Global Energy today announced the presence of the U.S. Registered Aircraft Online database, a freely accessible database available to Internet users and users of WAP-enabled cell phones.
The database contains entries for 349,635 aircraft, and it’s powered by FileMaker Pro. FileMaker Pro is, of course, the flagship database product from Apple subsidiary FileMaker Inc.
According to the developer, the database was compiled from publicly available records from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). It contains the records of all U.S. civil aircraft maintained by the FAA, Civil Aviation Registry, Aircraft Registration Branch, AFS-750.
Accessible data includes N-number, serial number, owner, address, aircraft model, engine data and fractional ownership. Global Energy explained that the database is also related to other aviation databases, such as Service Difficulty Reporting, Aviation Mechanics, Pilot Database and more. All the data is available for free online. The company also sells this database (and many others) on CD-ROM.
Global Star president Greg Giese illustrated an intriguing example of how this database can be used for practical purposes by cautious travelers equipped with WAP-enabled cell phones. “I can enter in the tail number of a commercial jet I’m about to board, and find out about the aircraft, including owner info and any difficulties it may have had in the past,” said Giese.
“FileMaker provides a unique platform for us to serve this information via the web, and WAP via cellular phones. Not only does FileMaker allow us instant web publishing, but also access to wireless devices in one package,” said Giese.