Topo Map for Aviation

[[email protected]]

Is there any particular topo map that's suitable for aviation use
(should I say certified?)

Jizhong

[Teacherjh]

>>
Is there any particular topo map that's suitable for aviation use
(should I say certified?)
<<

Yes. It's called a "sectional" and is available at most small airports. Look
for the flight school. You can probably get outdated ones free if you ask, but
they won't be suitable for aviation any more. (they go out of date every six
months).

Jose

--
(for Email, make the obvious changes in my address)

[[email protected]]

Isn't it obviouse. Sorry, I meant to ask "aviation grade" map
software that you can zoom in and out or maybe get a profile view or
3D view etc. I'd like to use it with the online flight planner
software.

Jizhong
On 05 Dec 2003 05:38:36 GMT, (Teacherjh)
wrote:

>>>
>Is there any particular topo map that's suitable for aviation use
>(should I say certified?)
><<
>
>Yes. It's called a "sectional" and is available at most small airports. Look
>for the flight school. You can probably get outdated ones free if you ask, but
>they won't be suitable for aviation any more. (they go out of date every six
>months).
>
>Jose

[Kyler Laird]

(Teacherjh) writes:

>>Is there any particular topo map that's suitable for aviation use
>>(should I say certified?)

>Yes. It's called a "sectional" and is available at most small airports.

No need to get off your butt just to get sectionals...
http://aviationtoolbox.org/munge/mosaic

--kyler

[Kyler Laird]

writes:

>Sorry, I meant to ask "aviation grade" map
>software that you can zoom in and out or maybe get a profile view or
>3D view etc.

You can lay the sectional images over DEM data for a 3Dish view.
Commercial software like ERDAS Imagine can readily handle this. I know
there's Free software to do it, but I haven't tackled it yet. (Pointers
will be appreciated.)

I noticed recently that some of the FlightGear
http://flightgear.org/
folks are starting to use the FAA sectional images from my collection.


I'm not sure how that works, but I'm guessing you could "fly" the route
with a fairly realistic out-the-window view while monitoring your
progress on the sectional.

The next computer I make is going to be designed for FlightGear.

--kyler

[Martin Hellman]

wrote in message >...
> Isn't it obviouse. Sorry, I meant to ask "aviation grade" map
> software that you can zoom in and out or maybe get a profile view or
> 3D view etc. I'd like to use it with the online flight planner
> software.

I use RMS' FlightSoft program and found it helpful for just this kind
of task. I once got stranded by bad wx and had to leave my plane at
Bishop, CA. When the wx broke and I drove back up to get it, I wanted
the fastest route home that didn't involve crossign 14k foot peaks,
which local people told me involved a pass just behind Mammoth Mtn ski
resort. While I waited for the wx to clear, I simulated the flight
and could see that the pass really was about 9300' as I had been told,
and was not that hard to find even though surrounded by some very high
peaks. Given that I usually crossed at Tioga Pass at Yosemite (10k
feet), this pass was no problem. But it sure was nice to be able to
"fly" the route a few times in my study. I am still using a much
earlier version of the software so it would be wise to check.

I also have found DeLorme's TopoUSA CDROM useful.

Hope this helps.

Martin

[Mark A. Matthews]

In article >,
Kyler Laird > wrote:

> writes:
>
> >Sorry, I meant to ask "aviation grade" map
> >software that you can zoom in and out or maybe get a profile view or
> >3D view etc.
>
> You can lay the sectional images over DEM data for a 3Dish view.
> Commercial software like ERDAS Imagine can readily handle this. I know
> there's Free software to do it, but I haven't tackled it yet. (Pointers
> will be appreciated.)

DEMs can be downloaded/ordered from http://seamless.usgs.gov/

Something I too think would be interesting to try. Something I would
investigate "in my copious spare time".

I've downloaded a good-sized chunk of the western US, but I need to
whack together some stitching software to put all the individual
sections back together into a seamless dataset. See spare time comment
above.

--
-Mark

[S Narayan]

I bought the National Geographic Topo Backroads for about $50 (covers US
incl Hawaii and Alaska). It is possible to use this to generate a profile or
elevation view if you know your route segments. It has a GPS interface, so
potentially you could use it on a notebook or PDA. It is certainly not
certified for aviation use.

http://maps.nationalgeographic.com/topo/backroads.cfm

> wrote in message
...
> Is there any particular topo map that's suitable for aviation use
> (should I say certified?)
>
> Jizhong

[Mike Rapoport]

Not certified for aviation but I use Topo! USA. I like to know the names of
the mountains and rivers that I see. I run it on a laptop with Delorme's
~$100 USB GPS reciever.

Mike
MU-2


> wrote in message
...
> Is there any particular topo map that's suitable for aviation use
> (should I say certified?)
>
> Jizhong

[[email protected]]

Kyler and Mark,

Thanks for the idea and usgs data link. Looks like potentially you can
get really good map out of the data. Right now I just don't have
anytime to do it. I'd like to get something ready to use. But your
sectional link is great. At least I don't have to run to the local
store if I don't have the sectional when I'm planning. I wish there is
a software to run(zoom in/out) those sectional data. Still need to
figure out how to run http://seamless.usgs.gov/viewer.htm

Martin,

FlightSoft seems to be a neat program but I'm not sure I want to fork
out $200 for it.

Mike,

The Topo USA seems pretty easy to use. Don't know how accurate it is.
I don't see any reason why it's not. They (Delorme or even
Jeppesen...) must be using the data from similar sources.

So, thanks everyone. So maybe I'll just stick with the old sectionals
for now until some really good mapping software comes out.


Jizhong
On Fri, 05 Dec 2003 20:36:09 GMT, "Mike Rapoport"
> wrote:

>Not certified for aviation but I use Topo! USA. I like to know the names of
>the mountains and rivers that I see. I run it on a laptop with Delorme's
>~$100 USB GPS reciever.
>
>Mike
>MU-2
>
>
> wrote in message
...
>> Is there any particular topo map that's suitable for aviation use
>> (should I say certified?)
>>
>> Jizhong
>