BVATC Live Now Back Online

[Evan Reiter]

The one element that has thus far eluded my ability was -- as those of us familiar with the website have noted -- the live map (http://bostonvirtualatc.com/dnn/ViewSession/Map.aspx). Although all the files from our old ISP were in place, the map simply wasn't displaying correctly.

 

Thanks to the hard work of Evan Smith (BVA ID "fscats"), we were able to get the map back online and functioning to the level it was at our old ISP. For those of you unfamiliar, the map displays aircraft in FSX and overlays of some of our popular/featured airspace. It is quite a useful tool for planning flights or for checking when you are within controlled airspace (this functionality will soon be available within FlightDesk as well). We are very lucky that Evan Smith was willing and able to spend time troubleshooting this issue because he coded the map more than 4 years ago and recently took on a demanding job with a high-profile software company (perhaps the same one that coded FSX...). He took a fair bit of time over the past few weeks and weekends to diagnose and resolve the issue that was preventing the map from displaying correctly.

 

What I do at BVA doesn't require much still. For the most part, the things I do could be mastered by anyone willing to dedicate some time to the community. However, the complex web or application programming that Evan and Bill have become masters at is a totally different story. Learning programming languages to the point where you are able to create innovative and functional software is something that many professional software designers do...and charge for. The fact that several of them have dedicated their time to our community, and to creating applications like our live map, is incredible. Without question, BVA would not be a fraction of what it is today without payware-quality applications like FlightDesk.

 

We often recognize the importance of something when we have lost it. The past few weeks should, if nothing else, serve as a reminder of how fortunate we are to have such applications available to us at no cost. On behalf of the community (and myself), I am forever grateful to the work of Bill, Phil, Evan, Dan, and anybody else who has lent us skills that would be well beyond what we could ever afford.