If you’re a pilot, you probably catch yourself thinking “where’s the nearest airport?” when you’re reading about any place online. I have a web site, OurAirports, that can help to answer that question, but only at the cost of going to the site, typing the placename into the search box, and then waiting for the results.

The bookmarklet

To speed things up, I’ve written my first bookmarklet, a tiny bit of code that runs in a browser bookmark.

Find airports

Click on this link, hold the mouse down, and drag it to your bookmark bar (updated so that a new page doesn’t open when you select “cancel”):

The bookmark bar is usually just above the main part of the browser window. You can highlight any text on the web page you’re reading (such as a placename or address), then click the “Find airports” bookmark to open a new window/tab showing the closest airports. If you don’t select any text with the mouse, a dialog box will pop up prompting you for a search string.

Examples

(In each example, the text to select is in italics.)

Airport codes work very well. Select LAX or EGLL with your mouse, then click the “Find airports” link to jump straight to the airport page on OurAirports.

If you’re thinking of visiting the Prime Minister of Canada, highlight 24 Sussex Drive, Ottawa with your mouse then click on your “Find airports” bookmarklet.

I like to fly my family to Manhattan. Teterboro is almost as close as LaGuardia, and a lot less expensive.

I hear that Ayers Rock is very dramatic down under.

Thinking of helping mankind? Perhaps you’d like to fly aid supplies into Darfur or Zimbabwe, assuming the governments would allow you in.