About ltapzmap
ltapzmap is a shared map for hot-air balloon pilots — obstacles, airspace, pilot zones, waypoints, and flight tracks all on one map. Built by a balloon pilot for balloon pilots; access is gated to verified lighter-than-air certificate holders.
The map combines authoritative public datasets (FAA DOF, FAA airspace, HIFLD power lines), worldwide-community aeronautical data (OpenAIP), and pilot-uploaded files (KML / KMZ / GPX / GeoPackage). New pilots sign up at /signup and are admin-approved after a quick FAA Airmen registry check.
The site is free — but it isn't free to run
ltapzmap costs real money every month: EC2, EBS storage, the OpenAIP API, MapTiler basemap quota, email delivery, domain renewals. Right now I'm paying for all of it out of pocket because I think every balloon pilot should have this map for free.
If the map saves you a phone call, helps you preflight faster, or lets you find an LZ you'd otherwise miss — a coffee's worth of support keeps the lights on for the next pilot.
Festivals & events
If you run a balloon festival or rally, ltapzmap replaces the yearly headache of emailing a pilot-zone KML to everyone and re-sending it every time something changes. Instead of each pilot downloading a file, deleting the old one, and re-importing before every briefing — and inevitably someone flying an out-of-date map — a festival on ltapzmap is one live map.
Attendees join the festival once and always see the current zones automatically. There's nothing to redistribute or re-import. When a pilot finds a new red (no-fly) or green (approved LZ) zone in the field, they send the edit to the festival admin straight from the map; once it's approved it's live for every attendee instantly.
Prefer offline? You can still bundle-export the whole festival to KMZ or GPX for ForeFlight or a handheld at any time — you're just never forced to chase file updates again. Browse or create one from the Festivals page.
Native integrations
ltapzmap is built to plug into the tools balloon pilots already use, so most of the data is simply there — live — with no export/import step:
- HotAir — the map embeds directly inside the HotAir app, so your zones, obstacles, and airspace appear without leaving it.
- LTAGo / QGIS — a native plugin pulls the map live over the API onto the QGIS / LTAGo canvas; current zones show up without ever downloading or re-importing a KML.
- OziExplorer / Ozi Target — the OziExplorer companion drops your waypoints and tracks straight into Ozi for your in-flight handheld setup.
The point: one source of truth, everywhere you already work — no juggling files between tools.
Have an app you'd like to integrate the map into? There's a clean API, and I'm happy to help you wire it up — email [email protected].
Data sources & attribution
Every dataset shown on the map is listed below with its source, license, and a link to the upstream provider.
OpenAIP
CC BY-SA 4.0Worldwide airspace (Class A–G, TMA/CTR/SUA, gliding sectors) and obstacles for ~200 countries. Pulled from the OpenAIP REST API and refreshed weekly.
Attribution: Aviation data © OpenAIP contributors — https://www.openaip.net (licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0).
FAA Digital Obstacle File (DOF)
Public domain (US Government work)US obstacle data (towers, antennas, buildings ≥200 ft AGL) maintained by the FAA. The canonical US obstacle reference; pulled daily from the official FAA mirror.
FAA Class Airspace
Public domain (US Government work)Class B / C / D / E rings and Mode C veils around US airports. Sourced from the FAA Open Data ArcGIS portal and refreshed every ~28 days.
FAA Special Use Airspace (SUA)
Public domain (US Government work)Prohibited, Restricted, Warning, Alert, MOA, ATCAA, and NSA boundaries with effective times. Sourced from the FAA Open Data ArcGIS portal.
HIFLD — Electric Power Transmission Lines
Public domain (US Government work)~52,000 US high-voltage transmission line segments from the Homeland Infrastructure Foundation-Level Data (DHS/CISA). Color-coded by voltage class on the map.
MapTiler
MapTiler basemap license (attribution included on the map)Streets, Outdoor, Satellite, and Hybrid basemap tiles. The pickable basemap layer on the map page.
OpenStreetMap
ODbL 1.0Underlying street, road, and terrain data inside the MapTiler basemaps. Attribution is shown on the map itself via the MapTiler attribution control.
Pilot uploads
Per individual uploader — contact the uploader from the map popupKML, KMZ, GPX, GeoPackage, and other files uploaded by approved lighter-than-air pilots. Each file is owned by its uploader, who can mark it public or private and respond to questions via the in-app messaging system.
Privacy & access
- The master map is private to admin-approved lighter-than-air pilots. Anonymous visitors are sent to the sign-in page.
- Pilot uploads default to public (visible to every other approved pilot). Each uploader can flip individual features (or a whole file) to private at any time from the feature popup or My uploads.
- Pilot-to-pilot messaging is in-app only — email addresses are never exposed to other pilots. Notifications go out via email but all replies happen in the in-app inbox.
- Pilot certificate numbers and names collected at signup are used solely for admin verification against the FAA Airmen Inquiry (or national equivalent) and are not shown to other users.
Contact
Questions, data corrections, or interested in being a data contributor? [email protected].