[HN Gopher] Every plane you see in the sky - you can now follow ...
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Every plane you see in the sky - you can now follow it from the
cockpit in 3D
Author : coolwulf
Score : 189 points
Date : 2026-04-08 18:10 UTC (3 days ago)
(HTM) web link (flight-viz.com)
(TXT) w3m dump (flight-viz.com)
| coolwulf wrote:
| Creator here. I posted Flight-Viz a few days ago
| (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47603966) and the feedback
| was great. Since then I added a cockpit mode that follows any
| liveflight with real 3D terrain.
|
| How to try it: go to flight-viz.com, click any plane, then click
| "Cockpit" in the action buttons. You'll get a first-person view
| wit h real buildings, terrain, atmosphere, and a HUD showing
| altitude/speed/heading -- all driven by live ADS-B data.
|
| Hao
| _HMCB_ wrote:
| This is so cool. But on iOS, clicking the plane flashes the
| mini modal/popup but the it immediately disappears. There no
| way, on touch, to keep it open long enough to click a cockpit
| view button, assuming there is one.
| jimmydddd wrote:
| I was able to do it on my iPhone. 1) Click on a plane on the
| map. 2) Click on "menu" at the bottom. 3) Scroll down to the
| bottom of info window and click on "cockpit."
| simooooo wrote:
| Can you make it so "exit cockpit" navigates to a route rather
| than execute a back on the browser, as it takes me back to the
| hacker news page when I push it.
|
| Also took me about 5 minutes to find the cockpit view button
| after I'd selected a flight but that might be a me problem :)
| croisillon wrote:
| i came here to comment on the exit=back too
|
| and i'd like metric measurement too
| hbcondo714 wrote:
| Gorgeous! I'm in Southern California and can search flights at
| LAX but I don't see the smaller airports like SNA or LGB
| listed. Any chance those could be added?
|
| Also, is there by chance a way to do historical flights?
| RichardHesketh wrote:
| The FlightRadar24 app has had this feature for quite some time. I
| like your implementation though - it's very easy on the eye.
| coolwulf wrote:
| Thanks for letting me know. I actually didn't know about this
| feature in FlightRadar24 app.
| culi wrote:
| Paid feature though
| metabagel wrote:
| Perhaps this should be submitted under "Show".
| wkjagt wrote:
| Creator posted it as Show HN last week:
| https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47603966
|
| Current post is by someone else
| mikestew wrote:
| Current post is from the creator (not that I particularly
| care one way or the other):
|
| https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47694065
| deadlinermusic wrote:
| Love this. How do you modify the flight number?
| gramie wrote:
| If you click on a city's name, you can see a list of all
| flights arriving and departing. Some of the arriving ones will
| be in flight, and you can click on the flight number to view
| it, then "Cockpit" view to see (roughly) what the pilots are
| seeing.
| bigfudge wrote:
| Is it possible to pan?
| gorfian_robot wrote:
| I wish it had all the small aircraft not just commercial flights
| mayneack wrote:
| Pretty sure it does https://flight-
| viz.com/cockpit.html?lat=34.026608&lon=-118.3...
| hasbot wrote:
| It has the university trainer airplanes near me.
| Markoff wrote:
| Cromite on Android 15 stock Pixel ROM:
|
| Error constructing CesiumWidget. Visit http://get.webgl.org to
| verify that your web browser and hardware support WebGL. Consider
| trying a different web browser or updating your video drivers.
| Detailed error information is below:
|
| RuntimeError: The browser supports WebGL, but initialization
| failed. Error at new kL
| (https://cesium.com/downloads/cesiumjs/releases/1.125/Build/C...)
| at DEe
| (https://cesium.com/downloads/cesiumjs/releases/1.125/Build/C...)
| at new dd
| (https://cesium.com/downloads/cesiumjs/releases/1.125/Build/C...)
| at new li
| (https://cesium.com/downloads/cesiumjs/releases/1.125/Build/C...)
| at new Go
| (https://cesium.com/downloads/cesiumjs/releases/1.125/Build/C...)
| at new ji...
| Chrisszz wrote:
| Commands are not that handy but from someone that has the flying
| in his heart since he was child I must admit that it's cool to
| have the cockpit view
| rogerrogerr wrote:
| If you go hang out at your local small airport on a weekend, I
| guarantee someone will give you a ride. In the US, at least.
| nomel wrote:
| You can get "introductory" flights for pretty cheap, where they
| let you fly a bit.
| lastdong wrote:
| This is so impressive, love it!
|
| A bit of feedback: Clicking exit cockpit goes back to the
| previous page (in this case this HN thread).
|
| Not sure if just me, but I really had to search hard for the
| actions under menu and the cockpit button.
| batisteo wrote:
| You lucky, on Firefox mobile it does nothing.I can only see the
| one random flight, in this case already on the ground
| grg0 wrote:
| Double-clicking on an airplane should send you to the cockpit
| view imo.
| vixalien wrote:
| it doesn't seem to show most flights or airports in africa
| Reason077 wrote:
| Limited ADS-B receiver coverage in their data network,
| presumably.
| tetris11 wrote:
| I'm currently flying at Mach 10 on a custom call sign, breaking
| all kinds of barriers on a single heading. I cannot be stopped.
|
| https://flight-viz.com/cockpit.html?lat=40.64&lon=-73.78&alt...
| nomel wrote:
| If you wait long enough, it looks like things go very wrong
| around the poles.
| diavelguru wrote:
| yes just saw that!
| diavelguru wrote:
| did this https://flight-
| viz.com/cockpit.html?lat=40.64&lon=-73.78&alt... flew over
| Mexico then got to Antartica and it started going backwards.
| was hoping to get to South America. Fun!
| JumpCrisscross wrote:
| Better call Center for your ground speed [1].
|
| [1]
| https://www.thesr71blackbird.com/Aircraft/Stories/sr-71-blac...
| jredwards wrote:
| Oh dear.
| grg0 wrote:
| This is great, smart application of graphics and public data.
| matmo wrote:
| Would be nice to pair this with something like FlightRadar where
| you can see relevant flights in proximity to you and select them.
| sssilver wrote:
| Interesting, I wonder if it would be possible to visualize the
| most dramatic parts of every flight -- takeoffs and landings.
| igtumt wrote:
| this is interesting and how much of the rendering/logic is
| running in WASM vs JS?
| hasbot wrote:
| This is cool. Now I can look out the cockpit of that plane that's
| been doing a pattern over my house for an hour.
| amelius wrote:
| * except from the plane itself because wifi is broken or too
| expensive.
| randerson wrote:
| I'd love if it could tell when a plane is ascending or descending
| and then add the last known rate of change to the simulation.
| Then you could watch a plane land.
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(page generated 2026-04-11 23:00 UTC)