For pilots
How live flight tracking works in flight sim
Live flight tracking in flight simulation works through an ACARS client running next to your simulator. It reads your aircraft's position, altitude, speed and phase, sends a position report to your virtual airline every few seconds to a minute, and the airline's website plots those reports on a live map.
Jordan HavardFounder, Skyvex SoftwareA virtual airline (VA) website can show a map of flights in progress, each one a small aircraft icon moving along its route. That map isn't fed by real aircraft data. It's built from position reports sent by pilots' ACARS clients while they fly.
How flight sim tracking works
There are three pieces, and each does one job.
- The simulator knows exactly where your aircraft is, many times a second.
- The ACARS client reads that data from the sim (through SimConnect in Microsoft Flight Simulator (MSFS), datarefs in X-Plane), works out your phase of flight and sends a short position report over the internet at a regular interval.
- The airline's backend stores each report and shows the latest one on its live map, often with a line behind the aircraft for the route flown so far.
A position report is small. It holds details such as your latitude and longitude, altitude, ground speed, heading, current phase, and the flight it belongs to. Some airlines add extras such as fuel on board or wind.
If you want the detail on how the client reads each simulator, see ACARS for MSFS and ACARS for X-Plane.
What a live map shows
A VA live map can show, for each flight in progress:
- Callsign or flight number and the pilot's name
- Departure and arrival airports
- Aircraft type
- Current altitude and ground speed
- The current phase, such as climb, cruise or approach
- The path flown so far
The phase comes from the client's own phase detection, which reads ground speed, vertical speed, altitude and engine power to tell taxiing, climbing, cruising and final approach apart. Phases of flight explains each one.
Update intervals: why the icon jumps
The map only knows where you were at your last report. If your client reports every 60 seconds, an airliner at cruise moves about 7 to 8 nautical miles between updates, so the icon jumps along rather than gliding.
| Report interval | Map behaviour | Trade-off |
|---|---|---|
| Every 15 seconds | Smooth, close to live | More traffic to the airline's server |
| Every 30 seconds | A good middle ground | Small jumps at cruise |
| Every 60 seconds | Noticeable jumps | Lightest load on the server |
The airline picks the interval, not the pilot. A longer interval keeps the load on the airline's server down, which matters when a lot of pilots are in the air at once.
The live map and the record of the flight aren't always the same thing. The reports that drew the map can become the track attached to your PIREP, and some clients also keep a more detailed record locally and send that with the final report.
Flight tracking vs other kinds of tracking
It's easy to mix these up.
Real flight trackers show real aircraft using signals the aircraft broadcast. Sim flights never appear there, and sim tracking doesn't use any of that data.
Online ATC network maps show everyone connected to that network, whatever airline they fly for. They track your connection to the network, not your VA flight.
VA flight tracking shows only flights recorded by that airline's ACARS client, linked to a booking and a pilot. It's the one that ends up in your logbook.
You can appear on both sim maps at once (the VA map and an ATC network map) because each connects to the simulator independently.
After the flight
When you park and the client files the flight, the flight drops off the live map and becomes part of the airline's flight history. The stored track stays with the PIREP, so you and staff can look back at the route you flew, where you held, and where you landed. That track is also how staff check a diversion or a strange landing time after the fact.
When your flight doesn't show up
If your flight isn't on the map, work through these in order:
- Is tracking actually started? Opening the client isn't enough: pick your booked flight and start tracking.
- Is the client connected to the sim? Look for the connection indicator. If it's disconnected, no position reports go out.
- Has the first report gone out yet? With a 60-second interval, you might wait up to a minute after starting.
- Is the map filtered? Some maps hide flights on the ground, or only show the last few minutes of activity.
- Is the client signed in? An expired session can stop reports reaching the airline while the client still looks normal.
If the map shows you stuck in one spot while you're clearly flying, the client has probably lost its internet connection or its link to the sim. Some clients hold the reports and catch up when the connection returns.
Frequently asked questions
Can people see my flight sim flights live?
Anyone who can view your airline's live map can see flights in progress, which may include the public. Check your airline's privacy information if that matters to you.
Why is my aircraft jumping on the map?
The map only updates when a new position report arrives. With a 30 or 60 second interval, the icon jumps between reports rather than moving smoothly.
Does flight tracking work offline?
Some clients keep recording while offline, but nothing reaches the live map until the connection returns. Your airline also needs a connection to receive the final PIREP.
Do I need ACARS to appear on my airline's map?
Yes. The map is built from ACARS position reports, so flights filed manually don't appear on it.
Why does my flight show the wrong phase on the map?
The phase is detected from your speed, altitude and vertical speed, so a slow climb or a level-off can look like cruise for a moment. It usually corrects itself within seconds.
Where Stratos fits
Stratos tracks every flight continuously from the simulator and sends position reports to your airline's backend at the interval the airline sets (every 60 seconds on the Free plan), with a live map inside the client as well. A small subset of each flight (position, phase, aircraft, route and the landing result, with pilots shown by first name and last initial) also feeds the public live map on skyvexsoftware.com. The getting started guide shows how to start tracking a booked flight.
Stratos by Skyvex Software
Free ACARS for every pilot.
On Windows, macOS and Linux.
Stratos reads Microsoft Flight Simulator and X-Plane directly. Continuous telemetry, a landing score from the raw data, and the PIREP filed before you leave the cockpit.