Production histories, national registrations, radiolocation observations and photographs help establish which aircraft remain in active service.
Radiolocation provides direct evidence that an aircraft is operating in three-dimensional airspace.
Advanced radiolocation is a reliable method to simultaneously follow many aircraft in the sky. If the radio signal comes from three-dimensional coordinates in the air, then the machine is certainly active and performing a passenger or cargo flight.
The following monthly logs show samples of the most common aircraft types detected by radiolocation.
Open the monthly logs and supporting information for the four manufacturers currently represented on the page.
Monthly radiolocation logs and active-aircraft records for Airbus families.
Explore Airbus →
Monthly radiolocation logs and active-aircraft records for Boeing models.
Explore Boeing →
Detected Bombardier regional, business and specialist aircraft.
Explore Bombardier →
Regional and international commercial aircraft.
Explore Comac →
Detected Embraer regional, commercial and business aircraft.
Explore Embraer →
Military and business jets.
Explore Dassault Aviation →
Aerospace technologies and commercial rotorcraft.
Explore Leonardo →
Military and commercial aircraft.
Explore SAAB →Photographs confirm radar observations and document eye-catching liveries and aircraft modifications.
“Seeing is believing” is a popular saying and, indeed, a nice photograph of an aircraft in the sky confirms the radar observations. The links below are organised by registration issuing country and then by registration number.
The same technology allows the fate of aircraft confiscated by the Russian Federation in March 2022, following international sanctions, to be followed.
The list of airframes detected flying without a proper Certificate of Airworthiness is available here →
Helicopters and autogyros are harder to detect from a distance, so close-up photographs are particularly useful.
The rotorcraft section includes information about various machines, such as helicopters and autogyros. These types of aircraft are harder to detect from a distance, but close-up pictures are available for several machines.
“Seeing is believing.”
Radiolocation identifies activity; photography makes that activity directly visible.
