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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

To bloody hate flight radar

177 replies

witchofzog · 07/06/2018 14:34

I am away at the moment with friends in a house about half hour from the nearest airport. It's a huge European airport. They have all gone inside for a snooze and I am outside on a sun lounger to read my book.

Except I can't read my bloody book cos it turns out we are on the flight path and there are loads of planes passing over. I seem to have developed a bit of an obsession with wanting to know where planes are going and have come from so I can't even read more than a couple of pages without having to flick back to bloody flight radar to check. I do this at home too but the planes seem to be every hour or so there. Here it's relentless.

I have already broken off twice from this post to work out that the planes passing are from Munich and Gothenburg respectively. This enhances my life in no way at all yet I can't help myself.

It was Mumsnet who told me about Flight Radar. Who do I complain to?! Blush

OP posts:
beluga425 · 09/06/2018 18:55

Missed the got last, but has anyone noticed the balloons at incredibly high altitude in South America. Some internet provision project.
x.company/loon/technology/
Also never knew how high some private jets fly. You can filter by altitude.
Hours wasted! Thanks people.

beluga425 · 09/06/2018 18:55

*flypast

TressiliansStone · 09/06/2018 19:04

Grr, got distracted earlier and remembered the flypast when it was too late! Had meant to watch the whole thing on FlightRadar.

Next time!

italiancortado · 09/06/2018 19:08

It's unlikely anything but the voyager would have shown up anyway

Pumpkinsarepurple · 09/06/2018 19:11

I was watching on Flight Radar and nothing showed up for me!

TressiliansStone · 09/06/2018 19:11

Ah, thanks italiancortado, I've just seen your earlier explanation.

Oldraver · 09/06/2018 19:15

I live near an airfield..I ca hear the engines revving (or whatever the technical term is) then taxi-ing and take off...while tracking on FR

TheRoadLessRocky · 09/06/2018 21:12

Argh, fuck you all I've just downloaded it! Grin

Like I don't spend enough time online.

CadyHeron · 09/06/2018 22:30

theroadlessrocky You're welcome Grin

Mandraki · 10/06/2018 07:58

Sorry to be no help OP but I’ve just found my new obsession. Might never get anything done again. Hope my 8 month old learns to cook/clean/walk pretty soon coz mama’s busy looking at planes. (Jokes obviously)

KentishLady2018 · 10/06/2018 08:44

You can do replays on FR24 also.

We were flying in to Gatwick a couple of years ago and had to do a Go Around as the runway wasn’t clear. I watched a replay of it later to see how close we’d actually got to landing before the captain changed her mind!

On the outbound flight we were with Norwegian who provide free WiFi. Tracked myself live on FR!

Also a MarineTraffic and GeoGuessr obsessive too.

My exDP used to have a scanner and we used to listen to the local police bands (which I think is actually illegal!). We heard my ex’s brother being pulled over by the police one evening! They called his name in for a check as it was pre in car technology days. He thought he was going to get away with it...!

lanbury · 10/06/2018 08:55

I am a closet plane spotter too! Grin

witchofzog · 11/06/2018 08:31

We had a weird plane over us back at home yesterday. Our local airport only goes to Europe yet this plane came from Doha and when I googled it, the carrier does government type stuff. It didn't show up on the arrivals list either

OP posts:
TressiliansStone · 16/06/2018 15:14

Hah! Was out replenishing the bird table and looked up at the flying tractor and... YES! Was a Spit.Grin

My first definite ID of the season!

MadisonAvenue · 26/06/2018 08:48

Has anyone else had problems with Flightradar recently? For around two weeks now I've had no planes showing whatsoever and can't search for anything either. No problems on my iPad, just my phone but that's what I've always used more for the app when I'm out and about.

I suspect FR has stopped working because my phone needs updating but I'm having no luck doing that either! I did see on Twitter that there was a problem a few weeks ago but that was resolved.

italiancortado · 26/06/2018 09:02

Have you tried logging out, deleting the app and reinstalling?

There were minor issues a couple of weeks or so back when FR changes servers but since then everything has been running smoothly

banivani · 26/06/2018 09:10

This is not at all my cup of tea. But I’m on holiday in Trogir in Croatia atm, and Trogir is right underneath the landing path for planes headed to Split airport. Someone in Trogir must have pissed off a Split official at some point I imagine. We wouldn’t have booked if I’d realised. About once an hour give or take there’s a plane overhead, so close it feels like we can touch it, tremendous noise etc. My son, 11, quite likes it and keeps giving info on what sort of aeroplanes they are. Even I am beginning to see a certain pattern in which airlines are landing when. 🙄

MadisonAvenue · 26/06/2018 09:29

italian I've done that several times, the latest being this morning, but it's made no difference unfortunately Sad

Fernie6491 · 26/06/2018 12:52

We have relatives in New Zealand who came over for the 2012 Olympics and we were able to track their flight as it came in to Heathrow.
We took a photo as it flew over the house! Everyone was very impressed!

TheCheeseStandsAlone · 26/06/2018 12:57

This is such a funny thread because while I understand this sort of interest obsession, for some reason I don't share it in the slightest.

I do get it though as we live on a major road and whenever there are lots of sirens I look online to see where they're all going. Mainly to make sure our house isn't at risk of burning down though to be fair!

Thank heavens I seem to be missing the brain part that would make me care where a flight was coming from/to Smile. I waste enough time as it is!

NoughtDegreesNought · 26/06/2018 12:59

Another long-time devotee and flight path resident here. And don't get me started about the ship tracking one - pure joy!

ItsNachoCheese · 26/06/2018 13:09

I will not redownload...
I will not redownload...
GrinGrinGrinGrin

BarbaraofSevillle · 26/06/2018 13:52

I need to set up a FR account but what made me think of this thread was the plain grey coloured plane I saw approaching Leeds Bradford airport this morning and I thought 'I need to look on Flight Radar' to see what that plane is, but then I forgot, so does anyone know if I register with flight radar, can I see historical data or is it only real time?

Anyway, I've just had a look on FR without registering and there is a plane currently over Ireland with no destination! It's number is CLX204 and it's over Belfast and it came from Doncaster. I wonder where it is going and why it is a secret?

italiancortado · 26/06/2018 14:00

You can get a certain level of old data on FR but you need to know the aircraft or flight number to be able to see what it's done previously. Or you can check airport arrival boards so if it was listed you can work it out. However the fact that it was plain grey leads me to believe it may have been military (uk or other) or private, neither of which you will find on the boards.

CLX204 is not a secret. Because it's cargo the destinations vary. FR works on previous data to 'guess' a lot of the time. It doesn't give a destination because atm it doesn't know it.

italiancortado · 26/06/2018 14:06

Just had a wee check for you and I am 90% certain that the aircraft you saw this morning was ZH872, which is a Hercules. There is a small chance something else went in that I have missed, but that big 4 proper definitely landed this morning.