Hi Oliver,

I used to use Google Earth Pro to show all the airports in the world but when they removed that feature I had no way of showing them. I often fly from default airports when I have no addon equivalent.

I've since found the feature in AO and it seemed to fit the bill nicely. But it appears to only export addon airports - not all the default ones.

Is there any possibility you could change AO to scan all the BGLs please? The KMZ file would then replace the feature Google have seen fit to remove.

5 hours ago, Ray Proudfoot said:

Hi Oliver,

I used to use Google Earth Pro to show all the airports in the world but when they removed that feature I had no way of showing them. I often fly from default airports when I have no addon equivalent.

I've since found the feature in AO and it seemed to fit the bill nicely. But it appears to only export addon airports - not all the default ones.

Is there any possibility you could change AO to scan all the BGLs please? The KMZ file would then replace the feature Google have seen fit to remove.

Hello Ray, 

are you sure about this? I can still see all airports in GE - what is that feature that they've removed?

P4AO 1.56 b06 is available for download. I've added a checkbox so you can include the default airports in the GE export. But that requires patience - not only in P4AO, but in GE too...

Best
Oliver

Hi Oliver,

Yes, positive that Airport’s has not been available in the Sidebar menu for many months now.

You can type an airport into the search box and GE will zoom in on it. But a separate overlay for all airports has been removed.

I’ll try the new version, thanks. One idea I’ve had since my earlier post was to limit default airports to those with a runway length of 5000ft or more. That should reduce the number and make most suitable for a 737 / A320. Would that be something you would consider?

7 hours ago, Ray Proudfoot said:

runway length of 5000ft or more. That should reduce the number and make most suitable for a 737 / A320.

Well, it will reduce the number, but not the computing time. I think that this will take even longer. The app has to read all BGLs anyway, but parse them in more detail. 

Btw... finding destinations in GE is a feature of my WAMA app,.. I will release a new version soon that will have a demo mode so you can try it out before purchase.

1.56 b07 is up now. You can set a minimum and maximum runway length. 

Oh, and when exporting the default airfields, make sure to disable the "exclude collections" option. The default BGLs are the definition of a collection, they usually combine many airports in the BGLs.

Edited January 7, 20224 yr by Lorby_SI

Hi Oliver,

That's brilliant, thanks. I adjusted the minimum length to 8000ft and even then it took just 20 seconds to read all the BGLs.

I'll adjust that as required to find the ideal runway length. Just one point. EGCC has two 10,000ft runways. As a consequence the wording EGCC Manchester shows up twice. Any way to inhibit the duplication?

2 hours ago, Ray Proudfoot said:

As a consequence the wording EGCC Manchester shows up twice.

Or maybe that is the default and an addon on top? 

Edit: the scanner is only looking at the geographical location of the airport record in the BGL. If the one from the addon is different from the default, the airfield will show up twice. I will see if something can be done about that.

Edited January 7, 20224 yr by Lorby_SI

Hi Oliver, yes, you’re correct. I have the UK2000 Manchester.

But the reading procedure is extremely quick so users have no fear it’s going to take a long time.

This has opened up a huge range of suitable airports for short flights. I have no 3rd party airports west of Denver until Las Vegas. But now I have plenty of choice. Great work! 👍👏

Please try the b08 too, that should hopefully eliminate the duplicate.

 

...and WAMA is even better at finding destinations (IMHO)

14 minutes ago, Lorby_SI said:

Please try the b08 too, that should hopefully eliminate the duplicate.

...and WAMA is even better at finding destinations (IMHO)

That will be tomorrow now. The way I look for suitable airports is to open GE and choose a departure airport. I then use the measure tool in circle mode to draw a circle a specific size centred on that airport and then look at what airports are within it.

I’ve not tried WAMA. Does it work on a similar principle?

3 hours ago, Lorby_SI said:

1.56 b07 is up now. You can set a minimum and maximum runway length. 

Oh, and when exporting the default airfields, make sure to disable the "exclude collections" option. The default BGLs are the definition of a collection, they usually combine many airports in the BGLs.

Mine says 1.19 b06. Where can I get the latest version?

Here you are Ian... https://www.lorby-si.com/downloads.html

9 hours ago, Ray Proudfoot said:

Here you are Ian... https://www.lorby-si.com/downloads.html

Got it. This  is a fantastic addition. Opens up thousands of new non payware airports, even if not the latest, greatest, PBR ,etc.

You learn almost every day here. I never knew you could use GE for this.😁

14 hours ago, Ray Proudfoot said:

I’ve not tried WAMA. Does it work on a similar principle?

Yes

But the app definitely needs an update (it doesn't scan the default library, no matter how the checkbox is set), and when it is ready, there will be a demo version too (and the MSFS prototype will come with that update as well).

Edited January 8, 20224 yr by Lorby_SI

OK, I did it wrong. The destination finder does work correctly, there was something else that needed to be done first. 

This is what the "Show results in GE button" does:

 

Finally, when you doubleclick a destination in the table on the dialog, WAMA will create a simple "Direct GPS" fliphtplan and load that into the sim, to make routing easier (if you are using the default route planner, that is).

Edited January 8, 20224 yr by Lorby_SI