Independent prototype

See the airport the way the tower does.

Watch real planes move around Houston in 3D. Stand in the control tower, ride in the cockpit, or replay a flight. TowerScope is a free design experiment that shows what a controller's screen could look like, built only from public data.

Watch live traffic Replay a flight Try the controller screen

This is a demo for learning and ideas. It is not an FAA system, it is not certified, and nobody should use it to fly or control aircraft. It does not claim to match any FAA or vendor system.

Live traffic in 3D

Open

Real planes around Houston, right now

Aircraft at three Houston airports: Bush Intercontinental (KIAH), Hooks (KDWH) and Conroe (KCXO). Positions update every few seconds. Tap a plane to see its height and speed, then ride along in the cockpit, or look out from the tower. You can also replay a recorded stretch of time with charts that move with the picture.

Plane positions from adsb.lol, ODbL Demo only Guesses are labeled What is real and what is a guess

MapEvery plane on the ground and in the air, with labels and trails

Tower cabThe view from the control tower. Drag to look around

Flight deckRide in the cockpit with speed, height and heading

Replay one flight

Open

One takeoff, three ways to watch it

A real departure from Washington Dulles, rebuilt from public position reports (ADS-B, the signal planes broadcast about where they are). Watch it climb from the tower, from the cockpit, or from above. Drag the time bar to jump around.

Demo, rebuilt from recorded points Positions from adsb.lol, ODbL OpenStreetMap, AWS terrain

Tower cabLooks out from the tower and follows the plane

Flight deckSits on the plane and leans into turns

God's eyeFly around the airport and see the whole path

The controller screen

Open it

A mock-up of the tools a tower controller might use, split into parts you can open one at a time.

AirTrack

Planes in the air near the airport, each with a label.

SurfaceWatch

Planes and vehicles moving on runways and taxiways.

StripFlow

Digital flight strips: the to-do list a controller keeps for each arriving and departing flight.

FlightLens

Everything about one plane you pick.

Flight tracker

Find any plane and follow it.

Airports

A page for each US airport with its public facts, like runways and radio frequencies.

Where the data comes from, and the limits

Public sources only

Plane positions come from volunteers who receive the signals planes broadcast (ADS-B). Airport facts come from OurAirports, maps from OpenStreetMap, hills and terrain from AWS Terrain Tiles. Nothing secret or restricted.

Guesses are labeled

Between recorded points we fill in the path, and we guess how the plane is tilted. The screen says so whenever you are looking at a guess.

Not for real flying

For learning and demos only. Never use it to keep planes apart, line them up or make any real decision.

Some airports already work this way

At remote and digital towers, controllers watch the runway on camera screens from somewhere else. Digital Towers maps every one it can find, with sources.

Open the world map