FlightAware not showing VFR flights now?

CJones

CJones

Final Approach
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Mar 14, 2005
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Jawjuh
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uHaveNoIdea
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KCCO
I know that in the past tracking a VFR flight in FlightAware required a special set of circumstances for the flight - the right data strip entered into the right system in the right way.. yadda yadda yadda.. I get that.

I have text message notifications set up on FlightAware for a couple of tail numbers. My parents were flying to Texas today. I got two text messages from FlightAware saying that they were estimated to arrive at a destination at a certain time and then another notification when they reached their destination. After I got out of meetings I pulled up FlightAware to see how the flight went and the flight isn't showing up at all on the website.

Is this something new? I assumed if it was 'in the system' enough to send me text message then it would be 'in the system' enough to show a track log.

Anybody else had this happen?
 
CJones said:
I know that in the past tracking a VFR flight in FlightAware required a special set of circumstances for the flight - the right data strip entered into the right system in the right way.. yadda yadda yadda.. I get that.

I have text message notifications set up on FlightAware for a couple of tail numbers. My parents were flying to Texas today. I got two text messages from FlightAware saying that they were estimated to arrive at a destination at a certain time and then another notification when they reached their destination. After I got out of meetings I pulled up FlightAware to see how the flight went and the flight isn't showing up at all on the website.

Is this something new? I assumed if it was 'in the system' enough to send me text message then it would be 'in the system' enough to show a track log.

Anybody else had this happen?
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As of a couple days ago VFR flights still show up for my plane (at least, as often as they ever did).
 
My experience has been patchy at best. My father likes to track us when we fly, however we never know when it's going to be on flightaware.

I dunno:dunno:
 
Up here, flight aware has never shown VFR aircraft
 
I think its hit or mis. I noticed VFR flights from detroit across the state of michigan as recently as this morning showing up on flight aware. But on occasion I have had some interesting flights that I wanted to check on flight aware while on FF that never showed up. :dunno:

This is why I told my wife not to trust it. I even had some IFR flights fall off mid flight, and this would have put her into a panic for no reason. :yikes:
 
MichiPilot said:
Up here, flight aware has never shown VFR aircraft
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Most of the time they do when Flight following is initiated with approach, center, or clearance before you take off. But not always, and never if you are squaking 1200 and not in radar contact.
 
I have this setup for a friend's tail number (and he for mine). Two weeks ago he was headed NW for Chicago from Cinci and I got the alert. On a scuzzy Saturday morning I watched them dodge weather Indiana while talking to ATC from their C-152.
It was a real hoot as they navigated around some nasty cells as I watched.

But they fell off the map about 13 miles out and were refueling on the ground already in reality. So yeah its spotty and unreliable, but it can be fun to watch.
 
VFR FF is spotty in flightaware. Sometimes it doesn't show up and sometimes you get complete noise in the plot. Inquiring to them just yields the response that the FAA doesn't accurately convey VFR info to them and there's not anything they can do.

Sometimes the IFR doesn't even come in right. I flew IFR the other day with a practice ILS in the middle of it yet FA shows my course as a straight line between the source and destination. No vectors to intercept, ILS or the missed approach procedure.
 
Maybe your parents got tired of you tracking them and had their tail number blocked from tracking. I know I get annoyed when certain people track me and then ask why I didn't visit them when I was in their town.
CJones said:
I know that in the past tracking a VFR flight in FlightAware required a special set of circumstances for the flight - the right data strip entered into the right system in the right way.. yadda yadda yadda.. I get that.

I have text message notifications set up on FlightAware for a couple of tail numbers. My parents were flying to Texas today. I got two text messages from FlightAware saying that they were estimated to arrive at a destination at a certain time and then another notification when they reached their destination. After I got out of meetings I pulled up FlightAware to see how the flight went and the flight isn't showing up at all on the website.

Is this something new? I assumed if it was 'in the system' enough to send me text message then it would be 'in the system' enough to show a track log.

Anybody else had this happen?
Click to expand...
 
Sometimes you do sometimes you don't. Depends on the controllers,entering you into the system. I have been followed on flight area.re,after asking for VFR flight following.
 
The other day I had flight following VFR both ways (out and back into the SFRA) on a fuel run to KXSA. FlightAware showed the outbound but not the return. That's typical (both were "center codes").
 
Mine have always shown up if I got a squawk code with FF. Never tried it with just a filed planned.... I'd rather get some traffic and weather than nothing.
 
iflyvfr said:
But they fell off the map about 13 miles out and were refueling on the ground already in reality. So yeah its spotty and unreliable, but it can be fun to watch.
Click to expand...

The path ends at the spot where they cancelled flight following or cancelled IFR in the air. At least it's my experience that's what it always does.
 
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I understand that not all VFR flights are shown in FlightAware, but for this flight in particular, I got the text message notification FROM FlightAware, but there is no history of the flight in FlightAware. It seems odd that I would get text notification (which means that the flight hit the FlightAware system), but there would be no history of the flight in FlightAware. FA is showing the last flight for this tail number as sometime in May, but the text notification I got was for a flight yesterday.
 
Sometimes FA links get broke too. It may be there but under some other N number.
 
Van Johnston said:
Sometimes FA links get broke too. It may be there but under some other N number.
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True... More than once I have found my flight with a zero at the end of my tail number, not a "Zulu" so I now accentuate the Zuuuullluuuuu when I call it in for the first time.
 
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