Plane Finder
Real time air traffic radar maps on the iPhone and iPod touch!
** See major events such as the effect of the Iceland Volcano Ash Cloud Live or simply watch friends and family fly out **
Now includes improved Europe, US and Australia.
(See notes below on coverage).
Plane Finder is a amazing app for anyone interested in aviation, planes, flights or air traffic control.
It's also great if you just want to know what is up there or if you want to see your friends and family in the air?
Plane Finder provides a near real time "virtual radar" showing what is in the sky plus details such as altitude, speed, plane type etc. It's very addictive because there is so much flight movement in the sky.
Plane Finder provides real time information on planes and flights in the UK, Ireland, Europe, Australia, Southern Scandinavia and increasingly in the US. It’s easy to use and is fully integrated into Google Maps.
Plane Finder also includes flight route information and the airline details.
It’s also easy to switch between map views, satellite view and information; it even pulls in photos of the planes.
Plane Finder works by picking up ADS-B plane feeds used by all commercial planes to transmit their name, position, destination and lots more. This technology is actually faster than radar and is used in some places for air traffic control and navigation.
It’s fascinating and great fun to see what’s going on!
Coverage Notes
ADS-B is not used yet by most US airlines.
US coverage is expanding all of the time and includes Washington, Baltimore, Phoenix AZ, Rhode island, Denver CO & CA/USA East Ontario/North New York & NYC.
Check out the free version (Updates 4x daily) or look at our planefinder.net coverage map for the latest data for your region.
We have already included data for the following locations.
• UK & Ireland
• Southern Scandinavia
• The Netherlands
• USA - Washington, Phoenix, Denver, Rhode Island and more
• CA/USA - Vancouver, East Ontario/North New York & NYC
• Australia
• Northern Italy & Southern France
• Czech Republic
• Switzerland
• Durban
See pinkfroot.com or planefinder.net for real time coverage maps.
If you are a virtual radar hobbyist you can even share your own data for use within the app.
Frequently Asked Questions
- Why does the time appear 1 hour or more out?
Airline traffic uses UTC time and is therefore different from local time.
- Why can't I see all planes?
Aircraft must be carrying ADS-B equipment. The US carriers have been slow to adopt this but usage is continuing to rise.
- It's great it's now live - Why did you remove the 5 minute delay?
All virtual radar systems operate without this now so we have followed suit.
- What if my area isn’t covered? We are always on the lookout for more data feeds. Check back regularly to see if we have added your area.
- If I have Plane Plotter software can I use Plane Finder to link to it?
Yes. Please contact support@pinkfroot.com and we can assist.
- What do the lines mean? These show the approximate flight path.
- Why do I get the odd spurious image? - We use Google image search so returned data cannot be guaranteed.
- Can I use Plane Finder for navigational purposes? Definitely not. Plane Finder must not be used for navigational purposes under any circumstances
Disclaimer: The use of the information presented using Plane Finder is strictly limited to your pursuing enthusiast activities (i.e. for entertainment purposes), which specifically exclude any activities that might endanger yourself or the lives of others.
Under no circumstances will the developer of this application be held responsible for incidents resulting from the use of the data or its interpretation or its use contrary to this agreement.
