Data Resources

The airport and navigation data is maintained from a variety of sources, and provides global coverage for airports, runways, taxiways, airport surface markings and lighting, NDBs, VORs, ILSs, fixes (intersections), airways and astronomical data.

The airport data includes all runways, and also includes detailed taxiway layouts, lights and markings if an X-plane user has created them and submitted them to me. If no custom taxiway details are available, then my database will automatically generate a parallel taxiway system alongside each main runway - these are unlikely to be correct, but they will enhance the appearance of 'unimproved' airports. The airport data does not include any buildings (terminals, hangars, FBOs) or other 'scenery' elements at airports, but scenery packages for many airports can be found online (for example, at x-plane.org).
Maintaining this data is a collaborative effort ...

Until late 2007, this data was primarily sourced from the US National Imagery and Mapping Agency (NIMA) Defense Aeronautical Flight Information File (DAFIF), but this valuable data source has been removed from the public domain, ostensibly for security reasons (yes, really). We now update this data from other publicly available sources (such as the FAA's National Flight Database) and from individual data updates from global X-Plane users.

My role is to collect all these data updates from multiple sources and to consolidate them into a highly-normalised database (maintained in Microsoft SQL Server 2008). From this database, an evolving Visual Basic application can generate data files for multiple versions of X-Plane. I try to generate new data every month. The FlightGear freeware flight simulator also shares this data.
How can you help?

If you see errors or omissions in the data, then please let me know, and include information about how the error can be corrected. Please remember that I collect, consolidate and distribute the data, but I cannot design detailed airports on demand - we rely upon other volunteers to share this tasks. If you are interested in becoming a data designer, then please see the designer page on this site. There are several tools available to help you in this task.

All data must be obtained from publicly available, freely redistributable sources. I cannot accept data extracted from commercially distributed database. If you are enhancing data previously submitted by another user then please obtain their permission first.
Terms of useKipper

The X-Plane data is published under the terms of the Free Software Foundation General Public License (GPL). In summary, my interpretation of this license is that "works" published under the protection of its terms may be redistributed and modified, provided that this GPL remains a part of that redistribution. Nothing prevents you charging for any redistributed or derivative work based upon this data ... but the terms of the GPL do not prevent (and are designed to encourage) someone else from later amending and then redistributing your work (or a derivative), either as free-ware or as pay-ware, under the same GPL terms.