• tetris11 7 hours ago

    I'm currently flying at Mach 10 on a custom call sign, breaking all kinds of barriers on a single heading. I cannot be stopped.

    https://flight-viz.com/cockpit.html?lat=40.64&lon=-73.78&alt...

  • coolwulf 3 days ago

    Creator here. I posted Flight-Viz a few days ago (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47603966) and the feedback was great. Since then I added a cockpit mode that follows any liveflight with real 3D terrain.

    How to try it: go to flight-viz.com, click any plane, then click "Cockpit" in the action buttons. You'll get a first-person view wit h real buildings, terrain, atmosphere, and a HUD showing altitude/speed/heading — all driven by live ADS-B data.

    Hao

    • simooooo 5 hours ago

      Can you make it so "exit cockpit" navigates to a route rather than execute a back on the browser, as it takes me back to the hacker news page when I push it.

      Also took me about 5 minutes to find the cockpit view button after I'd selected a flight but that might be a me problem :)

      • coolwulf 3 hours ago

        Thank you for the suggestion and I just modified that behavior.

        • croisillon 4 hours ago

          i came here to comment on the exit=back too

          and i'd like metric measurement too

        • _HMCB_ 7 hours ago

          This is so cool. But on iOS, clicking the plane flashes the mini modal/popup but the it immediately disappears. There no way, on touch, to keep it open long enough to click a cockpit view button, assuming there is one.

          • jimmydddd 5 hours ago

            I was able to do it on my iPhone. 1) Click on a plane on the map. 2) Click on "menu" at the bottom. 3) Scroll down to the bottom of info window and click on "cockpit."

            • _HMCB_ an hour ago

              Whoa! That was it. I expected a more prominent button for cockpit. I actually just thought those were labels. Thanks big time.

          • d3Xt3r 2 hours ago

            Any chance of adding real-time sky and weather effects, using satellite imagery and weather data?

            • hbcondo714 4 hours ago

              Gorgeous! I can search flights at LAX but I don't see the smaller airports around it like SNA or LGB listed. Any chance those could be added?

              Also, is there by chance a way to do historical flights?

              • coolwulf 3 hours ago

                I just added smaller airport. (for now I turned off airport overlay as default since it get a little clutterd but you can turn it on. or you can search the airport code in search bar)

                • hbcondo714 2 hours ago

                  Thank you!

            • neilv 3 hours ago

              Before browsers were up to this, I implemented something related, using Google Earth Plugin.

              You could load up the flight data recorder data (which contains more parameters than ADS-B), and watch 3rd-person view animation of a 3D model of that aircraft's movements as it flies over terrain. With instruments, plus visual annotations of flight path over terrain.

              One kludge I was proud/relieved to find: At the start of the flight, there's a zoom in to the aircraft on the ground, from the Earth view, and then a particular dance of the camera around the aircraft itself. The purpose wasn't to try to look cool at the time, but to make sure that the plugin would render the aircraft model at all, before we started to change the position or orientation of the model. (The plugin was overly aggressive about deciding some annotations weren't in the scene. Once this camera dance ritual forced the plane into the scene, it stayed in the scene, even as it moved and twisted, and as the camera moved with it.)

              • lastdong 7 hours ago

                This is so impressive, love it!

                A bit of feedback: Clicking exit cockpit goes back to the previous page (in this case this HN thread).

                Not sure if just me, but I really had to search hard for the actions under menu and the cockpit button.

                • batisteo 7 hours ago

                  You lucky, on Firefox mobile it does nothing.I can only see the one random flight, in this case already on the ground

                  • grg0 7 hours ago

                    Double-clicking on an airplane should send you to the cockpit view imo.

                  • RichardHesketh 3 days ago

                    The FlightRadar24 app has had this feature for quite some time. I like your implementation though - it’s very easy on the eye.

                    • coolwulf 3 days ago

                      Thanks for letting me know. I actually didn't know about this feature in FlightRadar24 app.

                      • culi 7 hours ago

                        Paid feature though

                      • Brajeshwar an hour ago

                        Will it be possible to have a “Record” feature, say for a few minutes? Would be lovely to save videos, especially the landings.

                        • dtagames an hour ago

                          This is super cool! The cockpit view is the best feature. But I had trouble finding it again after picking a different plane. Maybe a dedicated button for that on the map?

                          Love it.

                          • coolwulf an hour ago

                            cockpit button is on the left side panel under flight details

                          • Waterluvian an hour ago

                            I never realized the earth actually looked like a Mode 7 SNES game from up there!

                            • imaginacion3D 2 hours ago

                              Amazing how 3D spatial representation reveals patterns that are completely invisible in flat data. I've been working on something similar for mathematical sequences — the depth dimension changes everything

                              • randerson 4 hours ago

                                I'd love if it could tell when a plane is ascending or descending and then add the last known rate of change to the simulation. Then you could watch a plane land.

                                • hasbot 5 hours ago

                                  This is cool. Now I can look out the cockpit of that plane that's been doing a pattern over my house for an hour.

                                  • grg0 7 hours ago

                                    This is great, smart application of graphics and public data.

                                    • matmo 6 hours ago

                                      Would be nice to pair this with something like FlightRadar where you can see relevant flights in proximity to you and select them.

                                      • sssilver 6 hours ago

                                        Interesting, I wonder if it would be possible to visualize the most dramatic parts of every flight -- takeoffs and landings.

                                        • Chrisszz 8 hours ago

                                          Commands are not that handy but from someone that has the flying in his heart since he was child I must admit that it's cool to have the cockpit view

                                          • rogerrogerr 7 hours ago

                                            If you go hang out at your local small airport on a weekend, I guarantee someone will give you a ride. In the US, at least.

                                            • nomel 6 hours ago

                                              You can get "introductory" flights for pretty cheap, where they let you fly a bit.

                                            • bigfudge 8 hours ago

                                              Is it possible to pan?

                                              • gorfian_robot 8 hours ago

                                                I wish it had all the small aircraft not just commercial flights

                                              • igtumt 6 hours ago

                                                this is interesting and how much of the rendering/logic is running in WASM vs JS?

                                                • metabagel 3 days ago

                                                  Perhaps this should be submitted under "Show".

                                                • vixalien 7 hours ago

                                                  it doesn't seem to show most flights or airports in africa

                                                  • Reason077 5 hours ago

                                                    Limited ADS-B receiver coverage in their data network, presumably.

                                                  • sroussey 3 hours ago

                                                    Won't Elon sue?

                                                    • amelius 4 hours ago

                                                      * except from the plane itself because wifi is broken or too expensive.

                                                      • Markoff 8 hours ago

                                                        Cromite on Android 15 stock Pixel ROM:

                                                        Error constructing CesiumWidget. Visit http://get.webgl.org to verify that your web browser and hardware support WebGL. Consider trying a different web browser or updating your video drivers. Detailed error information is below:

                                                        RuntimeError: The browser supports WebGL, but initialization failed. Error at new kL (https://cesium.com/downloads/cesiumjs/releases/1.125/Build/C...) at DEe (https://cesium.com/downloads/cesiumjs/releases/1.125/Build/C...) at new dd (https://cesium.com/downloads/cesiumjs/releases/1.125/Build/C...) at new li (https://cesium.com/downloads/cesiumjs/releases/1.125/Build/C...) at new Go (https://cesium.com/downloads/cesiumjs/releases/1.125/Build/C...) at new ji...

                                                        • deadlinermusic 3 days ago

                                                          Love this. How do you modify the flight number?

                                                          • gramie 7 hours ago

                                                            If you click on a city's name, you can see a list of all flights arriving and departing. Some of the arriving ones will be in flight, and you can click on the flight number to view it, then "Cockpit" view to see (roughly) what the pilots are seeing.