Originally Posted by
PAXboy
FR 24 does not smooth the turns but only the points at which the signal changes sufficiently to indicate a turn. FR24 - and other sites - and NOT radar!
I'm not sure FR24 is quite that clever.
In my experience, FR24 plots are typically accurate points on an aircraft's track, several seconds (or more) apart, but the trajectory between successive points is undefined. It's when sites (including FR24 itself) simply join-the-dots that those impossible tracks and instantaneous 90° turns start to appear on plots.