EuroGA Airports Database

For queries, just send the airport ID (ICAO or other…) or a short command like:

/reports LFMD

to get a list of reports for LFMD. If the bot is not dedicated to the EuroGA airports database, but will do other stuff, then something like (AD = aerodrome):

/addb reports LFMD

/airports reports LFMD

answer e.g. (in the case of multiple reports)

1. 2020-09-02
2. 2020-08-24
3. 2020-07-22 1×📷
4. 2017-09-12 5×📷
5. 2017-05-29 2×📷

Then the user just says:

4

and gets report number 4.

If there is only one report for that aerodrome, send just that one directly in answer to the “reports” command.

Other search examples:

/report LFMD 4

to get report number 4 directly.

/reports from=2020-01-01 to=2020-12-31 rwy=hard maxfee=50 immigration restaurant

to get list of reports from 2020-01-012020-12-31 with hard runway with a maximum fee of 50, immigration and restaurant. Note that

/reports LFMD from=2020-01-01 to=2020-12-31 rwy=hard maxfee=50 immigration restaurant

would also work, although this particular query makes less sense. But e.g.

/reports LFMD from=2020-01-01 to=2020-12-31

makes sense.

I haven’t fully thought this one through for updates, but I would really like something really quick like:

/submit LFMD jeta1 0.82 vatinc payother

which would be implicitly same day. Else,

/submit LFMD 2021-01-15 jeta1 0.82 vatinc payother

to give a date.

Refinement: some code/method to say implicitly “current location”, and determine the ICAO code automatically. For other information, e.g.:

/submit LFMD landing 15 parking 6 handling 75 Amex

In order not to spam the database too much, this should “coalesce/merge/edit” such fragmentary reports by a single user on a single location at a single date into one report in the database.

(again, if the bot it not dedicated to the airports DB, then /addb submit)

I certainly don’t want to have to go through the whole chatty dialog as shown by Snoopy. However, being guided when I want to would be really nice, too.

I guarantee I would submit maaaany more reports that way. Aircraft type and MTOW should just be part of my profile, but overridable on a case-by-case basis. That profile could be bot-specific, or even better… in the DB, so that also web submissions are also prefilled.

One addition that would be really useful would be MX available yes/no and ideally additionally if yes: SEP/SET/JET. This can be a real issue at bigger airports where SET/JET mx may be available, but SEP is not (e.g. KLAS).

Peter wrote:

Not sure about notams being covered by other bots. I reckon the vast majority of pilots don’t use a bot of any kind. And the EuroGA airport database notams are a good clear collection for the airport, and a lot of work has gone into making the source reliable.

I’ve never used it, I send a quick msg to autorouter for metar and notam on the way to the airport. For „the usual suspects“ I have a subscription, so I got unsolicited updates.

Peter wrote:

This implies a user-specific context, which implies a user signup procedure for the airport database telegram bot, linking it to the EuroGA forum profile, for authentication.

For updates, yes.

Peter wrote:

Do people really fly to so many airports that a telegram interface like this, where you feed it in lots of little bits, would produce more reports?

It is not a question of “many airports” but of “barrier/effort to do the report”. When/if flying gets back to normal (COVID19…), the DB would get more reports from Snoopy and myself at least :)

Peter wrote:

Not sure about notams being covered by other bots. (…) And the EuroGA airport database notams are a good clear collection for the airport, and a lot of work has gone into making the source reliable.

If you feel like it, there is nothing wrong about duplicating a feature present in another bot, especially if you think you’ll do it better, at least along some axis. After all, e.g. I can use either the autorouter bot or AviatorsBot to get my TAFs and METARs…

I confirm that the Autorouter NOTAM subscription system is very convenient. I have it on permanently for my homebase; some pilots have it on permanently for the whole FIR of their homebase. I sometimes turn it on a few days in advance for my destination.

A minor feature request: Would it be possible to implement “debit card” as payment method? Personally, I hardly seem to use my credit card anywhere on the Continent, and any non-cash payment would be usually done using my debit card (or for fuel the Total/AirBP card).

Peter wrote:

Any views on this? Could there by any airport which accepts Visa Credit but not Visa Debit? Or accepts Mastecard Credit but not Mastercard Debit?

No. It would be extremely rare that some POS accepts credit card and doesn’t accept debit card of the same brand. BTW the option you added “Debit card” is actually something that doesn’t exist. It’s a common name for all the cards (regardless the brand, including proprietary ones) which are connected with some account and the transaction is immediately debited form that account. So, in my opinion totally useless item on the list – previos version was correct, current version is funny for everyone who knows anything about the cards. It you want to add something useful instead of it, replace this with Maestro.