Airfield Ratings in Turnpoint list naming convention

For airports listed in the FAA database, I heartily encourage attacking the problem at the source. There is a process for reporting errors on both charts and in the database. Getting it corrected there benefits all users of that data, not just our community.

The problem of unofficial landout locations is much harder. One issue is that they are often ephemeral things. What is perfectly landable in June may not be so in August.

Note also that Google Earth, while very helpful, is not completely trustworthy either. Some of the images are years old. I have seen situations where Google Earth depicts a field or a runway that doesn't exist.

Lynn

I have actually seen an airport coordinate that I am almost 100 percent certain was actually the the latitude and longitude of the post office box of the owner because it was at a post office address! (sadly the six car parking lot was too small to land in).

What is the official FFA a procedure to correct wrong data?
Chris

does anybody have any feedback /suggestions on the idea of a naming convention for land outfields? "Shirley" I am not the first person to think of this. Another approach would be to have the pilot to input in his software the minimum length and width and grade level he was willing to accept that would be the only thing his nav system will display as an option however at this point I think an easier to implement system of just names would be compatible with all GPS systems.

I was thinking the name should give you some information to help you decide depending on how desperate you are to land.

some other factors would be surface, slope, length, width. the name should imply that it is not an airport and you can use it at your own risk. the quality of the field will change throughout the year based on crops or if a dry lake is flooded etc: that is the nature of most non airports (and even a few airports too.)

Maybe something as simple as OFA01, ... OFF01
as an abbreviation for Out landing Field grade A, then a sequrnce number 01 for multiple entries ( grades ABCD).

The oldest standard was I believe Carl Herold's. This was well before there was space for more complete information in the waypoint description.
Here's an example from a newer Minden dat file.
Jim

** Control Points for Minden, Nevada +
** +
** Cross country turnpoints, version mind303b.dat +
** See also the Minden Region 11 control point list +
** +
** Contributed by Peter J. Kelly +
** +
** Contribution date was 31 March, 2003 +
** File created Thursday, 01 May 2003 at 06:06 GMT +
** Available from the Worldwide Soaring Turnpoint Exchange at +
** http://acro.harvard.edu/SOARING/JL/TP [ North America ] +
** or http://soaring.xinqu.net/JL/TP [ New Zealand ] +
** +
** Magnetic variation: -15.6 +
** +
** Time zone: US/Pacific +
** Summer offset from GMT is -7:00, and in winter it is -8:00 +
** +
** Latitude Range: 34:29.450N to 41:46.900N +
** Longitude Range: 122:28.000W to 114:50.400W +
** +
** Control point names have the number placed before the name +
** Most altitudes rounded to nearest ten feet +

** At end of each TP name is a code +

** -R = Runway on sectional +

** -E = Emergency Landing area +

** -U = Unlandable area +

** --- After each code is a number +

** 1, 2, or 3 is good - 7, 8, or 9 is bad +

** +
** UNOFFICIAL, USE AT YOUR OWN RISK +
** +
** Always consult the relevant publications for current and correct +
** information. This service is provided free of charge with no warrantees, +
** expressed or implied. +
** User assumes all risk of use. +
** +

I believe the place to start is an FAA data inquiry, at this link:

https://nfdc.faa.gov/xwiki/bin/view/...onautical+Data

There is one other question. The name may not be the best place for embedding this kind of information. Some platforms -- Volkslogger, for example -- have very limited name lengths. Many pilots use restricted short names as a matter of preference, in order to save screen real estate. In these cases there just isn't much information that can practically be fit in a name suffix.

For many platforms, a better choice is the attribute code or the comment. John Leibacher has already defined an extensive set of codes that can be used with devices that support the STX format. The comment field can be used for longer text on SeeYou mobile and other devices that support .cup files..

Thanks, Lynn. I followed your link, and it isn't straight-forward. You need to click on Airport Data Change (Public Use)and it brings up a 2nd page. Then click on Public Airport Data Change Form, and it yields a form you can submit.

However, you must provide the Authorizing Official before you can submit the form. Who is that? I'm guessing its someone in the regional office (RO) or airport district office (ADO). If you click on ADO under the ARFF Index on the 2nd page you brought up it lists some names. Which one do you use? The most senior?

If this is the way it works, I'll be glad to submit coordinate changes and/or names of airports that don't exist. Later today I'll call one of these people and see if they can advise on the proper procedure.

-John, Q3

On Tuesday, June 24, 2014 8:29:41 PM UTC-4, 2KA wrote:
I believe the place to start is an FAA data inquiry, at this link:

https://nfdc.faa.gov/xwiki/bin/view/...onautical+Data

2KA wrote, On 6/24/2014 5:38 PM:
There is one other question. The name may not be the best place for
embedding this kind of information. Some platforms -- Volkslogger,
for example -- have very limited name lengths. Many pilots use
restricted short names as a matter of preference, in order to save
screen real estate. In these cases there just isn't much information
that can practically be fit in a name suffix.

For many platforms, a better choice is the attribute code or the
comment. John Leibacher has already defined an extensive set of
codes that can be used with devices that support the STX format. The
comment field can be used for longer text on SeeYou mobile and other
devices that support .cup files.

I agree with Lynn: The name is a poor place to put important
information. There is plenty of space in the comment section of the
soaring programs in use today. If your program is too limited for useful
comments, dump it and get something better.

I use a simple name that indicates the type of landing place, such
"field", "dirt", "pave"; a digit is appended, along with the state
abbreviation, so the final name is something like "dirt3 Wa". Lately,
I've reduced it to "D3 WA". The state abbreviation allows reuse of names
in each state, such as "D3 WA", "D3 TX", etc. No reason you couldn't use
"D205", of course, but I like knowing the state when trying to pick a
name from a list - reduces errors on my part.

The comment section contains length x width, anything else of
importance, and the date I last observed the field. Generally, I do not
count on any field I haven't seen "recently", which usually means "this
soaring season", unless it's a paved field. Even paved fields, though
more permanent than a dirt or grass field, can have problems, even from
week to week, such the farmer storing tractors, hay, and who knows what
else on it. Grass airstrips can have sprinklers magically appear and
disappear.

A national database with filtering and selectable output formats would
be wonderful. Something map based, such as the Google-based method
developed by Michael Reid, would be my preference.

--
Eric Greenwell - Washington State, USA (change ".netto" to ".us" to
email me)
- "A Guide to Self-Launching Sailplane Operation"
https://sites.google.com/site/motorg...ad-the-guide-1
- "Transponders in Sailplanes - Feb/2010" also ADS-B, PCAS, Flarm
http://tinyurl.com/yb3xywl