FlightView ✈️

Real-time overhead flight tracker for Raspberry Pi touchscreen kiosks. Detects aircraft flying near your home and displays flight details on 7" (800×480) or 10" (1024×600) screens with two distinctive visual themes.

Features

• 🛩️ Real-time ADS-B tracking via OpenSky Network API (free, no key required)
• 📍 Dual-zone filtering — near zone triggers detail view, far zone shows on radar/board
• ✈️ Rich flight data — airline, flight number, aircraft type, route (origin → destination)
• 🎨 Two visual themes:
  • Classic — Solari split-flap departure board with vintage cockpit gauges, LED dot-matrix route display, and amber radar scope
  • Modern — Heathrow airport signage (bright yellow, bold black) for detail view, cool blue radar with aircraft list for multi-plane
• 🔄 Auto-switching between multi-plane (radar + list) and single-plane (detail card) based on aircraft proximity
• 📱 Touch-friendly config screen for all settings
• 📐 Responsive layout for 800×480 and 1024×600 screens
• 🌐 Route enrichment via FlightAware AeroAPI (optional, free tier available)
• 🧪 Mock data mode for development and testing without live API access

Tech Stack

• Backend: Python 3.11+ / Flask / Flask-SocketIO
• Frontend: Vanilla JS + CSS (no build tools needed)
• Data Sources:
  • OpenSky Network — live aircraft positions (free, no API key)
  • FlightAware AeroAPI — route enrichment for single-plane view (optional, $5/month free tier)
• Enrichment: Static ICAO aircraft database + airline callsign decoder (100+ airlines)
• Fonts: Outfit + JetBrains Mono (loaded from Google Fonts)

Quick Start

# Clone
git clone https://github.com/topness-msft/FlightView.git
cd FlightView

# Install dependencies
pip install -r requirements.txt

# Configure your location
cp .env.example .env
# Edit .env with your lat/lon

# Run
cd src && python app.py

Open http://localhost:5000 in a browser. Use the ⚙ button for settings, and the theme toggle (bottom-left) to switch between Classic and Modern.

Raspberry Pi Deployment

A deployment script is included for kiosk mode on Raspberry Pi:

chmod +x deploy-pi.sh
./deploy-pi.sh

This will:

1. Install system dependencies (Python, Chromium, unclutter)
2. Create a Python virtual environment and install packages
3. Prompt you to configure .env (home location, API keys)
4. Install a systemd service for auto-start
5. Configure Chromium kiosk mode (fullscreen, no cursor)
6. Disable screen blanking

After deployment, reboot the Pi to start kiosk mode.

Managing the Service

sudo systemctl status flightview    # Check status
sudo systemctl restart flightview   # Restart
sudo journalctl -u flightview -f    # View live logs

Configuration

All settings can be changed via the touch-friendly config screen (⚙ button) or by editing .env:

Setting	Default	Description
HOME_LAT	47.6062	Your latitude
HOME_LON	-122.3321	Your longitude
ALTITUDE_LIMIT_FT	3000	Near zone altitude ceiling (triggers detail view)
RADIUS_LIMIT_FT	1500	Near zone radius (triggers detail view)
RADAR_ALTITUDE_FT	15000	Far zone altitude ceiling (shown on radar/board)
RADAR_RADIUS_FT	15000	Far zone radius (shown on radar/board)
POLL_INTERVAL_SEC	15	How often to poll OpenSky (seconds)
ADSBX_API_KEY		FlightAware AeroAPI key (optional, for route data)
MOCK_MODE	False	Enable mock data for testing

Zone Configuration Tips

• Near a major airport: Set near zone to 15,000–30,000 ft radius and 15,000 ft altitude to catch departing aircraft
• Under a flight path: Near zone of 5,000–10,000 ft radius and 5,000 ft altitude works well
• Far zone: Set to 60,000 ft for both to see all regional traffic on radar

Architecture

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│  Browser (Vanilla JS + CSS)                          │
│  ├── Screen Manager (auto-switch multi ↔ single)     │
│  ├── Classic Theme (split-flap, gauges, dot-matrix)  │
│  ├── Modern Theme (Heathrow signage, blue radar)     │
│  └── Config Screen (touch-friendly)                  │
└──────────────────┬──────────────────────────────────┘
                   │ WebSocket (Socket.IO)
┌──────────────────┴──────────────────────────────────┐
│  Flask Server                                        │
│  ├── Poller Thread (OpenSky → geo_filter → enrich)   │
│  ├── State Manager (near/far zone classification)    │
│  ├── FlightAware Client (route lookup, cached)       │
│  ├── Callsign Decoder (100+ airline ICAO codes)      │
│  └── Config API (GET/POST with .env persistence)     │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Development

# Run with mock data (no API access needed)
# Set MOCK_MODE=True in .env, then:
cd src && python app.py

# Run tests
pytest tests/

Mock mode generates 4–7 simulated aircraft with realistic behaviors (approaching, departing, passing, far cruise) and full route/airline data.

API Keys

FlightAware AeroAPI (optional)

Provides origin → destination route data for the single-plane detail view.

1. Sign up at flightaware.com/aeroapi
2. Get a Personal tier key ($5/month free credit — plenty for this use case)
3. Add to config screen or .env as ADSBX_API_KEY

Routes are only looked up when an aircraft enters the near zone (detail view), with a 10-minute cache per callsign. Typical usage: 20–50 API calls/day.

License

MIT