If you wait long enough, it looks like things go very wrong around the poles.
diavelguru 1 days ago [-]
yes just saw that!
jredwards 22 hours ago [-]
Oh dear.
coolwulf 4 days ago [-]
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
simooooo 23 hours ago [-]
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 :)
coolwulf 21 hours ago [-]
Thank you for the suggestion and I just modified that behavior.
dylan604 18 hours ago [-]
Exit Cockpit disabled; No parachutes available
dzhiurgis 8 hours ago [-]
> Also took me about 5 minutes to find the cockpit view button after I'd selected a flight
Same here. Should be more prominent for a brand new feature!
croisillon 22 hours ago [-]
i came here to comment on the exit=back too
and i'd like metric measurement too
_HMCB_ 1 days ago [-]
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 23 hours ago [-]
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."
_HMCB_ 19 hours ago [-]
Whoa! That was it. I expected a more prominent button for cockpit. I actually just thought those were labels. Thanks big time.
d3Xt3r 20 hours ago [-]
Any chance of adding real-time sky and weather effects, using satellite imagery and weather data?
OSS542 6 hours ago [-]
Doesn't seem to work for me. I just get star field displays no matter what I do.
hbcondo714 22 hours ago [-]
Gorgeous! I can search flights at LAX but I don't see the smaller airports around it like SNA or LGB listed. Any chance those could be added?
Also, is there by chance a way to do historical flights?
coolwulf 21 hours ago [-]
I just added smaller airport. (for now I turned off airport overlay as default since it get a little clutterd but you can turn it on. or you can search the airport code in search bar)
hbcondo714 20 hours ago [-]
Thank you!
neilv 21 hours ago [-]
Before browsers were up to this, I implemented something related, using Google Earth Plugin.
You could load up the flight data recorder data (which contains more parameters than ADS-B), and watch 3rd-person view animation of a 3D model of that aircraft's movements as it flies over terrain. With instruments, plus visual annotations of flight path over terrain.
One kludge I was proud/relieved to find: At the start of the flight, there's a zoom in to the aircraft on the ground, from the Earth view, and then a particular dance of the camera around the aircraft itself. The purpose wasn't to try to look cool at the time, but to make sure that the plugin would render the aircraft model at all, before we started to change the position or orientation of the model. (The plugin was overly aggressive about deciding some annotations weren't in the scene. Once this camera dance ritual forced the plane into the scene, it stayed in the scene, even as it moved and twisted, and as the camera moved with it.)
bigiain 16 hours ago [-]
I saw Balint Seeber demo this at Dorkbot in Sydney, which must have been in the early 2000s, definitely before he left Sydney in about 2010.
He was using live ADS-B data from an SDR, because this was way before global ADS-B websites and APIs existed.
(I wonder what he's up to these day, he was a fascinating person and presenter, and used to be a prolific blogger on interesting subjects. I also wonder what Pia van Gelder who used to run Dorkbot Sydney is up to?)
lastdong 1 days ago [-]
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.
grg0 1 days ago [-]
Double-clicking on an airplane should send you to the cockpit view imo.
batisteo 1 days ago [-]
You lucky, on Firefox mobile it does nothing.I can only see the one random flight, in this case already on the ground
RichardHesketh 4 days ago [-]
The FlightRadar24 app has had this feature for quite some time. I like your implementation though - it’s very easy on the eye.
coolwulf 4 days ago [-]
Thanks for letting me know. I actually didn't know about this feature in FlightRadar24 app.
culi 1 days ago [-]
Paid feature though
paduc 9 hours ago [-]
I tried to watch a plane land but the elevation/speed were wrong so it seemed like the plane went over the runway and disappeared.
Waterluvian 19 hours ago [-]
I never realized the earth actually looked like a Mode 7 SNES game from
up there!
linzhangrun 14 hours ago [-]
I remember Flight Radar 64 seems to have a 3D model feature.
Technically it doesn't seem difficult: you just need the corresponding aircraft model, a 3D map with satellite imagery like Google Earth as the base, and then feed in the transponder data. It's a bit like an online game.
Brajeshwar 19 hours ago [-]
Will it be possible to have a “Record” feature, say for a few minutes? Would be lovely to save videos, especially the landings.
jfoster 18 hours ago [-]
Really cool! Is this using a Google API? How is it not costing a small fortune?
dtagames 19 hours ago [-]
This is super cool! The cockpit view is the best feature. But I had trouble finding it again after picking a different plane. Maybe a dedicated button for that on the map?
Love it.
coolwulf 19 hours ago [-]
cockpit button is on the left side panel under flight details
jmakov 11 hours ago [-]
Would be nice to look around in the cockpit view. And have city names etc.
randerson 22 hours ago [-]
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.
grg0 1 days ago [-]
This is great, smart application of graphics and public data.
Chrisszz 1 days ago [-]
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 1 days ago [-]
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 1 days ago [-]
You can get "introductory" flights for pretty cheap, where they let you fly a bit.
macintux 9 hours ago [-]
I bought one for my father years ago as a gift, and was able to ride along. A great day.
bigfudge 1 days ago [-]
Is it possible to pan?
hasbot 23 hours ago [-]
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.
matmo 1 days ago [-]
Would be nice to pair this with something like FlightRadar where you can see relevant flights in proximity to you and select them.
sssilver 1 days ago [-]
Interesting, I wonder if it would be possible to visualize the most dramatic parts of every flight -- takeoffs and landings.
igtumt 1 days ago [-]
this is interesting and how much of the rendering/logic is running in WASM vs JS?
coolwulf 3 hours ago [-]
Now you can use mouse to change the camera during the cockpit view
gorfian_robot 1 days ago [-]
I wish it had all the small aircraft not just commercial flights
Pretty cool. IDK if it's international connectivity issue or rendering, but I'm looking at this from Auckland and cities are just so slow to render - there's so much aliasing(?) artifacts.
Also we overshot runway, then went back albeit lower and then overshot again - I suspect there's connectivity issue (or HN hug). Also data really well delayed compared to adsbexchange.
Also - maybe add a button to take you to a Random Cockpit view (perhaps one with most live viewers (and add a chat there)).
Also cockpit noise would make me feel like I'm in xplane again lol. Also wonder if macOS PIP can be implemented for now video feeds.
stevage 9 hours ago [-]
Is anyone actually seeing a cockpit? All I'm seeing is a moving viewpoint (no plane, no cockpit...)
I mean, it's cool, it's just not quite what I expected from "cockpit mode".
Very nice. It would be sweet to get some anti-aliasing.
vixalien 1 days ago [-]
it doesn't seem to show most flights or airports in africa
Reason077 23 hours ago [-]
Limited ADS-B receiver coverage in their data network, presumably.
iJohnDoe 15 hours ago [-]
Badass! Really amazing!
Markoff 1 days ago [-]
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:
* except from the plane itself because wifi is broken or too expensive.
mark124mj 21 hours ago [-]
[dead]
deadlinermusic 4 days ago [-]
Love this. How do you modify the flight number?
gramie 1 days ago [-]
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.
imaginacion3D 20 hours ago [-]
[flagged]
sroussey 21 hours ago [-]
Won't Elon sue?
Rendered at 20:12:36 GMT+0000 (Coordinated Universal Time) with Vercel.
https://flight-viz.com/cockpit.html?lat=40.64&lon=-73.78&alt...
[1] https://www.thesr71blackbird.com/Aircraft/Stories/sr-71-blac...
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
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 :)
Same here. Should be more prominent for a brand new feature!
and i'd like metric measurement too
Also, is there by chance a way to do historical flights?
You could load up the flight data recorder data (which contains more parameters than ADS-B), and watch 3rd-person view animation of a 3D model of that aircraft's movements as it flies over terrain. With instruments, plus visual annotations of flight path over terrain.
One kludge I was proud/relieved to find: At the start of the flight, there's a zoom in to the aircraft on the ground, from the Earth view, and then a particular dance of the camera around the aircraft itself. The purpose wasn't to try to look cool at the time, but to make sure that the plugin would render the aircraft model at all, before we started to change the position or orientation of the model. (The plugin was overly aggressive about deciding some annotations weren't in the scene. Once this camera dance ritual forced the plane into the scene, it stayed in the scene, even as it moved and twisted, and as the camera moved with it.)
He was using live ADS-B data from an SDR, because this was way before global ADS-B websites and APIs existed.
(I wonder what he's up to these day, he was a fascinating person and presenter, and used to be a prolific blogger on interesting subjects. I also wonder what Pia van Gelder who used to run Dorkbot Sydney is up to?)
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.
Love it.
Current post is by someone else
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47694065
Also we overshot runway, then went back albeit lower and then overshot again - I suspect there's connectivity issue (or HN hug). Also data really well delayed compared to adsbexchange.
Also - maybe add a button to take you to a Random Cockpit view (perhaps one with most live viewers (and add a chat there)).
Also cockpit noise would make me feel like I'm in xplane again lol. Also wonder if macOS PIP can be implemented for now video feeds.
I mean, it's cool, it's just not quite what I expected from "cockpit mode".
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