Tinfoil Pigeons

Key Features

• •Postcode/GPS Location Entry: Enter any postcode, town, or city worldwide, or use GPS to set your position. The system never stores your location, ensuring privacy while delivering immediate aircraft tracking over your precise area.
• •Tap to Identify Aircraft: Tap any blip on the radar to lock a reticle and pull the full aircraft file: type, operator, registration, altitude, speed, heading, distance, and when available, origin and destination. Military contacts are labeled.
• •Range Settings (10-100 NM): Adjust the scope radius from 10 to 100 nautical miles using preset buttons. This lets you zoom into your immediate vicinity or expand coverage to see traffic further away, matching your curiosity or monitoring needs.
• •Mil Highlight Toggle: Turn Mil Highlight OFF to still show military contacts but without emphasis. This keeps the scope clean for general viewing while ensuring military aircraft are not hidden, giving plane spotters control over their display.
• •All Labels Toggle: Set All Labels to OFF to keep the scope uncluttered. Blips appear without visible tags until hovered or tapped, then their identifier appears—ideal for a clean radar aesthetic without losing information on demand.
• •Sonar Ping: A soft audio tone that plays whenever a new aircraft enters the scope range. This auditory alert lets you know about new contacts without staring at the screen, perfect for passive monitoring while working or relaxing.
• •Sweep Speed Adjustment: Choose from 4, 8, or 12 seconds per radar sweep. Faster sweeps give quicker updates on aircraft positions, while slower sweeps create a more relaxed, nostalgic feel, letting you customize the pace.
• •Pop Out Scope: Detach the radar display into a separate browser window. This allows you to resize or position the scope independently, enabling multitasking or full-screen viewing on any desktop or mobile device.

Use Cases

• •Identify a passing jet: You hear a loud jet and look up. Open Tinfoil Pigeons, enter your postcode, and within seconds see the blip. Tap it to learn it's a Boeing 737 from United Airlines en route from Denver to Chicago, satisfying your curiosity instantly.
• •Monitor military traffic near your area: As a plane spotter, you set range to 50 NM and disable Mil Highlight to keep the scope clean while still seeing all military contacts. A blip appears; you tap it and confirm a C-130 Hercules, noting its registration for your log.
• •Check overhead flights while traveling: You're in a hotel room with a view of the airport. Use the GPS location feature to see live traffic on the radar. Tap a departing flight to see its airline and destination, helping you identify the planes you see out the window.
• •Verify a suspicious aircraft: An aviation journalist hears rumors of an unusual military flight. Using Tinfoil Pigeons, they scan from a nearby postcode, see an unidentified blip, tap it, and confirm it is a military aircraft with no route, validating the story.
• •Engage in casual plane spotting: On a quiet afternoon, you open the site, set sweep to 12 seconds, and listen for Sonar Ping alerts. Each new ping draws your attention to a new blip, turning your day into a relaxing session of aircraft discovery without effort.
• •Track flights during a layover: You have time to spare at an airport. Instead of browsing aimlessly, you pop out the scope, set range to 25 NM, and watch arrivals and departures. Tapping each blip gives you real-time identification, turning wait time into an engaging hobby.

Who is this for?

Aviation enthusiasts, plane spotters with a passion for logging aircraft, curious homeowners who wonder about the planes flying overhead, travelers wanting to identify flights from their window, military aircraft trackers monitoring defense traffic, hobbyists interested in live ADS-B data without technical barriers, and any person who hears a jet and wants immediate, accurate identification without app downloads or account sign-ups.