I seem to remember that, in the first iteration of ADS-B in the iFly, the data block would show aircraft information more than just the tail number. Can that be done again? It would be useful to know what type of aircraft I am looking for when trying to visually find a target. I don't know if that information is in the broadcast data stream or would require linking to the registration database, but it would be good to have.
ADS-B data
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I don't recall iFly ever showing more than either the tail number (for GA) or flight number (for airliners). Do you happen to use a Stratux? If so, in the Stratux UI, you can have it show "Category". I don't know what all the categories are, but I'm currently looking at an airliner target and it's identified as "Large".
But I'm not sure how much it would help to have that info? When you tap on the target, you get tail or flight number--if you see a flight number, you know it's an airliner. If you see a tail number, it's probably something smaller. You also get the target's speed. If you're dealing with a tail number target, the speed lets you take a good guess at whether it's a bizjet or a Cherokee.
Does knowing it's a Citation vs. a Bonanza really help you pick it out in the sky? At 3 miles, they all just look like dots to me. An airliner might be a little bigger dot. If they're close enough for me to make out the type of plane it is, then I don't need iFly to tell me anymore.
But I'm not sure how much it would help to have that info? When you tap on the target, you get tail or flight number--if you see a flight number, you know it's an airliner. If you see a tail number, it's probably something smaller. You also get the target's speed. If you're dealing with a tail number target, the speed lets you take a good guess at whether it's a bizjet or a Cherokee.
Does knowing it's a Citation vs. a Bonanza really help you pick it out in the sky? At 3 miles, they all just look like dots to me. An airliner might be a little bigger dot. If they're close enough for me to make out the type of plane it is, then I don't need iFly to tell me anymore.
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I'll check the Stratux UI. That may be what I am remembering.
I think it would be very useful to know what I am looking for. It's why we broadcast aircraft type along with tail number when talking on the radio. "Say type aircraft" is a common request from tower.
So, the question becomes, is this technically feasible?
I think it would be very useful to know what I am looking for. It's why we broadcast aircraft type along with tail number when talking on the radio. "Say type aircraft" is a common request from tower.
So, the question becomes, is this technically feasible?
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Not really. We announce our aircraft type to ATC because ATC needs to understand the performance capabilities of the aircraft they're controlling, not so other folks on frequency know whether to look for 1 or 2 propellers on the traffic they're around. But as a bonus, if you are talking to ATC and getting services, then you will get the aircraft type when they call out traffic to you.
The ADSB stream does not have aircraft type. Only "Category". I'm sure AP could add the 170MB N-Number registry to the dataset if they wanted to, including the owner's name and address even. That effort just doesn't seem worthwhile to me.
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I like his idea, Cobra. There are many times at my untowered home airport when it would be useful to know whether an aircraft shown by ADS-B is fast or slow, especially when it's approaching the runway and there's other traffic, as well. If it's slow, I can take off--or turn base, etc.--but not if it's fast. You'd think the pilot would announce what it is, but that's not as common as you might think. Or they announced something a few minutes ago but you didn't catch it. Or something like that. Or maybe I'm just curious about what's flying nearby. Anyway, what's it cost to provide the extra data.
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iFly already provides the actual speed of the aircraft, so your first point is already addressed. Just tap on the target--the speed is right there.
I can't say with certainty what it costs to provide the extra data, but it's not free. There will be development effort required in iFly, back-end effort required to capture and process the data from the FAA database, and bandwith costs to deliver the data to users.
To me, that seems like a lot of cost to satisfy curiosity about what's flying nearby, compared to other features that could get those resources.
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