Monitoring life flight helicopters.

[peten1vak]

I live in an area where a life flight helicopter is always going out. Sometimes I miss the dispatch and I was wondering is there any way to use any type of flight tracking software to see where this helicopter Is or is going? I've never used any this so I'm new to it any recommendations For what software or app to use would be appreciated.

 

[N1EXA]

ADS-B Exchange - track aircraft live

ADS-B Exchange - track aircraft live - aircraft flight history

globe.adsbexchange.com

here is a good starter web site
Looking at a med copter right now.

Pete N1EXA

 

[N1EXA]

Here is something pretty cool off of the Virginia coast this morning - 2-T38 Talons in a Simulated Dog Fight.

 

[N1EXA]

A Mirage 5 intercepting a T38
Looks like some guys get the fun jobs.

 

[BM82557]

ADS-B Exchange like he suggested, If you want to see only helicopters like I am at the moment click Filters on the right side of the screen, then type h in the Filter by type description box then click Filter, to get back to seeing all aircraft click Reset in the Filter by type description box --

 

[LouNawlins]

I live in an area where a life flight helicopter is always going out. Sometimes I miss the dispatch and I was wondering is there any way to use any type of flight tracking software to see where this helicopter Is or is going? I've never used any this so I'm new to it any recommendations For what software or app to use would be appreciated.

Flight Radar24 App

 

[peten1vak]

Thanks for all your help this will help me out a lot!

 

[Jondrew55]

Yes, I'd completely forgotten about ADSB. It's great to listen to the air traffic (I have Orlando Intl, Sanford Intl and Orlando Executive within my scanner's reach.

 

[ecps92]

I live in an area where a life flight helicopter is always going out. Sometimes I miss the dispatch and I was wondering is there any way to use any type of flight tracking software to see where this helicopter Is or is going? I've never used any this so I'm new to it any recommendations For what software or app to use would be appreciated.

Unless already airborne, most of the traffic (based on my regions monitoring) is done via Phone/pager and ring-down lines to the base
(Airport)

One you know the tail#'s of your local aircraft, use the site that N1EXA mentioned to follow them

 

[K3HY]

Thanks for all your help this will help me out a lot!

ADS-B Exchange is also great for seeing the weather. Using ADS-B Exchange and liveatc.net is also good for out of range listening.

 

[mmtstc]

There are a number of flight programs, both fixed and rotor-wing, that use LADD to obscure their tail numbers from FR24. Two rotor wing programs in my area have their aircraft enrolled in LADD but their tail numbers are not obscured in ADS-B Exchange. In FR24, you can still see type of aircraft, just not tail, so in my area, if i see an Leonardo A109 flying around enrolled in LADD, i know which program it is because of how few A109's are used in my area, but the other program using LADD that flies around in an Airbus H145 is harder to decipher since that is such a ubiquitous airframe for rotor wing EMS. Many fixed wing programs fly Pilatus PC-12's, so you really have to watch patterns to identify who is who, or use ADS-B Exchange, but their coverage isnt as good as FR24.

The additional wrinkle to deciphering what is going on is if the Part 135 program is using a wet or dry lease, as the registration may come back to a holding company or a bank (TVPX or US Bank most commonly), or another aspect of their organization. GMR owns a number of air ambulance 'brands,' so the Guardian Flight B407 in Grand Rapids, MN is actually registered to Air Evac Lifeteam. Mayo Clinic has 4 H135's and they dry lease from US Bank. Altru Careflight in Grand Forks, ND has one of their PC-12's registered to Butler Machinery (dont fully understand that relationship) and their other PC-12 is owned by Legacy Air.

 

[BinaryMode]

I live in an area where a life flight helicopter is always going out. Sometimes I miss the dispatch and I was wondering is there any way to use any type of flight tracking software to see where this helicopter Is or is going? I've never used any this so I'm new to it any recommendations For what software or app to use would be appreciated.

If you use ADS-B Exchange or airplanes.live, when you click on the chopper you'll see in your browser's address bar a hex ID that may look like this: ae51ed. Armed with that hex ID you can now bookmark the link to only that aircraft or aircraft's where the link will look like this:

https://globe.adsbexchange.com/?icao=ae51ed

<--- (Replace hex ID with the chopper/s you're interested in). Now bookmark that link.

The query ?icao= will show the aircraft on the map for 24 hours as well as live if present. If you want to see the aircraft in real time ONLY use the query ?icaoFilter= Which would look like this:

https://globe.adsbexchange.com/?icaoFilter=ae51ed

<--- (Replace hex ID with the chopper/s you're interested in).

Also note the time machine option (see screenshot). It goes by UTC time. So if a chopper was flying at 2 pm your time, the UTC time from your location (assuming South Carolina) would be 6 pm. Or +4 hours. That is current now in daylight saving time. Once we move ahead an hour in November you'll need to use +5 hours.

I use the time machine all the time when I'm out on the patio having a smoke and I hear a plane in the early morning hours and wonder just who that could be. Once I get back inside I use the time machine option and go back and look. Often it's a med transport plane. Hardly anyone else is flying at that time at night. I know because I have a dedicated small computer monitoring my airspace 24/7. If they are flying at that time I'm tracking them and doing some research. LOL

ADS-B: Automatic Dependent Surveillance Broadcast. Uses mode-s and provides GPS coordinates. Sometimes (or most often) military aircraft only use mode-s. So there is no location transmitted via the transponder. Which means a minimum of 4 ground stations feeding to ADS-B Exchange or airplanes.live are needed to locate and track these aircraft using MLAT, or multilateration.

Hex: Meaning 6 or six characters.


Now you know, and knowing is half the battle...

 

[HM1529]

If you use ADS-B Exchange or airplanes.live, when you click on the chopper you'll see in your browser's address bar a hex ID that may look like this: ae51ed. Armed with that hex ID you can now bookmark the link to only that aircraft or aircraft's where the link will look like this:

https://globe.adsbexchange.com/?icao=ae51ed

<--- (Replace hex ID with the chopper/s you're interested in). Now bookmark that link.

The query ?icao= will show the aircraft on the map for 24 hours as well as live if present. If you want to see the aircraft in real time ONLY use the query ?icaoFilter= Which would look like this:

https://globe.adsbexchange.com/?icaoFilter=ae51ed

<--- (Replace hex ID with the chopper/s you're interested in).

Also note the time machine option (see screenshot). It goes by UTC time. So if a chopper was flying at 2 pm your time, the UTC time from your location (assuming South Carolina) would be 6 pm. Or +4 hours. That is current now in daylight saving time. Once we move ahead an hour in November you'll need to use +5 hours.

I use the time machine all the time when I'm out on the patio having a smoke and I hear a plane in the early morning hours and wonder just who that could be. Once I get back inside I use the time machine option and go back and look. Often it's a med transport plane. Hardly anyone else is flying at that time at night. I know because I have a dedicated small computer monitoring my airspace 24/7. If they are flying at that time I'm tracking them and doing some research. LOL

ADS-B: Automatic Dependent Surveillance Broadcast. Uses mode-s and provides GPS coordinates. Sometimes (or most often) military aircraft only use mode-s. So there is no location transmitted via the transponder. Which means a minimum of 4 ground stations feeding to ADS-B Exchange or airplanes.live are needed to locate and track these aircraft using MLAT, or multilateration.

Hex: Meaning 6 or six characters.


Now you know, and knowing is half the battle...

You can also do this with multiple aircraft. Just use a comma to separate the hex IDs at the end of the url. No spaces...comma only.

 

[BinaryMode]

I know... I have loads of bookmarks... LOL

Here are all drones. Though, they don't show up as often.

ADS-B Exchange - track aircraft live

ADS-B Exchange - track aircraft live - aircraft flight history

globe.adsbexchange.com

Curios, what has a health hazard of 3 and a fire hazard of 2?

 

[HM1529]

I know... I have loads of bookmarks... LOL

Here are all drones. Though, they don't show up as often.

ADS-B Exchange - track aircraft live

ADS-B Exchange - track aircraft live - aircraft flight history

globe.adsbexchange.com

Curios, what has a health hazard of 3 and a fire hazard of 2?

Nitrobenzene is one. There aren't many. I didn't pick it for a specific chemical, though. It was just a stock image that shrunk down nicely to the size needed for the avatar image that didn't have a bunch of other stuff attached to it.

 

[k6cpo]

ADS-B Exchange like he suggested, If you want to see only helicopters like I am at the moment click Filters on the right side of the screen, then type h in the Filter by type description box then click Filter, to get back to seeing all aircraft click Reset in the Filter by type description box --

View attachment 179378

View attachment 179379

If that were up around Erie, there would be a possibility a friend of mine was the pilot.

 

[BinaryMode]

Nitrobenzene is one. There aren't many. I didn't pick it for a specific chemical, though. It was just a stock image that shrunk down nicely to the size needed for the avatar image that didn't have a bunch of other stuff attached to it.

I had wondered why you chose that avatar.

Reading about Nitrobenzene I see it has a flash point of 190 °F.