MappSmith — Airport builder

  • Are the runway numbers at the right ends?

    Yes. Each number is placed at the end an aircraft lands on: runway 09 at the west end of an east-west runway, 27 at the east end, the way they are painted. Each one is turned to read the way a pilot on final reads it, with the letter of a parallel runway (L, C or R) between the threshold bars and...

  • Can I add "First solo" and a date?

    Yes. Under Board, type a dedication such as "FIRST SOLO · 06.14.2025 · JAMIE" and it goes on the plaque under the facts. The code can be the ICAO one (KOSH) or the IATA one travellers know (OSH), and every line can be retyped or switched off.

  • Can I move or retype the runway numbers?

    Yes. The builder places them, and in the Studio each one becomes ordinary text, still turned along its runway: drag it, retype it or delete it.

  • Can I turn pieces and marks off?

    Yes, all of them. Under Details you can switch off the plaque, the frame and the water, and on the board the runway numbers, the threshold bars and centre lines, the aprons, the terminals and hangars, helipads, the compass rose and the streets. Taxiways can be off, engraved, or raised with the ru...

  • How do I make an airport map?

    In the Layers panel, set Product to "Airport". The airport builder opens. Airport: tap a famous one from the library, or find any airport by name or code. Look: Runways raised, Engraved or Printed, the materials, and what the taxiways and water do. Details: every layer and mark on or off, the ru...

  • What do the three looks give me?

    Runways raised: a board with the streets, water, taxiways, aprons and terminals engraved, the runways raised on top as one piece with their numbers, threshold bars and centre lines engraved into it, and a raised plaque with the code big along the bottom. Engraved: one board with everything burned...

  • What is the tick on the compass rose?

    Magnetic north. The rose is laid to true north the way the board is, and the tick outside its ring points to magnetic north with the variation beside it (for example 4°W). The variation is read off the airport's own runways: each runway number is its magnetic heading, and the map knows its true h...

  • Which airports can I find?

    Any airport on OpenStreetMap, worldwide: airline airports, small fields, grass strips, seaplane bases and heliports. Search by name ("Oshkosh", "Heathrow") or by code: ICAO (KOSH), IATA (ORD) or the FAA identifier (OSH). The library has famous airports ready to tap, each checked over satellite im...

  • Why are there no streets round my airport?

    Streets and buildings come from our own map, which covers the US, Canada, the UK & Ireland, Australia and New Zealand; other countries do not have them yet. Water and coastline show everywhere, and the runways, taxiways, aprons and terminals come from OpenStreetMap for every airport.