FlightAware Newbie with a few questions!

FlightAware General
1

FlightAware is AWESOME!

In a very short time, it is all the rage of all the IFR guys and instructors at my airport. It is also one of my top 5 information sites for IFR flight planning. Plus, many of my family and friends now use it to track my progress when I file IFR.

…How much delay from what is on the screen, verses real time?

(On my last IFR flight, I was on the ground, called my folks, and they said FA was still tracking me 90nm away)

How long does the flight track stay in the system?

(this minute by minute info seems mostly correct, however some speed and altitude glitches every so often, is this info from my transponder, or what ARTCC is tracking? Or both?)

Incomplete Track lines (Humm)

(Why is it, a track can be incomplete or missing all together, even when the left screen says Arrived with date and time.

Just FYI. The statement Result Unknown like stated on the site is rare, but I have another possible reason for this.

I recently filed IFR to an airport that was socked in on arrival. I had a very uncomfortable pax with me, who got progressively more and more uncomfortable on the approach. After being vectored for 15 minutes in dark bumpy clouds 1,000ft off the ground, I requested RTB (return to base) and I climbed out of the soup and back to my airport. Because I didnt land at the filed airport, my flight was listed as Result Unknown however my flight strip followed my back to my original airport.

Thanks for such an interesting and useful website, I look forward to watching your progress and being part of it!

BC

2

Between 5 and 6 minutes depending on system load.

The flight pages won’t refresh unless the user is logged in.

Starting a few weeks ago, we’re archiving flight tracks and will allow users to view the last 90 days. Soon we’ll have a way for you to pull up old flight tracks.

This is a glitch in our feed from the FAA. Sometimes during climbs and descents a second radar facility will start sending messages claiming that the aircraft its at its cruisng altitude (when it is not). This second facility may be nearby or on the other side of the country.

If we receive an arrival message we mark the flight as arrived, regardless of the position data we’ve received. Also, until recently (as noted above) we were deleting flight tracks after a few days.