Comments on: Comments on 17472

Post number 17472

srboisvert — Wed, 29 May 2002 11:06:41 -0800

How busy is LAX? Take a look! Zoom out to 96 Miles and it looks like a busy anthill.

By: ashbury

ashbury — Wed, 29 May 2002 11:30:37 -0800

Look out. Look out! LOOK OUT! STOP! I'm never flying to LA, ever. Cool link, btw.

By: ajbattrick

ajbattrick — Wed, 29 May 2002 11:38:07 -0800

That is a quality bit of meta. Nice one.

By: razorwriter

razorwriter — Wed, 29 May 2002 11:55:17 -0800

Very slow loading for me, and I have java installed. Server must be getting thrashed by the MeFites.

By: Tacodog

Tacodog — Wed, 29 May 2002 12:01:18 -0800

From a guy who always listens to the in-flight radio channel, neato! Thanks srboisvert. Question for the aviators amongst us: Does 'in transit' on this map mean the plane is spiraling down, waiting for a turn to land? I'm assuming so, since there's a whole lotta black planes congregated over the airport.

By: GirlFriday

GirlFriday — Wed, 29 May 2002 12:10:15 -0800

I think that "in transit" means "enroute", and it applies to those both waiting for a turn to land and generally heading to LAX at that current time.

By: adampsyche

adampsyche — Wed, 29 May 2002 12:19:26 -0800

They be pushin' tin.

By: crunchland

crunchland — Wed, 29 May 2002 12:56:31 -0800

Does it only work for LAX, or are there other airports that use it? I'd love to see the traffic patterns for DCA and IAD.

By: brownpau

brownpau — Wed, 29 May 2002 13:10:15 -0800

Who else tried to check if 11 September 2001 was in the replays? /me guiltily raises hand

By: phatboy

phatboy — Wed, 29 May 2002 13:27:38 -0800

Really cool, thanks!

By: zeoslap

zeoslap — Wed, 29 May 2002 13:32:06 -0800

Where are they getting their data feed from ?

By: benh57

benh57 — Wed, 29 May 2002 13:54:55 -0800

No, I think the intransit planes are not going or coming from LAX. We have a lot of general aviation here. There are 3 more airports on that map, hawthorne, torrance and santa monica. I'm on the map too, here in Hermosa Beach. :)

By: borgle

borgle — Wed, 29 May 2002 14:14:11 -0800

I liked the disclaimer, "Planes appear closer than they actually are." I certainly hope so.

By: jammer

jammer — Wed, 29 May 2002 16:19:00 -0800

zeoslap, I'd imagine they're gettnig their data from the same place that the various websites doing online flight tracking get it ... apparently the FAA makes it available, somehow. I'll let someone more knowledgeable than I give details, though.

By: warhol

warhol — Wed, 29 May 2002 16:24:39 -0800

I liked the disclaimer, "Planes appear closer than they actually are." I certainly hope so. See, I'd really hope for the planes appearing larger than they actually are. But that's just me.

By: davidmsc

davidmsc — Wed, 29 May 2002 17:04:47 -0800

Thanks for the site -- very cool.

By: eszetela

eszetela — Wed, 29 May 2002 17:50:40 -0800

In transit isn't very well defined in this case but it seems to mean any aircraft not landing or taking off from LAX itself. This can mean either ones arriving/departing from SMO, LGB, TOA, etc or those simply flying over the area, like the occasional jet cruising over Catalina to avoid the LAX's departure routes. The labeling isn't perfect. I can see planes on final to LAX marked as in transit, but it's pretty close. Generally, very cool. Let it go for a few moments and the two ILS's (24R and 25L) become easy to see as the main lines of arrivals, with the usual addition of planes going into the downwind over SMO and Seal Beach. LAX's ILS antennae are some of the most powerful in the world and planes line up on them up to 90 miles out or more. Notice how all departures go straight out then many turn back and cross LAX at or above 11000 headed east, to avoid the arrival traffic. You can also see the occasional GA go through the SFRA (special flight rules area) directly over LAX at 3500 or 2500. The data is widely available. Every airline dispatch center has monitors showing the locations of all that line's planes. Usually, this service is rather costly, so having this avail for free is unusual. Something for all you geeks in avionics. As a pilot who regularly commands one of those little icons into and out of LAX I would KILL to have a display like this onboard. TCAS is nice but this would rule. Get working! :)

By: plemeljr

plemeljr — Wed, 29 May 2002 23:19:28 -0800

wow, eszetela, I have just learned more about LAX and flight routes from your four paragraphs than much of my [meager] research on the internet. Thank you.