X-Plane/Flightgear aeronautical data

The X-Plane aeronautical data is supported for read access. This data is for example used by the X-Plane and Flightgear software.

The driver is able to read the following files :

FilenameDescriptionSupported versions
apt.datAirport data850, 810
nav.dat (or earth_nav.dat)Navigation aids810, 740
fix.dat (or earth_fix.dat)IFR intersections600
awy.dat (or earth_awy.dat)Airways640

Each file will be reported as a set of layers whose data schema is given below. The data schema is generally as close as possible to the original schema data described in the X-Plane specification. However, please note that meters (or kilometers) are always used to report heights, elevations, distances (widths, lengths), etc., even if the original data are sometimes expressed in feet or nautical miles.

Data is reported as being expressed in WGS84 datum (latitude, longitude), although the specification is not very clear on that subject.

The OGR_XPLANE_READ_WHOLE_FILE configuration option can be set to FALSE when reading a big file in regards with the available RAM (especially true for apt.dat). This option forces the driver not to cache features in RAM, but just to fetch the features of the current layer. Of course, this will have a negative impact on performance.

Examples

Converting all the layers contained in 'apt.dat' in a set of shapefiles : 
% ogr2ogr apt_shapes apt.dat

Converting all the layers contained in 'apt.dat' into a PostreSQL database : 

% PG_USE_COPY=yes ogr2ogr -overwrite -f PostgreSQL PG:"dbname=apt" apt.dat

See Also

Airport data (apt.dat)

This file contains the description of elements defining airports, heliports, seabases, with their runways and taxiways, ATC frequencies, etc.

The following layers are reported :

All the layers other than APT will refer to the airport thanks to the "apt_icao" column, that can serve as a foreign key.

APT layer

Main description for an airport. The position reported will be the position of the tower view point if present, otherwise the position of the first runway threshold found.

Fields:

RunwayThreshold layer

This layer contains the description of one threshold of a runway.
The runway itself is fully be described by its 2 thresholds, and the RunwayPolygon layer.

Note : when a runway has a displaced threshold, the threshold will be reported as 2 features : one at the non-displaced threshold position (is_displaced=0), and another one at the displaced threshold position (is_displaced=1).

Fields:

RunwayPolygon layer

This layer contains the rectangular shape of a runway. It is computed from the runway threshold information. When not specified, the meaning of the fields is the same as the RunwayThreshold layer. Fields:

WaterRunwayThreshold (Point)

Fields:

WaterRunwayPolygon (Polygon)

This layer contains the rectangular shape of a water runway. It is computed from the water runway threshold information. Fields:

Stopway layer (Polygon)

(Starting with GDAL 1.7.0) This layer contains the rectangular shape of a stopway/blastpad/over-run that may be found at the beginning of a runway. It is part of the tarmac but not intended to be used for normal operations. It is computed from the runway stopway/blastpad/over-run length information and only present when this length is non zero. When not specified, the meaning of the fields is the same as the RunwayThreshold layer. Fields:

Helipad (Point)

This layer contains the center of a helipad. Fields:

HelipadPolygon (Polygon)

This layer contains the rectangular shape of a helipad. The fields are identical to the Helipad layer.

TaxiwayRectangle (Polygon) - V810 record

This layer contains the rectangular shape of a taxiway. Fields:

Pavement (Polygon)

This layer contains polygonal chunks of pavement for taxiways and aprons. The polygons may include holes.

The source file may contain Bezier curves as sides of the polygon. Due to the lack of support for such geometry into OGR Simple Feature model, Bezier curves are discretized into linear pieces.

Fields:

APTBoundary (Polygon)

This layer contains the boundary of the airport. There is at the maximum one such feature per airport. The polygon may include holes. Bezier curves are discretized into linear pieces.

Fields:

APTLinearFeature (Line String)

This layer contains linear features. Bezier curves are discretized into linear pieces.

Fields:

StartupLocation (Point)

Define gate positions, ramp locations etc.

Fields:

APTLightBeacon (Point)

Define airport light beacons.

Fields:

APTWindsock (Point)

Define airport windsocks.

Fields:

TaxiwaySign (Point)

Define airport taxiway signs.

Fields:

VASI_PAPI_WIGWAG (Point)

Define a VASI, PAPI or Wig-Wag. For PAPIs and Wig-Wags, the coordinate is the centre of the display. For VASIs, this is the mid point between the two VASI light units.

Fields:

ATCFreq (None)

Define an airport ATC frequency. Note that this layer has no geometry.

Fields:

Navigation aids (nav.dat)

This file contains the description of various navigation aids beacons.

The following layers are reported :

ILS (Point)

Localizer that is part of a full ILS, or Stand-alone localizer (LOC), also including a LDA (Landing Directional Aid) or SDF (Simplified Directional Facility).

Fields :

VOR (Point)

Navaid of type VOR, VORTAC or VOR-DME.

Fields :

NDB (Point)

Fields :

GS - Glideslope (Point)

Glideslope nav-aid.

Fields :

Marker - ILS marker beacons. (Point)

Nav-aids of type Outer Marker (OM), Middle Marker (MM) or Inner Marker (IM).

Fields:

DME (Point)

DME, including the DME element of an VORTAC, VOR-DME or NDB-DME.

Fields:

DMEILS (Point)

DME element of an ILS.

Fields:

IFR intersections (fix.dat)

This file contain IFR intersections (often referred to as "fixes").

The following layer is reported :

FIX (Point)

Fields:

Airways (awy.dat)

This file contains the description of airway segments.

The following layers are reported :

AirwaySegment (Line String)

Fields:

AirwayIntersection (Point)

Fields: