Fix: Use generic icon for emitter category fallback — stop misrepresenting aircraft#142
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Jxck-S wants to merge 1 commit into
Open
Fix: Use generic icon for emitter category fallback — stop misrepresenting aircraft#142Jxck-S wants to merge 1 commit into
Jxck-S wants to merge 1 commit into
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Emitter categories A1/A2/A3 do not reliably indicate aircraft type. A1 (light) could be an ultralight jet, not necessarily a prop. A3 (large) could be a Gulfstream, not an airliner. Aircraft without database or registration info fall back to these category-based icons. This is especially problematic for PIA (Privacy ICAO Address) aircraft which are misrepresented by incorrect icons. Using the generic 'unknown' icon prevents misleading representations. Co-authored-by: Copilot <223556219+Copilot@users.noreply.github.com>
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Problem
Aircraft without database or registration info (especially PIA — Privacy ICAO Address aircraft) fall back to emitter category-based icons. The current mapping assigns specific aircraft-type icons to broad emitter categories:
This is misrepresentative and dangerous in this space:
Emitter category only tells you the weight class, not the aircraft type. When there's no DB/reg data to resolve the actual type, guessing an icon based on weight class alone actively misleads users.
Fix
Use the generic
unknownicon with uniform scale (1.0) for A1, A2, and A3 fallback. This honestly represents "we don't know what this aircraft looks like" rather than displaying a confidently wrong icon.Why this matters
Misrepresenting aircraft types erodes trust in the platform and can mislead spotters, researchers, and safety-conscious users. An honest "unknown" is always better than a wrong guess. Don't end up like FlightRadar24.