#aviation

Hot-air-balloon lift maths as an API, computed locally and deterministically — the thermal-lift, envelope-temperature and air-density numbers a balloon pilot, designer or physics teacher works a flight out with. The lift endpoint gives the buoyant lift from heating the air: gross lift = envelope volume × (outside air density − inside air density), the densities from the ideal-gas law — a 2,500 m³ envelope at 100 °C on a 15 °C day lifts about 698 kg gross, from which you subtract the envelope, basket, burner and fuel for the payload, and the hotter the air and colder the day the more it lifts. The required-temp endpoint inverts it: to carry a target lift the inside air must reach a particular density and so a particular temperature, with a check that it stays under the ~120 °C that nylon envelopes can take — the everyday pre-flight question of whether the balloon can lift today's crew and fuel. The air-density endpoint gives the moist-air density ρ = (P − 0.378·Pv) ÷ (R·T), and explains the counter-intuitive fact that humid air is LESS dense than dry air, slightly cutting the lift. Everything is computed locally and deterministically, so it is instant and private. Ideal for ballooning and aviation tools, STEM and physics-education apps, and buoyancy calculators. Pure local computation — no key, no third-party service, instant. Idealised dry-lift model. 3 compute endpoints. For Archimedes flotation in water use a buoyancy API; for party-balloon helium lift a balloon API.

api.oanor.com/hotairballoon-api

Aircraft fuel-planning maths as an API, computed locally and deterministically — the endurance, range and fuel-required numbers a pilot, dispatcher or flight-sim developer plans a flight with, all honouring a reserve. The endurance endpoint gives how long you can fly = usable fuel ÷ burn rate, holding back a reserve (30 min day / 45 min night VFR, 45 min IFR is typical), so the usable endurance is the time you can actually plan to rather than the tanks-dry figure — 50 gallons at 10 gph is 5:00 total but 4:15 usable on a 45-minute reserve. The range endpoint turns that into distance = usable endurance × ground speed, so it lives or dies on the wind: a headwind cuts the ground speed and the range while burning the same fuel per hour, which is why you plan on the forecast ground speed, not the true airspeed. The fuel-required endpoint sizes the load for a leg = trip time × burn plus the reserve — 300 nm at 120 kt and 10 gph needs 25 gallons of trip fuel plus 7.5 reserve, 32.5 total — to which a real flight adds taxi and climb allowances. Everything is computed locally and deterministically, so it is instant and private. Ideal for flight-planning and EFB apps, dispatch and flight-school tools, flight-simulator utilities, and general-aviation calculators. Pure local computation — no key, no third-party service, instant. Add taxi/climb and a personal margin; confirm against tank capacity and weight-and-balance. 3 compute endpoints. For glide range use a glide-ratio API; for density altitude a density-altitude API.

api.oanor.com/fuelburn-api

Aircraft glide-performance maths as an API, computed locally and deterministically — the glide-distance, glide-ratio and reachability numbers a pilot, flight-instructor or flight-sim developer works an engine-out or soaring problem with. The glide-distance endpoint gives the still-air distance you can cover = height above the ground × the glide ratio (L/D): from 5,000 ft at a 9:1 ratio you reach about 45,000 ft, ~7.4 nm, with the answer in feet, nautical miles and kilometres. The glide-ratio endpoint reads the slope straight off the polar — glide ratio = forward speed ÷ sink rate (1 knot ≈ 101.27 ft/min), so 60 kt at a 600 ft/min sink is about 10:1, a 5.6° glide path — and gliders reach 40–60:1, a light single ~9:1, an airliner ~17:1. The reach endpoint answers the practical question: the height needed to reach a field = distance ÷ glide ratio, the arrival height is what is left, and it only counts as making it if that clears a safety reserve (default 1,000 ft) for the circuit and approach. Everything is computed locally and deterministically, so it is instant and private. Ideal for flight-planning and EFB apps, gliding and soaring tools, flight-simulator and training utilities, and aviation-safety calculators. Pure local computation — no key, no third-party service, instant. Still-air estimates — adjust for wind, configuration and a margin. 3 compute endpoints. For density altitude use a density-altitude API; for runway wind components a crosswind API.

api.oanor.com/glideratio-api

Aviation atmosphere maths as an API, computed locally and deterministically using the exact International Standard Atmosphere relations — the numbers a pilot, dispatcher or flight-planning tool needs before take-off, not a rough rule of thumb. The density-altitude endpoint turns the field elevation, altimeter setting and outside air temperature into the pressure altitude (elevation + (29.92 − setting) × 1000) and then the density altitude — the altitude the air actually feels like to the wings and engine — computed from the true ISA density ratio rather than the approximate 120-foot-per-degree rule, with the ISA temperature deviation: on a hot, high day the density altitude soars, robbing lift and thrust and lengthening the take-off roll, the classic mountain-airport hazard. The true-airspeed endpoint gives TAS from calibrated airspeed as CAS ÷ √(density ratio), so the navigator gets the real speed through the air that climbs above the indicated reading with altitude and temperature. The isa endpoint returns the standard-atmosphere temperature, pressure, pressure and density ratios and the speed of sound at any altitude in the troposphere — the reference every altimeter, performance chart and engine rating is built on. Everything is computed locally and deterministically, so it is instant and private. Ideal for flight-planning and EFB apps, drone and UAV tools, aviation weather dashboards, and aerospace-engineering utilities. Pure local computation — no key, no third-party service, instant. Troposphere (≤ 36,089 ft); incompressible TAS. 3 compute endpoints. For the speed of sound and Mach use a Mach-number API; for runway wind components a crosswind API.

api.oanor.com/densityaltitude-api

Aviation runway wind-component maths as an API, computed locally and deterministically. The component endpoint resolves the surface wind into the two parts pilots care about for take-off and landing: the crosswind component perpendicular to the runway, wind·sin(θ), and the headwind (or tailwind) component along it, wind·cos(θ), where θ is the angle between the wind direction and the runway heading — give it the runway as a heading or a designator from 01 to 36, plus the wind direction and speed, and it returns the crosswind with the side it blows from (left or right), the headwind or tailwind, and the angle off; wind 30° off the nose at 20 knots is a 10-knot crosswind and a 17.3-knot headwind. The max-wind endpoint inverts it: the greatest total wind speed before a given crosswind limit is exceeded at a wind angle, limit / |sin θ|. Directions are in degrees (wind is where it comes FROM) and the speed unit is whatever you supply (knots, m/s). Everything is computed locally and deterministically, so it is instant and private. Ideal for aviation, pilot, flight-training, electronic-flight-bag, drone and weather-briefing app developers, runway-selection and crosswind-limit tools, and cockpit software. Pure local computation — no key, no third-party service, instant. Live, nothing stored. 2 endpoints. This is runway wind geometry; for the speed of sound and Mach number use a Mach API and for standard-atmosphere density a standard-atmosphere API.

api.oanor.com/crosswind-api

International Standard Atmosphere (ISA) maths as an API, computed locally and deterministically. The properties endpoint gives the air temperature, pressure, density and speed of sound at any altitude from sea level to 20 km — using the standard troposphere lapse rate (T = T0 − 0.0065·h) and the isothermal lower stratosphere above 11 km — along with the density, pressure and temperature ratios relative to sea level. The density-altitude endpoint computes the density altitude — the ISA altitude with the same air density — from a pressure altitude and the actual outside-air temperature, the figure pilots use because heat and low pressure rob an aircraft of lift, engine power and propeller thrust; it also reports the ISA temperature deviation. The pressure-altitude endpoint turns a barometric reading (in hectopascals or pascals) into the pressure altitude, the ISA altitude at which the standard pressure equals your reading. Altitudes accept metres or feet, temperature °C or kelvin. Everything is computed locally and deterministically, so it is instant and private. Ideal for aviation, drone, ballooning, HVAC and meteorology app developers, flight-planning and performance tools, and physics education. Pure local computation — no key, no third-party service, instant. Live, nothing stored. 3 endpoints. This is the ISA atmospheric model; for the acoustic and relativistic Doppler effect use a Doppler API.

api.oanor.com/atmosphere-api

VATSIM, the Virtual Air Traffic Simulation Network, as an API — the largest online flight-simulation network, where tens of thousands of virtual pilots and air-traffic controllers fly and control in real time on flight simulators. This API exposes the live VATSIM network feed. /v1/pilots returns the pilots currently flying online, each with their live position (latitude, longitude, altitude, ground speed, heading), transponder, aircraft type and filed flight plan (departure, arrival, route, cruise altitude, flight rules); filter by airport (matching the departure or arrival ICAO, e.g. airport=EGLL) or by callsign prefix. /v1/controllers returns the air-traffic controllers currently online, each with callsign, radio frequency, facility (Delivery, Ground, Tower, Approach/Departure, Center), rating and logon time; filter by airport prefix (e.g. airport=KLAX matches KLAX_TWR, KLAX_APP), with an observers=true option. /v1/stats returns the network status — total connected clients and the number of pilots, controllers and ATIS positions online, with the snapshot timestamp. The network snapshot updates roughly every 15 seconds. Ideal for flight-simulation tools, live online-ATC and traffic maps, event and staffing dashboards, and community bots. Data from VATSIM (free to use; please credit VATSIM). This is the live virtual flight-simulation network — distinct from real-world ADS-B flight tracking.

api.oanor.com/vatsim-api

Live air traffic as an API, powered by the OpenSky Network — a community network of thousands of volunteer ADS-B/Mode-S receivers tracking aircraft worldwide in real time. This is live flight tracking, the FlightRadar-style picture of what is in the sky right now, distinct from static aircraft registries, airline directories, airport metadata and scheduled-flight status. /v1/flights returns every aircraft currently airborne inside a geographic bounding box (give the box as lamin/lomin/lamax/lomax in degrees, kept under roughly 20° latitude by 30° longitude), each with its ICAO 24-bit address, callsign, origin country, live longitude and latitude, barometric and geometric altitude, ground speed, true heading, vertical rate and transponder squawk — a real-time radar snapshot with the network timestamp. /v1/aircraft looks up a single aircraft by its 6-hex ICAO 24-bit address and returns its current live state (or airborne:false when it is grounded or out of receiver range). /v1/arrivals and /v1/departures list the flights that arrived at or departed from an airport (4-letter ICAO code such as EDDF Frankfurt or EGLL Heathrow) over the last N hours (1-48), each with callsign, the estimated airport at the other end and the first/last-seen timestamps. Ideal for live flight-tracking maps, aviation dashboards, geofencing and proximity alerts, spotting tools, and research into air-traffic patterns. Positions are in degrees, altitudes in metres and speeds in metres per second. Data from the OpenSky Network, free for non-commercial use — please credit OpenSky. Coverage depends on volunteer receiver density.

api.oanor.com/opensky-api

Airport radio communication frequencies as an API — 30,000+ frequencies at 11,000+ airports, from the OurAirports dataset. List every published frequency at an airport by ident (e.g. KJFK → Approach 125.7/127.4/132.4, ATIS, Tower, Ground, Clearance, …), or filter fleet-wide by type or exact frequency (e.g. find every airport using the emergency frequency 121.5). Each record carries the airport, frequency type (TWR, GND, ATIS, APP, CTAF, UNICOM, CNTR, …) with a readable name, the description and the frequency in MHz. Ideal for aviation radio, flight simulators, EFB, scanner and flight-planning apps.

api.oanor.com/airportfreq-api

Every runway in the world as an API — 47,000+ runways at 40,000+ airports, from the OurAirports dataset. List all the runways at any airport by ICAO/local ident (e.g. KJFK → four runways, the longest 13R/31L at 14,511 ft), with each runway's length (feet and metres), width, surface (asphalt, concrete, grass, …), lighting and both-end designators, true headings and coordinates. Or filter runways fleet-wide by surface, minimum length and lighting. Ideal for flight planning, flight simulators, EFB and aeronautical apps, and aviation analytics.

api.oanor.com/runways-api

Radio navigation aids (navaids) as an API — 11,000+ VOR, NDB, DME, TACAN, VORTAC and VOR-DME beacons across 231 countries, from the OurAirports dataset. Look up a navaid by its ident (e.g. JFK → Kennedy VOR-DME 115.9 MHz), search by name/ident with country and type filters, or find all navaids within a radius of any coordinate. Each record carries the ident, name, type, frequency (kHz and MHz), elevation, country and any associated airport. Ideal for aviation tools, flight simulators, EFB apps, flight planning and aeronautical charts.

api.oanor.com/navaids-api

Live aviation weather for any airport as an API, relayed from NOAA's Aviation Weather Center. Get the current METAR observation for an ICAO station (e.g. KJFK → New York JFK: temperature, dewpoint, wind, visibility, altimeter, cloud layers, flight category VFR/MVFR/IFR/LIFR and the raw report) or the TAF terminal aerodrome forecast. Query one station or up to 10 at once (KJFK,EGLL,EDDF). Both decoded fields and the raw text are returned. Ideal for flight-planning tools, aviation dashboards, drone/UAV operations and weather apps.

api.oanor.com/metar-api

Resolve and search aircraft type designators — turn the IATA (e.g. 738) and ICAO (e.g. B738) aircraft codes returned by flight-data APIs into readable model names like "Boeing 737-800". Look up by IATA code, ICAO code or name, search 240+ aircraft types, or fetch the whole list. Bundled, fast and always available — a handy companion to flight, airline and airport data.

api.oanor.com/aircraft-api

Search a database of 6,000+ airlines worldwide (OpenFlights open dataset). Find carriers by name and country, look one up by its IATA (2-letter) or ICAO (3-letter) code, and browse counts per country. Each record includes the airline name, codes, radio callsign, country and active status — ideal for travel apps, booking flows, flight dashboards and aviation tooling.

api.oanor.com/airlines-api

Real-time aircraft positions from live ADS-B data (OpenSky Network). Query all aircraft inside a geographic bounding box or track a single aircraft by its ICAO24 transponder address — returns position, barometric & geometric altitude, ground speed, heading, vertical rate, squawk and country of registration. Ideal for live maps, flight dashboards and proximity alerts.

api.oanor.com/flights-api

A worldwide airport database in one fast API: roughly 7,700 airports with IATA and ICAO codes, name, city, country, latitude and longitude, altitude and time zone. Look up any airport by its IATA (3-letter) or ICAO (4-letter) code, search by name, city or country, find the airports nearest to any coordinate within a radius (with great-circle distances, optionally only those with IATA codes), or list every airport in a country. Built on the open OpenFlights/OurAirports dataset and served entirely in-memory, so responses are instant and the service is always available. Ideal for travel and booking apps, flight trackers, logistics and routing, maps and location features.

api.oanor.com/airports-api