Flight Tracking: I Guess I'm a Plane-Guy now...

Do you remember when older guys used to be really, really into trains? Like, buying little trains to put in their house and standing by the tracks waiting for a train to go by? There was even a movie called Trainspotting (unfortunately, that movie wasn't about trains at all!). Anyway, I think I'm becoming a plane guy, a guy who likes planes. 

Did you know you can see pretty much every airplane, or helicopter, above you and identify where it's going and where it came from for FREE? I recently saw a private jet take off from Chicago Executive Airport (PWK) and fly to Switzerland (ZRH), and it made me think... Unless Taylor Swift is on that plane, someone is either up to no good, or they're paying WAY too much for the ride. Hopefully they just have a good friend that's a pilot, I really don't know.

My obsession began when I bought a little radio that can pick up a lot of things: planes, towers, police calls, everything that could ever go wrong with the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) -those men and women are the real MVP's, btw. Anyway, you can hear A LOT with a radio like mine, and I'm pretty sure listening to it is not (always) legal, so I'm in the process of getting my HAM radio operator's license, just to make sure I'm not stepping on anyone's toes, or tuning into something I shouldn't be hearing. 

So, either way, I like tracking planes and seeing where they're going. What are they doing up there? What are they transporting? Is Southwest ripping me off? And if you're not already aware, there are SO many planes up there. 

The Tydbit! Showing a Dubai flight coming into Chicago.

Before I end this post I'd like to make a shout out to flightradar24.com. They're the wonderful proprietors of  the app that makes this all possible. In fact I used their API Key to get the nearest flight on my little screen at home, it's called the Tydbit. But, be careful when using API Keys, because if you use them too much, the company may want to charge you a little bit of money for their service. Otherwise you get SHUT DOWN.

Anyway, have fun flight tracking! And, check out our new "What's Up There?" widget to the right. Just pull, pinch, or click to get the map right in the best spot, and you will know exactly what's up there.