Welcome to Robin's aviation simulator data homepage
This is where you can find information about the
official X-Plane and FlightGear global airport, nav-aid, intersection
and airway data
Recent news items
Nov 25 2007: Several users who are testing the new release of
X-Plane 9.00 beta 2 have asked me what is "wrong" with the localiser
data at Innsbruck (LOWI), the new default startup airport for this
X-Plane beta release. They see a localiser positioned in a
strange place to the east of the airport. Well, this is accurate!
LOWI has unusual instrument approaches. It has LOC-DME
approaches from the East and West:
The LOWI
LOC-DME from the East is offset 5 degrees from the runway heading and
includes an "advisory" glideslope (hence it is not referred to as an
ILS).
The
LOWI LOC-DME from the West is
even more unusual - the localiser is positioned a few miles east of
LOWI, and the approach calls for overflying the field to the MDA, and
then if visual, performing a course reversal to the south in the valley
and landing on either runway visually. Although this looks very
odd on X-Plane's charts, I believe that the nav-aids properly
positioned.
Approach charts for LOWI can be found here.
- Sep 17 2007: World Editor (WED)
is now available as a beta release - it is a free utility to design airports in the new airport
file format used by X-Plane 8.50 and later.
It includes many great features, and though freeware, it is
written by the X-Plane development team and supports the latest file
formats. Downloads are available for Windows and Mac OS, and WED
includes a detailed manual. If you wish to edit airports in
earlier file formats, then the free TaxiDraw utility is the appropriate tool.
-
Oct 24 2006: The DAFIF source data has been removed from the public domain.
Two issues are cited to support the removal - a paranoia that the
availability of this data in the public domain poses a threat
to national security (yes, really!) and that some foreign suppliers of
data have intellectual property concerns if their data is freely made
available via the Internet. We are actively
seeking alternatives to the DAFIF data source, in partnership with several other users of this source of aviation data.
-
Mar 11 2005: New data is available
for the planet Mars for X-Plane
7.40 - 8.06. This includes over 60 new Mars airports from Bryan
Butcher - see
his web site for details of the content, and charts to help you
explore Mars. These new airports are located throughout the
planet and enable you to explore many of Mars' famous features.
To appreciate this addition, you need to order the Mars scenery CDs
from www.X-Plane.com. Some
airports have an ILS approach, with a very shallow glideslope suited to
the characteristics of Martian aeroplanes. The range of
localisers and glideslopes has been extended on Mars to enable you to
establish you aircraft on the approach much further from the runway -
an essential feature given the poor maneuverability and high
ground speeds of Martian aeroplanes.
-
Dec
02 2003: I have added a section to this page describing the process for submitting data updates
and corrections. This
addresses the vast majority of questions that neophyte airport
designers ask. I have also added a link to the GNU
GPL license,
under which all this data is published. Dreadfully dull, of
course, but it does explain how you can re-use and re-publish this
data.
This data provides details of
all the airports, runways, taxiways, navigation aids (NDBs, VORs,
VORTACS, DMEs and ILS components) and IFR intersections (aka "fixes")
and global high and low airways for the X-Plane and FlightGear flight
simulators. New data is released several times per year.
Until recently it was based upon
freely-available US
Government Department of Defense and Federal Aviation Administration
(FAA) data, but the removal of that data feed from the public domain has
made the update process less reliable and less regular, and dependent
upon gracious submissions shared by many X-Plane users.
I am also the provider of the
airport and navigation aid data included in the
published retail (or downloaded) versions of X-Plane - the data
available here
on this site is just more up-to-date and (hopefully) more
accurate. This
same data is also used by the FlightGear
flight simulator project - an innovative, freeware, collaborative
project.
This data does
not replace the Global Scenery
CDs that are available
for X-Plane. The Global Scenery contains the terrain, rivers,
roads, and
other topographical details. You need the data files from
this site to add
up-to-date global runways, taxiways, nav-aids, fixes or
airways. If you do
not
install the global scenery (or if you install it incorrectly) then
your airports will appear to float in mid-air in the midst of a
boundless,
post-global-warming ocean.
(The boss delaying X-Plane data updates. She is from an Austin animal shelter.)
The data is published as a
free resource to the X-Plane and
FlightGear
communities. If you feel compelled to make a financial
contribution, then
please make a
donation to your local humane society,
animal
shelter or dogs' /
cats' home.
Please let me know if you do this - I like to keep a tally.
- Download the 2008.07 data for X--Plane 8.61- 8.64 and later releases (including X-Plane 9.x)
- A change log
lists all the airports that have been updated in each release of the
X-Plane data files.
- The latest data for the planet Mars
is also available. This
includes over 70 airports (some near the known landing sites of Mars
missions), some ILS approaches, fixes at the locations of the Viking
I, Viking II, Mars Pathfinder
landing sites, and the data file of star positions. Astronomy
is one of my other hobbies, and this data is based upon an old (1976)
1:5,000,000 map of Mars, along with a great deal of input from Jason
Chandler and over 60 airports from Bryan Butcher - see
his web site for details of his content.
You will need the optional Mars scenery CD from Laminar Research
(the authors of X-Plane) to appreciate this data. Some
airports have an ILS approach, with a very shallow glideslope suited to
the characteristics of Martian aeroplanes. The range of
localisers and glideslopes has been extended on Mars to enable you to
establish you aircraft on the approach much further from the runway -
an essential feature given the poor maneuverability and high
groundspeeds of Martian aeroplanes. Please
download the correct version of the Mars
data:
- If you want data for old
versions of X-Plane (such as X-Plane Classic, X-Plane 5.61-5.99 or
X-Plane 6.40-6.70), the last releases in the appropriate file formats
are available
here.
- X-Plane 7.x and 8.x: The file you just download for
will be called
AptNav200806XP861.zip (or
similar) - the 200806 chunk of the name indicates the data cycle that this data
contains (for example, 200401
is the
first release in 2004). The XP861
(or XP740
or XP810 chunk) of the name indicates the
first version of X-Plane for which the data is intended (XP861 indicates X-Plane 8.61 and later). The file is in a
zip file format. This file will contain copies
of the files apt.dat, nav.dat and fix.dat,
awy.dat and astro.dat. Copy these to your
“X-System\Resources\Earth nav data" folder (or
“X-System\Resources\Mars nav data"
for the
Martian data), overwriting
any older versions of these files. Any other documentation files in the
zip archive can be saved anywhere you wish. That’s it. The new
data will now be available next time you start X-Plane.
- X-Plane 9.x
then you can use the files for X-Plane 8.61 and later. BUT, you
will need to unzip and rename these files manually (we are testing the
automatic installation of thes data files within the scope of the
X-Plane Installer programme, making future data updates automatic).
Here is what you need to do:
- Download the data file for X-Plane 8.61 and later from the link above.
- Open the zip file that is downloaded and look at the contents.
- Extract
the apt.dat file into to your "X-Plane 9.x\Resources\default
scenery\default apt dat\Earth nav data\" folder, leaving the name as apt.dat.
- Extract the nav.dat, fix.dat, awy.dat and astro.dat
files into your "X-Plane 9.x\Resources\default data\" folder, then
rename each file with a prefix of "earth_". So you will end up
with earth_nav.dat, earth_fix.dat, earth_awy.dat and earth_astro.dat.
I obtain the raw data from
multiple sources:
- DAFIF:
The US Department of Defense NGA (National
Geospatial-Intelligence Agency - formerly NIMA) DAFIF
(Defense Aeronautical Flight Information File) data was published on a
28-day cycle and was global in scope. Unfortunatly, this data is
no longer available to us. The DAFIF data included global
airports, runways, NDBs, VORs, DMEs, ILS elements, IFR intersections
(fixes), airways, SIDs and STARs, and much more, but it is
not complete (for example, it
excludes many smaller airports). This data did not include
airport taxiways. The DAFIF data was obtained every 28 days and
automatically imported to a Microsoft SQL Server 2005 database.
This data source has now been removed from the
public domain (Oct 2006) for intellectual property and national security reasons (yes, really).
- FAA:
US FAA (Federal Aviation Administration) is the source of the smaller
US
airports and helipads. This data was obtained several years ago and may
contain some airports that are now defunct. This data is stored in the
same Microsoft SQL Server database as the DAFIF data.
- Users:
X-Plane users have added many other airports, nav-aids and
all the taxiways. This
data is imported into the same database as the DAFIF data, and in many
cases enhances or corrects the DAFIF data.
Every month I import the latest updates from X-Plane users
to my database. Then I generate new
versions of the files (apt.dat, astro.dat, nav.dat, fix.dat and
awy.dat) used by
X-Plane and publish them on this web site. These export routines
sometimes have to
prioritise the data in the master database to suit
X-Plane’s limitations (eg. X-Plane8.61 cannot
deal with more than
300
airports in a 2x3 degree latitude/longitude
‘region’). Data is also
generated in the same file format for the FlightGear simulator - in
this case
without any of X-Plane's limitations. Occasiaonally, I am not
able to publish timely updates, due to other commitments (especially my
day job at Oracle!).
This data is published under
the GNU
GPL (General Public
License). The GPL is a
type of license often used for free software,
and its terms are as open and liberal as I can make them.
The data is maintained and
enhanced largely by the diligent efforts of its
users. So updates, comments and corrections are very welcome.
If you have a minor comment
about a single airport, nav-aid, fix or airway,
then just send me an e-mail .
I
do try to respond personally to every comment I receive - sometimes it
may take
a few days until I have time to research the issue. And
sometimes my
day-job interferes.
If you have major updates (such
as a set of new custom taxiways at one or
more airports), then please follow the following procedure:
- Please
do not move any runways at any
airports unless you are absolutely certain that they are
wrong. By default, I do
not import new runway data to
the master database, since the DAFIF source data is, in most cases,
correct. If you do feel it necessary to move the runways,
then tell me in your e-mail
and let me know why you think the existing data is wrong.
- Make your desired changes to
the X-Plane data by using WorldEditor (WED) or TaxiDraw (for airports), X-Plane itself (for nav aids), or
by directly editing the appropriate text files (this is the only way to
edit fixes right now). You will find the data files apt.dat,
nav.dat
and fix.dat
in your "X-System/Resources/Earth
nav data/" folder.
- Test the new data in the
latest version of X-Plane.
- Cut the appropriate sections
of your edited data file (apt.dat, nav.dat, or fix.dat) file
into a new text file, and attach this text file to your e-mail to
me. You can combine multiple revisions to airports, nav-aids
and fixes into a single text file - these can be all imported
automatically into my master database from a single source
file. Please do not
include your amendments in the body of your e-mail - such data often
has extra line breaks added when I receive it, and it is tedious and error-prone for me
to remove these.
- I do not usually include
'fictitious' data in the master database. There are some
exceptions (eg. the airports on Mars). I also usually show
airports as they are at the present time - though there are exceptions
for truly interesting airports (such as the old Hong Kong Kai Tak
airport, VHXX, and its IGS 13 approach). Each of these cases
will be considered on its merit!
- I try to acknowledge every
update in the change
log
on this site. Let me know if you wish to remain
anonymous. (Note
that minor changes often do not trigger the automatic update of the
change log.)
- Check the terms under which this data is
published and distributed.
Tedious, but as simple, fair and open as I can make it.
This section contains a list of current "known
issues" with the X-Plane data. Some issues are outstanding bugs in
X-Plane and/or WorldMaker, others are bugs/errors in the DAFIF data,
others are bugs with the
custom software and databases I use to manipulate the data.
- Jun 30 2003: For
reasons that I do not (yet) understand, most ILS
data for Canada is missing from
the DAFIF data source. So the export to the X-Plane data
files is using an older, less accurate data source that may not be
perfectly aligned with the runways, and you may see localiser (LLZ) and
glideslope (GS) aerials in odd locations (including the middle of some
runways). Some Canadian ILS data may simply be missing. We are slowly adding back this data.
Enhancements to the X-Plane airport and nav-aid data that are currently
under development (and to be available in future X-Plane versions)
include:
- Instument Approach Procedures (IAPs).
- Global
airspace boundaries are
available from my DAFIF data source. Austin and I are working
on implementing these in X-Plane.
- Now that airport
ATC radio frequencies are
included in X-Plane 7.00, it would be great to (optionally)
enforce their use to perform communications with ATC.
- Mars enthusiasts are
interesting in creating a set of
alternative data for Mars - some
including just VTOL landing pads, others including airports relating
the the "Red Mars", "Green Mars" and "Blue Mars" trilogy by Kim Stanley
Robinson.
If any of these enhancements sound interesting to you, then
please contact Austin Meyer
at Laminar
Research (the author of
X-Plane) to cajole him into making the appropriate enhancements to
support them.
Historical in the sense that it
supports versions of X-Plane that are defunct. Here are links
to the last published data for some
previous versions of X-Plane. Note that this data will
not work
for versions of X-Plane not listed in each description. I
very, very strongly
recommend that you make a back up of any existing data files before
installing
these releases.
X-Plane
Classic (this data first
published January 2002)
X-Plane
5.61 - 5.99 (this data first
published January 2002)
X-Plane
6.40 - 6.70 (this data based on
DAFIF cycle 2003.13)
X-Plane 7.40 - 8.06 (this data based on data cycle 2007.09)
Please note that:
- The data
formats for X-Plane Classic, X-Plane 5.x and
X-Plane 6.x are no
longer supported, and that no
further updates will be issued.
- If you
are using X-Plane 7.0 - 7.30, I highly recommend that you upgrade to
X-Plane
7.62 - it's free!
- The X-Plane flight simulator
home page.
- The Flightgear
freeware flight simulator home page - FlightGear shares its airport and
nav-aid data with X-Plane.
- World Editor (WED)
is a free utility to design airports in the new 8.50 and later airport
formats. It includes many great features, and though freeware, it
is written by the X-Plane development team.
- TaxiDraw
is a free utility developed by The FlightGear community that
greatly facilitates the development of detailed taxiways at
airports for pre-8.50 airports. If you are an airport designer, check out TaxiDraw,
and thank David for his efforts in developing this tool.
- Registry of X-Plane add-on
aeroplanes, utilities, etc. (X-Plane.org
- who host this web site for free).
- Want to fly on-line with
other simulator pilots and controllers? Look at XSquawkBox,
who also graciously host my e-mail address.
- Ben Supnik's X-Plane scenery blog.
Even the archives are interesting reading. Ben is
one the lead architect and developer for the X-Plane scenery
system, and has worked very closely with me to extend the scope of the
data that we can use to define X-Plane's airports.
- GoodWay
flight planning software for X-Plane. The latest version (v2)
of GoodWay will automatically check for the latest airport, nav-aid,
fix and airway data on this web site, and will then download and
automatically install the data.
- The Earth
and Moon Viewer is an excellent
resource for exploring our planet.
- Hal Stoen
has written many excellent tutorials and stories on real-world flying -
aimed at simulator pilots.
- US Department of Defense National
Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA,
formerly called NIMA) - former source of the DAFIF data (no longer available).
(British
Airways Trident 3B G-AWZK - with
the fourth boost engine running for take off. Nicknamed the
"Ground
Gripper" by its flight crews, it is rumoured that these aeroplanes only
took to the air because of the curvature of the earth!)
©
Robin
Peel, 2008. Last
updated: July 23, 2008
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