"Par Avion" Carte

A map generator for random VFR / IFR flight maps. In a nutshell it generates:

• A general wind direction
• Two or more airports, oriented according to the general wind direction
• One or more navigational aids, like VOR or NDB
• Zero or more obstacles like radio towers
• A topographical map

This generator can be used for simple civilian IFR flight simulators without GPS support, like back in the days of Solo Flight. It allows for a random flight adventure:

1. Take off at airport 1
2. Find your way to airport 2 by calculating your position using NAV 1 (and NAV 2 if present)
3. Land at airport 2, possibly with the help of an ILS

The generator takes two parameters:

1. A map size in Nautical Miles
2. Optional: A seed to generate the map from; identical seeds will generate identical maps

There is also a visible map painting on <Canvas>.

Usage

// Get yourself a randomizer
const randomizer = new Randomizer();
// Build locations
const locations = new LocationsMap(16, randomizer);
// Build terrain around locations
const terrain = new TerrainMap(locations, randomizer, 4);

You may also skip the terrain generation or replace it with any other method for terrain generation, e.g. for a simpler approach to accommodate a more simplistic terrain model.

Demo

See https://fboes.github.io/par-avion-map/dist/ to have a whirl with the generator.

Data model

The map consists of two layers:

1. LocationMap contains points of interest, like airports and navigational beacons
2. TerrainMap contains the elevation data

The LocationMap has multiple entities:

• Airport including Runway and Waypoint
• Navaid including HoldingPattern
• Obstruction
• Peak

All of these entities use Coordinates calculated in Nautical Miles from the North-West corner of the map. The TerrainMap uses TerrainCoordinates, which are fractions of Nautical Miles from the North-West corner, having a higher resolution for terrain data.

Code style

This project ist done in Kalashnikov programming style. The whole project having no set goal and consisting of lots of experiments has a rather ugly code base, hacked together whenever a new idea crosses my mind.

Legal stuff

Author: Frank Boës

Copyright & license: See LICENSE.txt