Flightradar24.com - Live flight tracker!

Have you ever wondered where that plane flying over head is going and what type of aircraft I just watched on my laptop the plane whose vapor trail I could see over head and was blown away by all the information and also the view.

This is definitely a keeper.

You are also going to be totally blown away when you see how many aircraft are flying in your area...

I can now see why an aircraft traffic controller is one very, very busy person. You can see all the information instantly on your screen. but before clicking on the link:

Some tricks;

On the map you will see all the planes in the air

To view your region or town, you can zoom in by tapping with your mouse.

Click on a airplane, and on the left screen you will get all the info:
airline, type, speed, altitude in real time, re calculated every 10 seconds. On some you can also click on ‘view from the cockpit’.

 

Way cool, thanks. Woody

 

I played with it for a while, neat!

 

This is amazing stuff, we are on a flight path and I can see that at the moment they are coming from the other direction.

 

Landing in San Diego can present specific challenges due to the airport's proximity to the city and water, which can be both a challenge and demanding of piloting skills. The airport has a relatively short runway (Runway 27), which can make landings more challenging, especially with larger aircraft. The approach path can be steep due to surrounding/rising terrain and obstacles. The white building at/near the approach end of the runway is a five story parking garage (which the FAA should never allowed).

 

This gives a better perspective of the high garage on short final. (quite the distraction)

 

Is it on airport property or? The FAA may have not had a say so.

 

It is NOT on airport property. Although the garage IS an obstruction, apparently it was built under the approach surface already established by previous buildings/obstructions located farther to the east at an earlier time, which is why the FAA and local government allowed it to be built.

 

B767-200 ('baby' Big One) landing at San Diego. Terrain in background above aircraft. The standard 3 degree glide slope is NOT used due to obstructions, displaced threshold and that parking garage.

 

ADS-B, Automatic Dependent Surveillance - Broadcast. <- it's a stupid name but that is classic FAA.
ADS-B is an aircraft to aircraft and aircraft to ground broadcast of a planes GPS position and altitude. In 2020 it was mandated to fly in any towed airport (class D, C and B) you had to have an ADS-B transmitter. The ADS-B receiver is optional. Since I fly under a CLASS-C airspace, I got a transmitter and receiver.

Here is a picture of a new ADS_B transponder before I installed it in the plane.

My avionics rack


Here is a picture of the receiver. It's burred in the avionics rack and behind that mess of cables.

Side view including ADS-B receiver

The purpose of ADS-B is to increase safety by giving pilots the relative position of targets around the aircraft. That is displayed on an I-Pad inside my aircraft. Here is a picture of the map display showing the KCAE Class C airspace by the magenta lines.


My cockpit, the working side.

The blue dot is my exact position. The GPS uses WAAS for very accurate positioning. Hence this stuff ain't cheap.

A couple of comments about the abuses of ADS-B data.
1) Data showed by flightradar is crowd sourced in exchange for greater data access. There are many private individuals with ADS-B receivers transmitting the data to various ADS-B websites. Here is a link to a flight I made testing RPM and speed combinations hence the rectangle patterns.

https://www.flightaware.com/live/fli...523Z/KCUB/KCUB

2) The data is being used illegally to collect landing fees.
https://avweb.com/aviation-news/peti...ads-b-billing/

3) The data is being used to publicly track famous people.
https://robbreport.com/motors/aviati...aa-1234787705/

Remember any new technology can be used for good and bad purposes.

 

Here's pic of original Link Trainer (this is only second one of these I have ever seen) I got to fly one, pretty small inside.

 

Looks like a mini submarine.

 

Jacques Cousteau might disagree -

 

MD - 80 Simulator (IAH/Houston)

 

 

Now that looks like a WHALE !

 

The Super Guppy on the Long Beach Flight Ramp.

 

Was that the one they used to use for weightless training back in the day?

 

"Was that the one they used to use for weightless training back in the day?"
No, the original aircraft NASA used was a modified Boeing KC-135A aircraft (B-707) nicknamed the "Vomit Comet". It now sits on a pedestal / static display at Ellington Field (EFD) Houston Texas.
The Guppy was designed to carry large loads, specifically rocket parts.
Also located at EFD near the Vomit Comet is the Lone Star Flight Museum. I viewed Glacier Girl while it was on display last year. Visiting exhibits are always interesting and GG was a rare experience for those in the aviation community.
LSFM website ; https://lonestarflight.org/
Glacier Girl : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glacier_Girl

 

Thanks for the clarification.