Location-based aircraft search
Search by postcode, town, city, or GPS location to center the radar on the place you want to inspect.
Tinfoil Pigeons
Tinfoil Pigeons is a live aircraft radar web app that lets you enter a postcode, town, city, or GPS location and see nearby flights overhead. Tap a blip to identify the aircraft and view available details such as type, operator, registration, altitude, speed, and heading.
Aircraft radar for nearby flights
Tinfoil Pigeons is a live radar scope for aircraft overhead. You enter a postcode, town, city, or GPS location and see the flights broadcasting around that point in real time.
The product is built around a simple question: what plane is flying over my house? It listens to ADS-B broadcasts, plots nearby aircraft as blips, and lets you tap one to see what it is, including basic identity and movement details when available.
It is presented as a no-app, no-account, no-charge web experience. The interface emphasizes quick scanning, tap-to-identify workflow, and optional controls for range, labels, military highlighting, and sweep timing.
The site also includes a contact form for feature ideas, bug reports, and suspicious sightings.
Core features
Live radar scope view
See aircraft as sweep-by-sweep blips on a live radar scope, with the most relevant contacts shown around your chosen point.
Aircraft detail lookup
Tap any aircraft blip to open a file with type, airline or operator, registration, altitude, speed, heading, and distance from your position.
Range and sweep controls
Adjust the range in nautical miles and tune the sweep interval to control how far and how often the scope updates.
Display filtering options
Optionally hide labels or military highlighting to keep the display cleaner while still retaining access to the underlying contacts.
Pop-out scope view
Pop the scope out into a separate view for a larger display while you keep scanning.
When to use it
Identify a plane above your house
Enter your home postcode or current location to see which aircraft are overhead and tap the closest blip to identify it.
Scan a wider area around you
Zoom out with a larger range setting to see more of the surrounding airspace and understand what is passing through nearby.
Keep the scope visually clean
Use the display controls to quiet the screen by hiding labels or military highlighting while you continue to inspect contacts.
Use a separate radar window
Open the pop-out scope when you want a larger radar view while still keeping the scanning workflow available in the browser.
Submit feedback or sightings
Send feature ideas, bug reports, or unusual sightings through the contact form if you want to report something to the site owner.
Pros and Cons
Pros
- Lets you search by postcode, town, city, or GPS anywhere in the world.
- Shows nearby aircraft on a live radar scope with tap-to-identify interaction.
- Provides detailed aircraft files when data is available, including type, airline or operator, registration, altitude, speed, heading, and distance.
- Includes display controls for range, sweep timing, labels, and military highlighting.
- Requires no account and no payment according to the site copy.
Cons
- It depends on ADS-B broadcasts, so aircraft without those broadcasts or without a recorded route will show limited information.
- The site notes that route details are not always available, especially for private, training, helicopter, or military flights.
- The source does not describe a mobile app or offline mode; it is presented as a web-based tool.
FAQ
How do I use Tinfoil Pigeons?
Enter a postcode, town, or city, or use your location. The scope then shows aircraft overhead as blips; tapping a blip opens its file with details such as type, operator, registration, altitude, speed, heading, and distance from your position.
Where does the flight data come from?
The product uses public ADS-B broadcasts from aircraft transponders. It displays the aircraft that are broadcasting position and identity data within the selected range.
Why do some flights have no route information?
The page says the route file may be missing for aircraft that do not have an origin or destination in the scheduled-flight databases. It specifically notes that private jets, trainers, helicopters, and military aircraft often have no route on file.
Is Tinfoil Pigeons legal to use?
The site says it is entirely legal because it uses public radio broadcasts, similar to what plane-spotters have logged for decades.
Can I send feedback or report an issue?
The site includes a contact form for feature ideas, bug reports, and suspicious sightings, and says every message is read by an actual human.
Quick Facts
- Category
- Live aircraft radar
- Platform
- Web app
- Primary input
- Postcode, town, city, or GPS location
- Data source
- ADS-B public aircraft broadcasts
- Site
- tinfoilpigeons.com
- Cost
- No charge stated on the site
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