Updates

This page contains updates to FAA data, updates to programs, and program wish list / problem reports

Data Update:

Update of the FAA data is done on a 56 day cycle. We extract from that data information needed for the VIPilot and provide it to you at no additional cost.

Data is available in Zip form

FAA data for 08/05/04-09/30/04 faa0408.zip 1,413 Kbytes (3.82 Mbytes expanded)

FAA data for 06/10/04-08/05/04 faa0406.zip 1,410 Kbytes (3.81 Mbytes expanded)

Note: Above files require VIPilot version 1.001 or newer. See Software Updates below.

Users Manual:

Current Users Manual 835 Kbytes .pdf format (Version 1.01 - 7/9/03)

Requires Adobe Reader 5.0 or later - click here for Reader

Addendum to users manual (latest update 12/21/03)

Selective Moving Map

Additional controls for patterns

Altitude monitor

Direction Bug

Pattern abreviations

Adaptation of icon brightness

Airport Frequencies, Telephone numbers, etc.

Software Updates:

Version 1.004 software in VIP004.zip 166 Kbytes - incorporates all features in Addendum to user manual 12/21/03. Airways now added to planner (under development). Note: Version 1.001 software or later will be required for future FAA database updates.

Note that the approach plates available from the FAA at http://www.naco.faa.gov/index.asp?xml=naco/online/d_tpp or throught Sportys are compatible with VIPilot (see Appendix D of VIPilot Users Manual for Etch-a-Sketch type operation of mouse cursor). Images, though elongated, are quite readable on the VIPilot display.

Problem reports:

No reported problems at this time.

Wish list:

Note: Of the 14,650 public runways listed in the 9/4/03 FAA US data base, only 10,211 runways were specified by "exact" position. For most of the remaining 30% (affecting about 10% of GA operations), the position is derived from the airport location, runway number, runway length, and magnetic variation. Our "best guess" assumes that these airport locations are at the center of each runway.

Software has been added to VIPilot to allow users to "snapshot" the location of each end of a runway. Snapshots may be submitted by e-mail and we will make new or corrected data available to our users as well as passing the corrections on to the FAA. In those cases, a learned runway may be more accurate than the FAA supplied data. The following two items remain on the wish list to deal with those cases:

1. Provide the ability to temporarily disable a listed airport from simulated ILS so that the learned runway will be used.

2. Provide an off line utility to generate a "patch list" which will: a) add a learned runway to an existing airport, 2) replace an existing runway with a snapshot (now in VIPilot) position, 3) allow learned runways to be grouped into user defined airports, and 4) allow user reported corrections to be made to the database (until the FAA can verify and update their files).

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