New AirNav RadarBox User Maintained Aircraft Database

[DaveReid]

Aren't you wasting your time by making all those posts?  Does anybody do anything with this information?  I don't recall anybody saying that they are updating their database using your posted information - might be wrong here and I'm interested to hear if I am.

I've had more than enough feedback, on and off list, to satisfy me that there's a value in posting database updates. 

Having said that, I know that there are others who are keen to have their NavData accurate and up-to-date but nervous about making updates which are liable to be subsequently overwritten with older data by the server - but at least AirNav will finally have to address that issue if the new arrangements are to work properly !

Wouldn't it be just as easy for you populate this proposed database instead rather than posting to the thread you refer to?

I vaguely recollect offering to do precisely that (en masse, I mean, rather than piecemeal)  :-)

[gleff]

I welcome this change.. I hope we can get something soon though.  I keep making changes to my database and then have it re-written to.  

Airnav.. any kind of timeframe before we have the logic in place so the user maintained database isn't written over (even if it's empty to start off with)?

Also, I assume this user maintained database can be maintained by ourselves as well eg.  Just another sqllite database in the /data directory?

[Allocator]

Wouldn't it be just as easy for you populate this proposed database instead rather than posting to the thread you refer to?

I vaguely recollect offering to do precisely that (en masse, I mean, rather than piecemeal)  :-)

Yes, but was that 'offer' as in free, or offer as in 'contract'?

[DaveReid]

Well I've done loads of voluntary work over the years, for many different deserving organisations, but the last time I looked AirNav wasn't a registered charity :-)

[Allocator]

Well I've done loads of voluntary work over the years, for many different deserving organisations, but the last time I looked AirNav wasn't a registered charity :-)

OK, I understand where you are coming from - you are looking at a business proposition.

[DaveReid]

OK, I understand where you are coming from - you are looking at a business proposition.

Well the term normally used is "business-to-business" (AirNav being one too, of course, as has already been pointed out).  And I think we're talking in the past tense rather than the present :-)

Anyway I wish AirNav good luck - building a distributed database that supports multiple simultaneous contributions from users who don't always agree with each other isn't for the faint-hearted - I can vouch for that, having been running such a system as a pro bono project for a large, well-known aviation enthusiast society for the past 5 years.

[tarbat]

We are now accepting volunteers for this task. Feel free to send us a PM if you are interested.

What criteria are you expecting these volunteers to use when approving updates?  Visual confirmation?  Referenced in another forum/database?  Just trying to get my head around whether it's worth me volunteering when I very rarely eyeball any aircraft!!

For example, can I really trust the data posted in the Database update info thread, without knowing how Dave has verified the data?  No suggestion that Dave's data is wrong here, just wondering how we decide if data is valid or not.

[DaveReid]

No suggestion that Dave's data is wrong here, just wondering how we decide if data is valid or not.

Well thank you for the vote of confidence :-)

Good point though - ideally AirNav should be able to arbitrate between dissenting sources and decide who is correct.  But then again, if they were able to do that, they wouldn't need help from you guys in the first place ...

[tarbat]

Maybe the database needs a "How Verified" field, for the verifier to enter how they verified the data.  Or maybe a scoring system, for several verifiers to score how reliable the data is.

[NF2G]

When I was doing ACARS-only scanning, I used official sources for US and Canadian registries, and Airliners.net for the others.  To identify the operator of an airliner (when the owner and operator are different) I simply used the flight information transmitted via ACARS.

I have a ton of American and Canadian aircraft listed here.  I also have flight routes involving North America that seem to be much more accurate than what is in the AirNav database.  I'd be happy to pass my CSV text listings to someone on the database team.

[abrad41]

NF2G

I have a ton of American and Canadian aircraft listed here.  I also have flight routes involving North America that seem to be much more accurate than what is in the AirNav database.  I'd be happy to pass my CSV text listings to someone on the database team.

Why not PM support and join the group.

[Xhris11]

Maybe the database needs a "How Verified" field, for the verifier to enter how they verified the data.  Or maybe a scoring system, for several verifiers to score how reliable the data is.

Most user updated systems will require a number of users to report the same change before it is accepted.  A handy little icon to click that says "Report if incorrect" which allows you enter the new info, if known. 

[gleff]

Airnav,  have you got any kind of timeframe when the physical functionality will be available so we can maintain our own database without it being overwritten all the time?  Even if the user maintained database isn't available, it would be nice to have the functionality in place to maintain the database ourselves.