Air traffic site really taking off

Fascinated with flight? If so, fly right over to flightradar24.com, where you can watch the paths of thousands of planes around the world in real time.

The website uses automatic dependent surveillance-broadcast (ADS-B), which is set to replace radar as the primary surveillance method for controlling aircraft, to receive live air-traffic information from around the world. According to the site, about 60 percent of all passenger aircraft (70 percent in Europe, 30 percent in the United States) are equipped with an ADS-B transponder. The site also receives radar data from the Federal Aviation Administration on a five-minute delay.

It's a bit daunting to see how many planes are simultaneously in the air over highly populated areas. Click on any plane and not only will its flight path illuminate, a sidebar will open telling you, among other things, what airline the plane is, its flight number, where the flight originated and is heading to, the aircraft type, its altitude, speed and position. You can watch the plane track in real time. Download Google Earth and you can see a virtual cockpit view of the flight, including instrumentation settings.

A Flightradar24 Pro app is available for iPhone/iPad/iPod Touch and Android ($2.99).

Fascinated with flight? If so, fly right over to flightradar24.com, where you can watch the paths of thousands of planes around the world in real time.

The website uses automatic dependent surveillance-broadcast (ADS-B), which is set to replace radar as the primary surveillance method for controlling aircraft, to receive live air-traffic information from around the world. According to the site, about 60 percent of all passenger aircraft (70 percent in Europe, 30 percent in the United States) are equipped with an ADS-B transponder. The site also receives radar data from the Federal Aviation Administration on a five-minute delay.

It's a bit daunting to see how many planes are simultaneously in the air over highly populated areas. Click on any plane and not only will its flight path illuminate, a sidebar will open telling you, among other things, what airline the plane is, its flight number, where the flight originated and is heading to, the aircraft type, its altitude, speed and position. You can watch the plane track in real time. Download Google Earth and you can see a virtual cockpit view of the flight, including instrumentation settings.

A Flightradar24 Pro app is available for iPhone/iPad/iPod Touch and Android ($2.99).

SITE flightradar24.com

DESCRIPTION Watch air traffic or specific flights around the globe

TARGET AUDIENCE Real and armchair flying aficionados

BOTTOM LINE A highflying site where you can watch others travel