iPhone app - PlaneFinder AR

[gkainz]

I'm surrounded by iPhoniacs but every once in a while they come up with something uber-cool ... PlaneFinder AR ... I'm already picturing el-cheapo "Not for actual flight - play purposes only" synthetic vision in the cockpit - operated by my co-pilot only, of course.
http://www.slashgear.com/plane-finder-ar-tracks-flights-with-iphone-4-20103298/

 

[AggieMike88]

Intriguing.

Wonder how it performs at altitude?

 

[gismo]

The text states something about ADS-B participation being required by the aircraft in order for them to show up but I can't see how that could be relevant unless the provider has some kind of direct link into ADS. More likely I'd think they'd just use the same ATC national feed that FlightAware and others use which has nothing to do with ADS.

 

[jesse]

I just went to their website and pulled up their map. Not an airplane over Nebraska, Kansas, Arkansas, Missouri, and many other states. Seems like it could use some improvement. It might sound cool on paper but I doubt it's very functional in practice.

They claim it's using ADS-B . Perhaps there is someway to get an ADS-B feed. You'd pretty much need it to get accurate enough location information to even attempt this. A flightaware style radar feed wouldn't have the required precision.

http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/plane-finder/id336477530?mt=8#