FBOWeb.com has created a very cool real-time flight tracking feature for Google Earth. Obviously, in order to try this out you’re going to need Google Earth (if you don’t yet have it, you can learn about and download it here.)
Essentially, FBOWeb’s servers update the status of all the aircraft coming into the following airports (they are constantly adding new ones, so check their site if you’re reading this more than a few weeks after publishing):
- Los Angeles
- Chicago O’Hare
- Boston Logan
- Atlanta Hartsfield
- New York JFK
- Miami
- San Francisco
- Seattle / Tacoma
- Houston Hobby
- Houston Bush
- Denver
A couple of hints… If you start clicking on these and load them all into Google Earth at once you’ll bog down your machine quite bad. Instead, load them one at a time and before you view the next uncheck the current one in your Places sidebar to deactivate it.
Also, when you are viewing them, make sure and zoom in pretty close to the airport and then change your viewing angle so you are seeing the planes from a 3D vantage point as opposed to just looking straight down.
Have fun!
