FAA databases

[flyingcheesehead]

Hi folks,

I'm a data junkie... And I'm looking for more. I've downloaded the aircraft and airmen registry files, the airport database, etc. from the FAA.

Now, I'm looking for information on instrument approaches. I don't need all the data, but it'd be nice to have the approach type, runway it goes to, minimums, etc.

Heck, now that I think about it, some airway information might be interesting too.

Where can I find that kind of stuff? And I'm not looking for "look for it on airnav," I'm looking for the databases that sites like Airnav are based on.

Thanks!

 

[chartbundle]

The 'official' source I believe is:
http://www.faa.gov/air_traffic/flight_info/aeronav/productcatalog/digitalproducts/nfd/

The other source, which is not supposed to be used for navigation(I just use it for airport listings) is from: http://nfdc.faa.gov/
I see airways and fixes, I don't see any obvious info on the approaches.

 

[Brad Z]

Scroll to the bottom of this page...

http://www.faa.gov/about/office_org...techops/navservices/gnss/approaches/index.cfm

This isn't going to have everything you need, but it includes all GPS based approaches. There really isn't a single source of all of the data that you're looking for.

 

[oldShar]

You DO realize that all of this data is constantly changing ---- that downloading is probably an exercise in futility ....

 

[flyingcheesehead]

You DO realize that all of this data is constantly changing ---- that downloading is probably an exercise in futility ....

The tool I'm going to tear it apart with can easily download updates automatically, should I care to keep it up to date.

Most of the FAA data is released every 28 days, be it navigation data, the registry files, the airport database, etc.