +0000 e4da3b7fbbce2345d7772b0674a318d5 Finally, and not related to Route Generation, is the update of a few of the graphics, most notably the background. This makes it a little bit lighter and, in my opinion, nicer to use.]]> Sat, 23 May 2009 15:40:27 +0000 a87ff679a2f3e71d9181a67b7542122c Sat, 23 May 2009 15:40:27 +0000 eccbc87e4b5ce2fe28308fd9f2a7baf3 The last known error is when it is used over short routes. It will create a working flight plan, but it will not be the best route. The route generator works best for distances of more than ~200 miles. This should not be an issue for too many of you, so its priority to be fixed is quite low.]]> Sat, 23 May 2009 15:40:27 +0000 c81e728d9d4c2f636f067f89cc14862c The first, minor, alteration occurs on the front-page. It now includes this 'news and updates section' and the advanced search is now at the top of the categories section.
However, the major update is the addition of the route generator you will see to the left. This is a new, very simple way of generating an X-Plane flight plan that can be instantly downloaded. It will do all of the hard work for you and will even generate a simple approach to destination runway.
Don't expect it to work flawlessly yet, but it is still pretty reliable.]]> Sat, 23 May 2009 15:40:27 +0000 c4ca4238a0b923820dcc509a6f75849b