Hey, What's Above? (heywhatsabove.com) is a free web tool that shows the aircraft flying over any spot in the US right now, describes each one in plain English, and tells you exactly where to look in the sky.
Why we built it
Everyone has stood in a yard, a parking lot or a beach, heard a jet, and wondered where it's going. Flight-tracking maps answer that, but they're built for enthusiasts: a busy map, dense data, and no help pointing your eyes at the right patch of sky. We wanted something you can open on a phone, outdoors, and get an answer in five seconds.
Where the data comes from
Positions come from airplanes.live, a community network of volunteer-run ADS-B receivers. Aircraft equipped with ADS-B Out broadcast their identity, position, altitude and speed about once a second on 1090 MHz or 978 MHz; receivers on the ground pick those messages up and share them. Our server asks that network for aircraft near your location and returns them to your browser. Learn more in how ADS-B works.
How “where to look” is calculated
For each aircraft we compute the compass bearing from you to its reported position and its elevation angle: the angle above the horizon given its altitude and distance, corrected for the curvature of the Earth. A plane at 35,000 ft that is 10 miles away sits about 33° up. Altitudes are reported relative to sea level, so if you're on high ground the true angle is slightly lower. The math is explained here.
What it can't do
- Aircraft without ADS-B, and some military, police and privacy-protected flights, may be missing or anonymized. See why some planes don't show up.
- Data can lag by several seconds, and coverage is thinner in remote areas and close to the ground.
- This is an information tool. Never use it for navigation, safety or operational decisions.
Part of a family
We also run HeyWhatsFlying (what's flying across the US right now), SkyTrack Game, SkyTrack Collect and PlaneDeck, all built on live aircraft data.
Feedback
Spotted a mistake in a guide or a city page? We fix errors quickly. The fastest route today is through the airplanes.live community.