I thought it would be interesting to see if I could establish a record for the shortest time to visit every public use airport in Wisconsin. It's a beautiful state and would give me an excuse to do a bunch of flying some weekend.

So I downloaded all the airports and ran them through an algorithm solving what is known as a TSP (traveling salesman problem, an np-hard problem) to generate a route. There are some geeks here, so I thought I would mention the approach used. For most people, all you care about is that it means that it's time consuming to run the routine and, unless you try every possible path (which would be time consuming given 130 airports), you can't know if you have the *best* possible route.

Anyway, the resultant path of one of the runs was this: http://is.gd/cxO182

I figure that it could be done in 50-60 hours total time. Including time to sleep, maybe 4 days.

I have to applaud the effort but the ask, what's the point? I know it's to check the box & all, that's about it. Why not concentrate your resources, time, & fuel costs to the more desirable destinations? You could still keep a running total of the airports hit, then add to that goal.

I'd be looking at the likes of some of the Islands(yes, MI I know)Washington, Beaver, Mackinac & other fun places. The WI DOT site lists some of the fly-ins held in WI, worth looking into.

You could adjust your trips based on who is with you, if anyone, & what they like doing. JMHO

That southern leg looks like circuit-city!! I hope you're planning to touch and go, think of the landing fees!

I work on EDA algorithms for semiconductors (routing VLSI circuits)... This is a classic optimization problem - the most studied in the world.

TSP is the name of the problem - not the algorithm used to solve it. The optimal solution involves brute force methods and is O(n^2*2^n). Heuristics get pretty close, within 1%.

And of course.... there's an app for that:

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/concorde-tsp/id498366515?mt=8

It would be more interesting to throw the radar image in there and try to avoid the thunderstorms and see how close you can get to the predicted best case time. Multiply the weights in your directed graph by the time penalty due to the overlaying radar returns.

Sounds like flat land strip bagging :D

Cool! I knew those theoretical computer science classes would eventually come in handy for flying!

Actually, this is sort of Aerocross writ large!

Frankly it sounds too much like work, and not enough like fun.

Cary

Your Shell Lake -> superior leg takes you right over our airport. It's right between 'scenic & riverway' on the sectional, north of the 2 tiny lakes. Feel free to drop in.

You should go for it! I think it would be a blast. Bring along a reporter from the Features section of your local paper, or a human interest reporter from the local TV station. Or Jeanie Moos from CNN!

wiwarrior wrote:I have to applaud the effort but the ask, what's the point? I know it's to check the box & all, that's about it. Why not concentrate your resources, time, & fuel costs to the more desirable destinations? You could still keep a running total of the airports hit, then add to that goal.

I'd be looking at the likes of some of the Islands(yes, MI I know)Washington, Beaver, Mackinac & other fun places. The WI DOT site lists some of the fly-ins held in WI, worth looking into.

You could adjust your trips based on who is with you, if anyone, & what they like doing. JMHO

You got it. The point is to find an excuse to fly and do something I don't anyone has attempted. It may not be as notable as climbing Mt. Everest, but it would at least be unique. As for desirability, I happen to like Wisconsin a lot. That's why you aren't looking at a map of Illinois.

soyAnarchisto wrote:TSP is the name of the problem - not the algorithm used to solve it.

Sure. I was simplifying for the non-CS people. Specifically, this was the class of approach: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greedy_algorithm

soyAnarchisto wrote:It would be more interesting to throw the radar image in there and try to avoid the thunderstorms and see how close you can get to the predicted best case time. Multiply the weights in your directed graph by the time penalty due to the overlaying radar returns.

As someone who has spent a lot of time in physics labs, my plan was to make simplifying assumptions.

Specifically, I would be looking for a forecast with a lot of clear skies before attempting such a flight.

Did the same thing here in Montana and it was one of the best things I ever did. Made me a better pilot fighting wind and weather a long way from home. Met lots of great people. Saw airports that most local pilots had no idea how beautiful they were. I would say dont be in a rush. Take time to stop and chat up the locals. Now I can be 400 miles from home and there is no need for GPS I know Billings is right over there. Became a celeb as well with newspaper and magazine articles. People stop me 3 yrs later in the store to say hay your that pilot. Didnt think people really cared about flying.
Give it a go.

Coyote wrote:Did the same thing here in Montana and it was one of the best things I ever did.

Very interesting feedback Coyote. Thanks!

A small group of us ,4 planes decided to try and land at as many airports in one day west of the Continental Divide here in CO a few years ago. As I recall we did around 12.
Ron

skywagon guy wrote:A small group of us ,4 planes decided to try and land at as many airports in one day west of the Continental Divide here in CO a few years ago. As I recall we did around 12.

Yeah, if the goal is as many in one day as possible, Wisconsin has definite advantages. 130 public use airports and I'll bet 75 percent of them are in the southern half of the state. In the south east corner I bet I could do 20 in an afternoon.