How can I identify a PIA aircraft?

by | Nov 22, 2023 | Application, Aviation News, Optical Enhancement, Radio, Spotting, Spotting Locations

Well this is a bit of a conundrum, you see a plane look it up on one of the tracking sites and all there is is a ICAO code and a call sign. Everything else, registration, type, origin, destination and many other spotter friendly features are not displayed.

How then do you find out the actual identity of the aircraft and whatever other information that you like to collect?

Well the truth is you won’t get the information without some effort, it’s unlikely that you’ll find out the information without the help of other spotters. The only certain way of identifying these aircraft is a physical sighting, at either end of the flight – so if you can’t be at the airport when it lands then other spotter groups would probably be the place to start.

Typically a week day view of US air space will show thousands of aircraft, and the vast majority of these are readily identifiable using applications or web sites like flightradar24 or in this case globe.adsbexchange.com.

So in most cases looking up and seeing an aircraft, will if you know where you are – make the identification fairly straight forward, a quick look at the app or website and you have everything you need.

In the begining tracking flights was more technical, there were tools like ACARS – but you needed certain technical skills to use that to track aircraft. But along came flightradar24, this was an absolute boon to the spotters.

Lack of privacy was seen to be a problem, so along came the FAA’s LADD (Limiting Aircraft Data Displayed) – which is a filter that the FAA puts in place for anyone taking a data feed from them – the image is LADD subscribed aircraft.

Just to be clear, these three screen shots were taken within a few minutes of each other the bottom shot is filtered by PIA subscribed aircraft.

As you can see, there aren’t that many aircraft in the view. But what I can say is that there is literally no information that would interest a spotter, the navigational information is there but little else is available.

In the next post I’ll go over the options and list some of the ways that you can try and find out the aircraft identity. But in the mean time consider this, both the LADD and the PIA services are free – so it’s likely that people using the LADD service will move to the PIA service.

Too Much Privacy

by | Aug 8, 2023 | Application, Online Logging, Spotting, Spotting News

For aviation enthusiasts and plane spotters in the the world over, there’s nothing quite as impressive as witnessing the classic scene of aircraft tearing across the skies.

However, in recent years, the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) implementation of the Privacy ICAO aircraft address (PIA) program has brought about significant implications for plane spotters particularly in the USA.

While the PIA system is designed to enhance aviation safety and security, it has inadvertently impacted the way spotters track aircraft and raised concerns about the exposure of aircraft owners’ identities.

 Plane spotting, once an analog hobby with binoculars and notebooks, has evolved with technology. Today, aviation enthusiasts rely on a vast array of digital tools and websites to track and identify aircraft. Flight tracking apps and websites like FlightRadar24 and PlaneFinder offer real-time data on flight paths, altitude, and aircraft type. These platforms draw from various data sources, including ADS-B (Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast) signals transmitted by aircraft.

FAA PIA System and Obfuscated Aircraft Identity

To protect the privacy of certain aircraft owners, the FAA implemented the LADD system in 2016. The LADD system allows aircraft owners to request the temporary blocking of their aircraft’s registration information from publicly available databases and tracking services. Consequently, when a spotter views the aircraft using flight tracking services, the aircraft’s registration number, and the owner’s identity among other things may appear obfuscated or hidden.

Impact on Plane Spotters

The FAA’s PIA system has presented challenges for plane spotters. On the positive side, the PIA system contributes to the protection of personal information for aircraft owners who may have legitimate reasons for maintaining their privacy – the truth is that in the main spotters don’t care who is on the plane, such as security concerns or corporate interests. However, for spotters, it means that certain aircraft they encounter may appear with generic or “blocked” registration data, making it challenging to identify the specific aircraft its owner or operator which is something that spotters would like to know.

Balancing Privacy and Enthusiast Interests

The challenge lies in striking a balance between individual privacy rights and the interests of aviation enthusiasts. Plane spotters have traditionally contributed valuable data to the aviation community, aiding in aircraft identification, safety reporting, and even historical research. With the PIA system in place, some spotters argue that they have lost access to crucial data, making it harder to maintain their hobby or contribute to the aviation community effectively.

Addressing Concerns and Encouraging Transparency

To address these concerns, the FAA and aviation industry stakeholders should consider promoting transparency and open communication. Aircraft owners who choose to utilize the PIA system could be encouraged to voluntarily share their aircraft information with trusted aviation communities and platforms to ensure that plane spotters can continue their passion responsibly and safely.

Conclusion

The FAA’s PIA system has undoubtedly brought about significant implications for plane spotters in the United States. While privacy and security concerns are essential to address, it is crucial to find a middle ground that respects the rights of aircraft owners while also allowing aviation enthusiasts to continue their hobby and contribute positively to the aviation community. By fostering open dialogue and transparency, we can work towards finding a balanced approach that benefits both parties and promotes the safety and enjoyment of aviation enthusiasts across the nation. After all there is a certain amount of information that we as spotters don’t care about, in the main spotters just actually want to know about the aircraft – see us standing by an airport fence and you’ll realise that we don’t care about the who – only the what!

Spotter Evolution – Notebook to Netbook.

by | Oct 29, 2022 | Application, Aviation News, Radio, Spotting, Spotting News

Since the beginning of Aircraft Spotting, whenever it was – things have moved on apace. As I’ve said elsewhere on the site, I started with a notebook and a pencil – while I was still at primary school. Now a pensioner, the hobby is still the same – but the goodies that assist have changed out of all recognition.

When I started spotting, the airport didn’t really have a fence and you could get close enough to identify the aircraft. Now you can see a contrail at 50 miles and identify the aircraft making it in just a few seconds, depending on conditions and location you can see contrails a lot further away than 50 miles. The advancing technology has changed the way that most people spot, I’ve seen us all trek out of the pub to stand and watch something go overhead on a clear night.

It used to be that there were a number of ways of finding information on arrivals and departures at an airport, there was many a time where you sneaked a look at the board that had the aircraft listed. Or you heard through the local spotters network, or you were just there at the right time.

Now you can identify an aircraft pretty much anywhere in the world, you can go further and show only aircraft that will arrive at a specific airport from the thousands in the air at any given moment. In an instant you can have all the information that you would need, information that you couldn’t get 20 years ago – when even if you could see the head of the trail and could identify the type finding out any more information was difficult.

 Now I have a second screen on my PC which has a permanent window on the aviation world, showing an area about 40 miles East and West of me and 25 miles North and South. It’s about as much as I can see given the obstructions around where I live, when I lived in Skye the settings were about twice that distance as I could walk up the hill behind the house which allowed me to see much further.

If I’m logging everything then I can generally log 100+ in a fairly ordinary day, I’m not really a civil spotter anymore – my focus moved to military many years ago. But it doesn’t mean that I’m no longer interested in civil aviation, just that it is a secondary interest now – there are exceptions I’ll make a trip to the airport to see something older and more interesting to me than the modern Boeings and Airbus that are now the mainstay of civil aviation.

Now I can see it a long way out and decide if I want to be there when it arrives, or if I want to just pop down and see it when it is in. All on my computer or phone, although I still write any details that I want to record in my notebook with a pencil or pen having gone up in the world.

 

Smart Phone Spotting.

by | Jun 30, 2022 | Application, Camera, Equipment Reviews., Online Logging, Optical Enhancement, Software Reviews, Spotting

In this post, where I talk about a smartphone – you can substitue deviced like the iPhone, iPad or and Android tablet. Most people will have one of these devices that they can use, so lets get to what you can do with them in the spotting world.

The primary use for a smartphone is communication, but they are capable of so much more. Sit in a cafe or on public transport and you will see people using them to consume digital media in some format, or they will be creating content of some sort.

So how does this relate to plane spotting, well there are a number of ways of using such a device to assist if you have Mobile Data or WiFi access.. Using free App’s like flightradar24 gives access to aircraft ID’s on a continuos basis, an aircraft flying overhead can be in most cases positively identified and would allow you to capture quite a lot of information.

Typically this App will show things like the registration of the aircraft, owner or operator, flight origin and destination. There are a number of dynamic physical reports, altitude, course, speed along with elapsed time and remaining time for the flight. All available for free. There are a number of other Apps that do the same thing, the main difference between them all is the display – and again most of them can be downloaded free.

Recording Information.

As I’ve already said, a pencil and notebook is all that you need to get started. But with a smartphone there are many more options, simply download one of the free Apps, I use Google Keep this allows you to quickly add notes, voice memo’s, check lists and pictures – they are all kept in one App. This makes accessing the information very easy, but you should note that there are many Apps that have similar functionallity. As most of them are free to try I’d suggest that you try a few.

Using the Camera.

In general the cameras on these devices are good quality, I have used mine to take some very good shots over the years – but generally when I’m very close to the aircraft. The photograph above was taken on a smartphone camera, around six years ago. So if you can be within a few meters of an aircraft, the results will be more than adequate using your phone camera.

Some cameras come with multiple sensors and lens configuration, these provide optical zoom sometimes allowing you to zoom into your area of interest. I have found the digital zoom on a number of phone cameras to produce images that to me were not good enough, you may have more luck – experiment.

Addon Smartphone Lenses.

I have not experimented with the addon lenses for phone cameras , I actually still use a dedicated camera for my photography most of the time. But I have seen some excellent results, although in most cases a tripod was used – don’t let this deter you if you feel that that is the way to go.

Online Logs.

It is possible to log directly into some of the online logging apps, however a word of caution here – even the paid for sites tend to severely restrict what you can download from the site once you get home. But effectively you can use your smartphone to log directly into one of these, which does mean that you have your personal log available wherever you have mobile data or WiFi.

Anyway, Happy Spotting!