The Maps

There is a marker for each NOTAM plotted on the map, and a series of smaller ones for each flying site. In addition, the NOTAM markers may have a semi-transparent filled-in circle around them. (Circles with a radius of 10 nautical miles or greater will not be filled in, to ease readability). NOTAMS for danger areas will have the danger area indicated - in red for an activation, green for a deactivation. Some NOTAMs show flight paths; these are shown as orange lines, with the NOTAM marker on one of the corners of the path

Clicking on a NOTAM marker will show the details of the NOTAM, as will clicking on the circle or path of the NOTAM. Clicking on a smaller (site) marker will show the details of the flying site, and point you to the site guide and/or web site, if it exists.

If there are two or more NOTAMS issued for the same place, the marker will be replaced by a light blue one with the number of NOTAMs at that place. To zoom in to any NOTAM, double-click on the map near the marker. You may also use the zoom control on the left-hand side of the map to zoom in and out. Clicking on a NOTAM marker itself will bring up the text associated with that NOTAM. If there are multiple NOTAMS, you will see the text of all of them.

Each NOTAM marker has a letter on it, depending upon its type, based on the second letter of the NOTAM 'Q' code:

• for Restricted airspace
• for De-restriction of airspace eg a danger area deactivated.
• for Airspace Warnings
• for Airspace Organisation
• for Communications
• for aerodrome Facilities
• for Instrument and Microwave Landing Systems
• for Lighting facilities
• for Movement and Landing Areas
• for COM Terminal and En-Route Navigation facilities
• for Obstacles
• for Air traffic Procedures
• for RAC air traffic and VOLMET Services

Aerodrome-only NOTAMs are marked in purple, en-route in blue, warnings in orange, and restrictions in red/green. NOTAMs that are both aerodrome and en-route will be displayed as en-route, aerodrome/warning mixtures as warnings..

National and local maps

You may view a map of the entire country, or a map of your local area (See below to set this up).

If you choose to view NOTAMs for the whole country ('Flight Planning Map'), the program will display the entire country, and all current NOTAMS. This large map will also let you view and analyse airspace, and has a national sites index. The airspace section is collapsed by default - click on the link to open it up. The data for the sites have been gathered from a variety of sources, mostly other web sites. If you know of any errors and omissions in these, please let me know via the 'Contact' menu item at the top of this page.

The default behaviour for the NOTAM Map is to display just the navigation warning NOTAMs that apply today, during daytime. Thus, you should normally see only the 'Restriction', 'De-restriction' and 'Warning' codes. You can turn on all night-time NOTAMS, and can choose to see NOTAMs for other days in the week, or indeed, all NOTAMS for the entire week. Please note that viewing NOTAMS for a few days ahead will only show those NOTAMs already issued - there may well be more issued between now and the day concerned. Always look at the map on the day that you want to fly. All the options are on the right-hand side of the map.

If you register on the web site, then further options are available. You can set up a local map, set up a route on that map, and get NOTAM listings for your local area, and for your route. You can also see en-route and aerodrome NOTAMS, and download all of them to a KML file for viewing with Google Earth.

Where does the information come from?

The NOTAM information is collected by logging on to the NATS web site, and downloading all the information for the EGTT and EGPX flight Information Regions, ie the whole of the UK. This is done every hour, using the 'NOTAMinfo' user name and password. The briefing number that this generates can be seen in the 'NOTAM status' block at the left of the page. The data requested is for seven days ahead. The actual briefing obtained can be viewed by selecting 'Latest Briefing' on the main menu

Your personal settings

Once you have registered, you can change your options at any time by visiting my account on the navigation menu on the left hand panel. Hit the edit tab to review your settings. Hit NOTAM/Maps settings to alter your own personal settings. Note that to change the area you are interested in, you should use the Set up Maps and Feeds section instead

Setting up your local map

Go to the 'Set up Maps and Feeds' section. Here you will find a map of the UK, with two markers on it, and the area enclosed by those markers shaded in blue. This area is the one that you are selecting for your NOTAMS. You can click and drag the markers on the map to select your area. You can also zoom the map in and out using the usual Google Maps controls. Once you are happy with the area that you have selected, hit the button below the map to update your preferences. Once you have done this, your personal local map will be at the zoom level that you have selected here, and will be centred on the area marked in blue. Your RSS feed will only contain NOTAMS that impinge on the area in blue, and the 'Area NOTAMs' page will only show NOTAMs within this area.

Email settings

To receive NOTAMs by email, go to My account on the navigation menu on the left. Select the email settings tab, and select the day that you want your emails sent. You may receive them daily, on weekends only, for today, tomorrow, or the rest of the week. You can also choose to receive only those NOTAMS issued since the previous email. Also choose the time of day that you want to receive the email. If you want the email in HTML format, click on the appropriate box.

Setting up a route

Once registered, and logged in, go to either the local or UK map page. Click on 'show route'. The first time you do this, a default west --> east route will be displayed in the middle of the map, marked with a green marker for take off, and a red one for landing. Drag these markers to your desired route. Click on the start marker to see the position, distance and direction to the landing. The location is shown in whichever style you chose at registration. You may also nudge the marker to a known location. Click on the chevrons to go East/West or North/South. The chevrons nearer the centre move least, the outer ones more (the outermost chevron will move 1 degree of lat/long in the named direction). Once you have done that, you may add turn points between start and finish. Do this by clicking on 'add a turnpoint after this one'. The new turn point will initially be placed half way between take off and landing. You may also add further turn points by clicking any of the route markers. To delete a turn point, click on it, then click on 'remove this turnpoint'. Once happy, click on the 'Save Route' button. This will store your route permanently on the file, and the 'Route NOTAMs' menu item will now display NOTAMs for this stored route.

Disclaimer

The usual caveats apply; don't rely on the maps or emails for your flight planning. You must also obtain NOTAMS from AIS. The data presented here carries no guarantee whatsoever as to accuracy. If you use this web site's information, and do not back this up with fresh data from AIS, and you fall foul of the authorities, on your own head be it.