Field conditions at YOUR field

[Wildflyer]

I just found a website, that is aimed at helping modelers to know what the field conditions are at the field where you fly.
It seems to have RC fields all over the world, and you can add your field if it is not there.
The weather reports are updated frequently ( worst I saw was 29 mins.)

Check it out

www.CheckTheSock.com

[Leadchucker]

How the heck you set a new field??

[Henry Sistrunk]

I couldn't figure it out either, Help
Henry

[gramps2161]

Go to the bottom of the page left hand side you can locate the fields. Just click on add a field and follow the directions, and add the field. One thing you have to do is find your state then zoom in on it. Next find the town as you are doing this and keep track of it as it shifts a little. Zoom in until you see your club field then click on the drop marker to mark the location.
I just added the club I belong to now MA is on the site.
http://www.checkthesock.com/fields/r...-flying-circus

[Henry Sistrunk]

Thanks Gramps but I must not get that page.
Henry

[gramps2161]

I don't know what is wrong every time I click on the link in his post it opens up to the page and all the info is in the bottom left side. Maybe this will help.

http://www.checkthesock.com/fields/new

[Henry Sistrunk]

Thanks Gramps. Check me out at Henry's Airfield'
Henry

[gramps2161]

Henry you lucky dog yo have great flying weather. Just checked it out. Cold damp and lousy up here.
http://www.checkthesock.com/fields/henry-s-airfield

[FlyingBrick50]

Originally Posted by Leadchucker

How the heck you set a new field??

I would like to know as well,.......Hmmm?

[gramps2161]

Just follow the link in my post #6

[nathanhumbert]

Hey guys,
I am the creator of checkthesock.com. I noticed from reading this thread that it is not very obvious how you can add your field, I will try to update things so that is more obvious. If you have any other suggestions I will keep watching this thread for suggestions.

Thanks for trying the site out,
Nathan Humbert

p.s. I tried to add a direct link to the field creation page but I have not made enough posts here to be able to do that.

[Leadchucker]

Gramps da man...I got it.

http://www.checkthesock.com/fields/s...-golden-eagles

[Leadchucker]

Need an edit feature on the field thingy too Nathan

[nathanhumbert]

Originally Posted by Leadchucker

Need an edit feature on the field thingy too Nathan

Great suggestion. I will see what I can put together. I am trying to figure out how to set up the edit functionality so that it won't be too easy for spammers to trash fields.

[gramps2161]

Originally Posted by nathanhumbert

Hey guys,
I am the creator of checkthesock.com. I noticed from reading this thread that it is not very obvious how you can add your field, I will try to update things so that is more obvious. If you have any other suggestions I will keep watching this thread for suggestions.

Thanks for trying the site out,
Nathan Humbert

p.s. I tried to add a direct link to the field creation page but I have not made enough posts here to be able to do that.

Welcome to wattflyer Nathan and yes you will need more posts before you can post a link. This policy helps to keep the spammers and rift raft out.
Nice site I sent the link to some of the members of the club I belong to. Should see your traffic pick up.

Leadchucker glad to help. Maybe if wildfire doesn't mind you guys should post the link to your field so others can see where your flying at.

[Henry Sistrunk]

Thanks again Gramps. I am about to go out and fly in shorts and a short sleeve shirt. Just trying to pick which one to fly. Looks like that will be a real nice site for us.
Henry

[nathanhumbert]

The weather is pulled from NOAA's aviation weather service, it is a subset of the METAR data from the weather station closest to the field. I believe the data should be updated at least once an hour.

[gramps2161]

Nathan good idea would be to have to make a account before you can post a fllying site. Then in order to edit your flying site you would have to log in with a user name and password. I was surprised when I didn't have to create a account to create the club field.

I agree Henry it will be a nice site for many uses. Guys, and gals traveling will be able to look for places to fly on business trips and family vacations. Although the wife and kids might not be to happy when they find out dad plotted the trip with flying fields in mind. Hey look I think we are coming up on another RC club imagine the chances of that happening 4 times in a row.

[NJSwede]

Great site, Nathan!

You know what would be REALLY cool? A live report iPhone/Android app! Something very simple where you can just type in things like "Field really soggy today!/Grass not mowed, small taildraggers need not apply!" etc. Is could be something REALLY simple. Just a text field and a "Send" button. Even a simple web-form would do if you don't want to build an app. Next step could be a function for taking pictures and quickly uploading them to the site to report conditions...

I'm a software developer by trade. Maybe I can help somehow?

[nathanhumbert]

Originally Posted by NJSwede

Great site, Nathan!

You know what would be REALLY cool? A live report iPhone/Android app! Something very simple where you can just type in things like "Field really soggy today!/Grass not mowed, small taildraggers need not apply!" etc. Is could be something REALLY simple. Just a text field and a "Send" button. Even a simple web-form would do if you don't want to build an app. Next step could be a function for taking pictures and quickly uploading them to the site to report conditions...

I'm a software developer by trade. Maybe I can help somehow?

That is a great idea! I will add that to my list of things to do. I will start with a simple web form, after that I will look into making a mobile app and publishing an API so that others can build apps.

[NJSwede]

Originally Posted by nathanhumbert

That is a great idea! I will add that to my list of things to do. I will start with a simple web form, after that I will look into making a mobile app and publishing an API so that others can build apps.

Great! Keep us posted! I'm a pretty decent Java developer, so I can build the Android app once you have an API. This is a fun project!

[Fishbonez]

Im signed up. I think this is a brilliant idea and will save me a lot of time and gas. The wind is calm here but by the time I get to my field it has changed a lot so this will give me a heads up before I head out.

[kyleservicetech]

Originally Posted by Wildflyer

I just found a website, that is aimed at helping modelers to know what the field conditions are at the field where you fly.
It seems to have RC fields all over the world, and you can add your field if it is not there.
The weather reports are updated frequently ( worst I saw was 29 mins.)

Check it out

www.CheckTheSock.com

There is also a full list of weather sites that might be of use. One good one is www.weatherunderground.com.

Take a look at the Racine WI area:
http://www.wunderground.com/weathers...graphspan=year

This currently shows weather history for the past year, but can be set up for the past week, past day, or current conditions. Scroll down through the bottom to see all the graphs and charts. Quite interesting. Wisconsin alone has something like 30 weather sites like this that can be observed.

[NJSwede]

Nathan,

Another thing I've been thinking of building (but never had the time to do) is a flight log. Imagine each plane in your hangar has a simple blog of sorts, where you could enter flight time, a short description of the flight, what battery or fuel you used, weather conditions etc. Now imagine that you had a function where you could add a video to the flight report, and we're talking serious coolness! Obviously, it would work best if there was some kind of handheld device interface so you can post your flight report at the field. Oh... The ideas are flowing now! If you're reporting from a handheld, you could get a GPS fix and grab a snapshot of the WX and attach it to the flight report automatically.

If you had a search function, you could look for flight reports for a specific plane. I would find that extremely useful when I'm considering buying a plane, for example.

I love the idea behind your site. There's just a million cool possibilities!

[Stevephoon]

Nathan,

I added my club's field, UFO in Highland MI. but the weather never updates. ?? Adding a two day forcast with wind speeds. That's what I'd like to see!

Also, still the best weather forcast I've seen is one meant for pilots of full sized planes. If you're field is anywhere close to one of the airports in their database you can get some great info.

http://www.usairnet.com/cgi-bin/laun...t=Get+Forecast

Steve