Dave, Interesting you should mention that. This would be great for those of us who fly fgfs using VFR.
Have you seen my mail from a while back <http://mail.flightgear.org/pipermail/flightgear-devel/2003-February/015331.html>? If I remember correctly this MSFS add-on allows you to do something similar. As I'm very visually challenged, a sign in the air over an airport saying KJFK 2.5 miles or some such would be a big help finding my way around. Identifying particular buildings in the air would be nice too. (Golden Gate bridge, Washington Monument, landmarks like large cemetaries and parks). I'd love to work on this eventually but that'll probably never happen at the rate I'm going. 8-( Yes, a sign pointing the way to Mount Ranier would definitely help me also. I know it's big, but somehow I can't seem to find it with my eyes. 8-) Perhaps something similar could be used to mark restricted airspace. Something especially useful would be signs for those features found on vfr charts. For example, the San Antonio sectional has: A border with Mexico Various Defence areas River Names Campgrounds Outdoor theaters, bridges, railroads, mountains and so forth. Lots of useful information for finding where you are in a sectional chart or other map/chart. Perhaps the signs can be turned on/off with various levels as the log messages are? OBJECT_SHARED Scenery/Objects/e000n40/e007n49/sembach.ac 7.855 49.513 500.0 0.0 It hovers about 200m over the terrain. Perhaps showing the height of the tallest elevation on the sign would also be a help? (height of mountains, buildings, statues, etc). Just some ideas. Very, very interesting, thanks! I am still wondering if there is a free database anywhere of buildings and locations. Anyone heard of any? Would using the information off of a chart or other online data for example, Sierra de los Pilares on the San Antonio sectional has a spot elevation of 4816. Could that be used or would it need to be based on other sources. In high school, we were always told that if you found the same information in more than two sources it's common knowledge and doesn't need to be attributed. Is that also true of maps and charts? If so, how could one document where the information being put on signs is coming from? Is US government information on public charts available for use? How is this 'common knowledge' and US government sources impacted by GPL and other licenses? Sorry for all the questions. Thanks! Ima BTW, I am in the process of switching isps and hope this msg is coming through without html. Sorry if not! 8-( _______________________________________________ Flightgear-devel mailing list Flightgear-devel@flightgear.org http://mail.flightgear.org/mailman/listinfo/flightgear-devel 2f585eeea02e2c79d7b1d8c4963bae2d
