Greetings!
This enhancement request is a "it would be nice to have. . . ." class of enhancement request. As a result I don't know if I should add additional noise to the Dev mailing list by posting it.
Issue:
I am assuming that one of the goals of FG is to get more people to use it, regardless of their experience with planes, flying, etc. etc. etc.
This being the case, ICAO airport codes are relatively unknown, whereas anyone who flies more than once a century knows at least a few IATA airport codes.
(i.e. "JFK" for John F. Kennedy airport in New York, "BOS" for Boston Logan, "LAX" for Los Angeles, "SVO" and "DME" for Sheremetyevo and Domodedovo airports in Moscow, etc.)
In fact, the airports themselves often use their IATA codes for "branding" purposes - an excellent example of this is Los Angeles International Airport which has a gigantic "LAX" sign out in front of the airport where you drive in. Other airports do the same thing. If you've lived in the NY metro area for any length of time, you know that most people refer to Kennedy airport as "JFK".
The current behavior is to ask for the "ICAO code, navaid or name". ICAO codes and navaid names are only known to that prestigious elite who live and breathe airplanes. This is mitigated to some extent by the fact that the ICAO code for many airports in the U.S. is the IATA code with a "K" prefix, (kbos for Boston Logan, korh for Worcester Regional, (ORH), etc.
What is fortunate for the traveling public, (and fatal to that scheme!), is that most airports are not in the U.S. Unless you already knew the answer, how would anyone possibly guess that "UUEE" is the ICAO code for Sheremetyevo airport in Moscow?
The name of the place, though seemingly obvious, has problems especially if the name is not native. (For example, I may not spell Sheremetyevo or Domodedovo correctly. If I miss-spell them, FG can't find them.)
A desirable behavior, especially desirable for beginners, is to allow for the use of the three-letter IATA codes for airports, (JFK, BOS, SVO), or regions, (NYC is an alias for JFK, LGA, and EWR - Kennedy, LaGuardia, and Newark airports, all in the NYC area. MOW is the alias for all the important airports in the Moscow region, etc.)
I admit that I can also search by region, city, country, etc. etc. etc. And this is a Good Thing. My thinking is that if we want to help the beginner get "up and flying" as quickly and conveniently as possible, then allowing them to choose an airport based on the airport codes they already know would be great.
Obviously the world won't stop spinning if this isn't implemented in the next seventeen seconds or so. . . .
Is this something even worth discussing? Should I pester the dev mailing list with this?
What say ye?
Jim (JR)