Flightradar24 oddity
 

Hoping someone has an answer:

Flightradar24 occasionally resets itself to a map of Scandinavia instead of remembering the map location when it was last shut down, and also resets to kms instead of miles. There seems to be no obvious cause!

I hope this is the most appropriate forum for the question, and thanks in advance.

Flightradar24 oddity
 

Delete the App, then re-install it

FR24 has been very random for me the last year, I think it was when they started tightening their usage to encourage users to pay up for the full version (a not unreasonable wish). My map sets itself up at several different locations as and when it chooses and I've always put this down to where the main node for the system is, or thinks the user is. Sometimes it's just for a short while, other times several days.

A while back they started masking many private flights or switching off tracking when under a certain height to obsfucate the departure/arrival point. I wonder was this in response to legal action from some disgruntled flyer who wasn't aware their aircraft was eminently traceable by such internet apps ?

Btw, I've just checked today and FR24 has me centred on the Pennines in the UK, whereas yesterday it was southern Sweden.

I'm a non-paying user although I don't often use it. When I access FR it always displays the same location so no problem there.

It had me over Turkey, which is where I left off tracking a flight. After deleting all cookies for the site and going back in, it shows me roughly where I am.

When I switch FR24 on it will open at the last location I had it at when switching off. That has always been the standard with me since I've been using it.

Many private (executive) flights are "masked" at the request of the operator for reasons of privacy and/or security. The disappearance of labels close to airports can sometimes be due to the coverage or settings by the provider. Remember that FR24 relies on subscribers feeding them with their SBS data. Those subscribers can differ in their own personal settings and this will be reflected in what you see.

AFAIK, the user software settings for the popular Mode S receivers only affect what users see on their own screens, they don't have any effect on the output data stream that's used by services like FR24 (assuming a user chooses to feed them).

Flightradar 24
 

My map is re-centred to Scandinavia every so often, too. I don't know why. It's usually centred on & used for the C.I. area by me.
Although FR24 mask the majority of "private flights" many of these are displayed in full by Planefinder.

If I had my own private jet, though strangely not light aircraft :hmm: , I'd not be too happy to have my movements over the globe openly tracked, but as an enthusiastic looker at things in the sky, I find such Apps entertaining and informative.

Up until the last year it was truly amazing the level of detail that was given, excluding military and blocked flights, but these days the type is given and mostly the exact start and finish points missing (although it's possible to guesstimate where), whereas others are tracked every metre of the way, including taxiing around the apron, airport etc. It's very random/hit and miss for whatever reasons. I've also noted that helicopters are showing up far more frequently, but again in certain areas only and only for a certain time/distance of the entire flight ? Why show up at all ?


SHJ

A typical (for me) situation, a droning heard overhead (not me) and FR24 indicated it was an AN26, a somewhat rare visitor to the UK, and I followed it's unusual flight path that suddenly cut out at 3000ft descending in the direction of North Weald airfield, which can't have many such visitors. It had originated somewhere in the northern third of Italy, but had started it's track at several thousand feet. Either that or it did a rough field landing somewhere in Essex ;)


SHJ

Heard that AN26 droning over while I was walking home about 40 mins ago SHJ - looks like it was heading into Stansted.

Then again, you could simply cough up the €2.00 per month for Premium if you really want the full works. It's not exactly a fortune is it.

It was past STN and looked like it was going to CBG, but then did a 180 and came back south way past STN and the last visual point was a few miles away from a direct run into North Weald at just under 3000ft and descending at -1500ft/min. 2+2=? It was a RAF-Avia steed if that helps ? There are those DC-6's that are based/land there, so it's not out of the ball park.

You are correct mr HT, but I'm not convinced that that would make an improvement to the experience regarding accuracy and although equal to the price of the average coffee per month at the moment, with my sporadic usage the free version suffices.


SHJ

DC-6s landing at North Weald? Pray enlighten us, sir.

YL-RAD has been active over the UK for the last couple of days, so that's probably your bird. If it went into North Weald it would be the largest aircraft to have landed there for quite a while, but nothing's impossible I suppose.

The "based DC-6s" there are actually a C-54 and DC-4 pair, and are only "based" in the sense that they have been sadly rotting away there for the last 12 years and seem unlikely ever to fly again.

That's the chap, following one of the standard routings for Luton/Stansted/Cambridge - over the coast at Eastbourne heading NNW, turn over London NNE towards Barkway (?), then routing as appropriate - in this case downwind for 05 at Stansted - he disappeared on base leg.

Mr HD, you're out of the loop, they belong to Shake, Rattle and Roll Airways ;) C-54 is of course correct, but I believe they get fired up every now and then.

Yes, yes, yes and then ???? Having rechecked my memory of the flight, it went a good distance past EGSS, then did a 180 heading SSW and on my screen was south of Harlow and lined up for North Weald. I know that EGSS would be the realistic landing place, but to have gone so far north, then so far south of EGSS to land there (I even though it might head for Northolt!), especially as there wasn't much in the sky at that time of night doesn't seem to make much sense.


SHJ

Ahh C-54s! I have pictures I took of them some years back.

Last location is saved in a cookie for ever. If you block/delete cookies, position is reset to default.

SHJ, take a look at FR24 when Stansted is using 05 - you'll occasionally see aircraft approaching from the south via Eastbourne or Selsey route across London at about 16000' and then descend towards Royston (Barkway?), turn right through 180deg towards Hoddesden, then left and left again on to base leg and final approach. Ryanair and easyJet are regular users of the route.

Presumably the dog leg is to fit in the necessary descent while keeping clear of Heathrow traffic.

Cheers

Treadders