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Flightradar 24 / FR24 - how exactly does it work?

Interestingly the only GA traffic I see on FR24 is my own aircraft Probably because our Trig txdr is coupled to the 430W. I never see any other traffic at Lelystad (other than airliners). Even the biz-jets don’t show up.

EHLE / Lelystad, Netherlands, Netherlands

You cannot easily do that. The 24bit Mode-S address is not part of the flight plan. While it’s easy to compute the 24 bit address for N reg (or HB reg…) from the registration, that doesn’t work for G reg or D reg where the address and registration don’t have an algorithmic relationship, and in the case of D reg the database is not public

Well, there is a pretty high quality database at www.airframes.org I use it whenever I have to find out my own transponder address to configure the PowerFLARM.

Last Edited by achimha at 29 Jul 06:36

Well, there is a pretty high quality database at www.airframes.org I use it whenever I have to find out my own transponder address to configure the PowerFLARM.

But somehow, this information isn’t sufficient for Flightradar to resolve tail- and flight numbers. Or maybe it is not included in their database yet. The aeroplanes I fly show up in this database (albeit with up to three year out of date information…), but on Flighradar only the aircraft type will be displayed.

EDDS - Stuttgart

Given enough data feeds, almost everything with a Mode-S transponder should plot, either directly (like most airliners) or by multilateration (like Peter’s TB20). However, I think there is some kind of privacy filtering going on at FR24, especially for biz jets.

At a quick glance, I can see four aircraft at the moment which show as a call sign of H25B (the ICAO type code for a Hawker 700/800). FR24 shows all the Mode-S detail for these flights, except the aircraft registration. Yet there is a PA-28 which is showing the registration. All of these aircraft are MLAT sourced.

Note that FR24 is only one such site. There are others.

The hardcore dot-spotters use Planeplotter and will probably have their own Mode-S receiver for picking up local traffic. Planeplotter takes data feeds from other Planeplotter users (like FR24 data feeds) and provides the multilateration capability. These data feeds are unfiltered and will include all Mode-S traffic. There is nowhere to hide anymore.

EGTT, The London FIR

I think there is some kind of privacy filtering going on at FR24, especially for biz jets.

I don’t know, because some aircraft on our fleet (all of them are bizjets operated by the same company under similar company flight numbers) do show up with every detail on Flightradar, including tailnumber and flightnumber. So obviously there is no privacy protection for bizjets as such. Others like the ones I fly do not show. Either they have different mode-S and/or ADS-B setups or the Flightradar database is still incomplete.

Last Edited by what_next at 29 Jul 08:07
EDDS - Stuttgart

I see increasing evidence that little UK airfields use this stuff to get better situational awareness. This is of course “unapproved” but I would be doing it in an instant if I was in the tower, because anything helps and lots of pilots misreport their position (sometimes to get ahead of another arriving aircraft, which is a bit naughty but I have seen it countless times).

I heard that Mode C targets show up also. There can’t be a reg # determined with that but it may be obvious to the man in the tower from a combination of VDF and the pilot’s calls.

Regarding privacy, my guess is that FR24 is open to input from a commercial operator to have his data not shown. They are unlikely to advertise this facility openly.

Last Edited by Peter at 29 Jul 08:10
Administrator
Shoreham EGKA, United Kingdom

Regarding privacy, my guess is that FR24 is open to input from a commercial operator to have his data not shown.

Maybe, but our company certainly hasn’t asked for privacy for half of the fleet only. But it would be a good thing, because all the security hassle on the ground becomes meaningless if every idiot with a shotgun (or more lethal mobile weapon) can use the internet to find out which industry or political leader is heading where and when.

Last Edited by what_next at 29 Jul 08:16
EDDS - Stuttgart

I doubt FR is a big security issue because if you want to shoot down a particular aircraft you will position yourself somewhere where it operates from/to and get yourself your own ADS-B/Mode-S receiver (I believe the USB TV receivers will do it – 30 quid?) and just sit and wait, with the shoulder launched IR seeking missile.

And I can’t see somebody wasting a missile (they don’t just fall off the back of a lorry, as they say here) just to shoot down any aircraft.

For many years, the UK used to notam a restricted airspace corridor (Class G reclassified into Class A) when the queen was going somewhere. This was obviously stupid and they stopped doing it a few years ago. Now she flies in the helicopter in Class G, quietly and presumably with not many emissions. They still notam the terminal area (the airport itself, I think, or a part of it, gets shut).

Last Edited by Peter at 29 Jul 08:25
Administrator
Shoreham EGKA, United Kingdom
Regarding privacy, my guess is that FR24 is open to input from a commercial operator to have his data not shown. They are unlikely to advertise this facility openly.

In fact, they do, just read the link I posted earlier. From their website:

Blocking

For security and privacy reasons information about some aircraft is limited or blocked.

And I can’t see somebody wasting a missile (they don’t just fall off the back of a lorry, as they say here) just to shoot down any aircraft.

Unless, of course, you’re some vodka-fuelled idiot in eastern Ukraine.

In fact, they do, just read the link I posted earlier

Sure, but they don’t say how you apply for the privilege and what evidence is needed

Obviously, they will be “amenable” to a “request” from the police or a government agency. But let’s say Easyjet and Ryanair put in a request… I doubt FR would implement it.

Administrator
Shoreham EGKA, United Kingdom
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