Learn how to use a flight tracker, rebuild a real route in your simulator, interpret live data and resolve FlightLogger login confusion.
Use a live flight tracker to note the real flight’s callsign, airports, aircraft type, actual times, flown track, cruise level and groundspeed. Rebuild a valid route in your general flight simulator, match aircraft and weather as closely as practical, then compare major fixes and timings—not every delayed map point.
This method applies to general-purpose simulators including Microsoft Flight Simulator, X-Plane, Prepar3D and FSX. A public tracker is normally a reference source: it does not transfer the real aircraft’s route, fuel, weather, systems state or ATC clearance into your simulator.
How do I use a flight tracker for a simulator?
The reliable method is to identify one specific flight, record its observed data and rebuild a plausible operational plan rather than copying every dot from the map.
- Identify the exact service and date. Record the flight number, ATC callsign, origin, destination and operating date. Flight numbers are reused, and the same service may take a different route or aircraft the following day.
- Use actual rather than scheduled details. Distinguish scheduled departure from gate departure, take-off, landing and gate arrival. Check whether the tracker displays local time, UTC or a mixture determined by the airport.
- Confirm the aircraft that operated the flight. Note the type code and registration if available. Airlines swap equipment, so the aircraft shown on an earlier schedule may not be the one that flew.
- Choose the closest simulator variant. Match the airframe and engine variant before the livery. A correct paint scheme on the wrong variant can produce noticeably different climb, range and fuel figures.
- Reconstruct a valid route. Use the observed track to identify the broad airway corridor, major fixes and runway direction. Do not turn radar vectors, shortcuts, holds or individual position reports into invented waypoints. Our guide to finding and rebuilding real-world simulator routes explains how to separate a filed plan from the path actually flown.
- Create an operational flight plan. Add a suitable cruise level, fuel, payload, alternates and expected procedures. For an airline-style plan and compatible simulator exports, use our step-by-step SimBrief planning method.
- Check the navigation database. The real flight may have used newer fixes, runways or procedures than your simulator or aircraft contains. Resolve route discontinuities and messages such as
NOT IN DATABASE; do not assume an imported plan is cockpit-ready. - Set time and weather. Live weather is appropriate when following the flight at roughly the same time. A later recreation needs historical conditions or a manually chosen preset if your setup supports them. See our advice on matching real-time weather with simulator conditions.
- Compare milestones rather than map dots. Check the departure runway, major fixes, cruise level, groundspeed, arrival direction and elapsed time. Public positions can be delayed or interpolated, so repeatedly turning to chase the symbol makes the recreation less realistic.
Which live tracker sim data can I trust?
Live tracker data is observed, calculated or schedule-derived information—not the crew’s complete dispatch release or active FMS route.
| Tracker field | Useful simulator purpose | Main limitation |
|---|---|---|
| Flight number and callsign | Identify and label the service | The passenger flight number and spoken ATC callsign may differ |
| Origin and destination | Set the airport pair | Diversions, returns and late airport changes may take time to appear |
| Aircraft type and registration | Select an airframe, engine variant and livery | Scheduled equipment may differ from the aircraft that operated |
| Departure and arrival times | Match the operating window and duration | Gate, runway and airborne events are separate timestamps |
| Flown track | Estimate the route corridor, runway and major fixes | The line is a breadcrumb trail containing vectors, shortcuts and holds, not necessarily the filed route |
| Altitude and vertical rate | Compare climb, cruise, descent and step climbs | The source may report barometric, geometric, corrected or inferred altitude |
| Groundspeed | Compare progress and estimated arrival time | Groundspeed is not indicated airspeed, true airspeed or Mach |
| Track direction | Compare the aircraft’s path over the ground | Track is not necessarily cockpit heading because wind causes drift |
| Planned route, if displayed | Provide a starting point for route construction | It may be missing, stale, simplified or replaced by ATC clearances |
Coverage can be delayed, intermittent or inferred, especially over oceans, mountainous regions and other areas with limited receivers. Aircraft may also be blocked or anonymised. Save the relevant details while the flight is visible if you intend to reproduce it later.
How do I simulate aircraft movements or follow a real flight live?
Use a public tracker as a reference, live or AI traffic to populate the simulator, and a simulator-connected tracker when you need to monitor your own aircraft.
| Tool type | What it tracks or creates | Choose it when |
|---|---|---|
| Public real-flight tracker | Observed real aircraft movements | You want a flight’s identity, position, timing and flown track |
| Simulator-connected moving map | Your simulator aircraft through a supported connection or plug-in | You need your own live position, route deviation or moving map |
| Flight logger | Your simulator telemetry and completed-flight history | You want flight time, route records, landing data or virtual-airline reporting |
| Live traffic system | Simulator traffic derived from a data feed | You want surrounding aircraft represented inside the simulator |
| Offline AI traffic | Scheduled or generated simulator aircraft | You value predictable airport activity over matching live movements |
A public tracker cannot normally place an aircraft inside the simulator. Built-in live traffic may represent the service, but the model, livery, callsign and timing can be substituted, delayed or filtered. Aircraft may disappear when coverage is lost or when the simulator reaches its traffic limits.
Choose manual recreation when cockpit procedures, routing and aircraft performance matter most. Choose live traffic when the aim is to see plausible aircraft movements around the right airport or airspace.
Is FlightLogger the same as a flight logger or flight simulator tracker?
Not necessarily: flight logger is a generic term, while FlightLogger can identify a particular account-based aviation service.
A generic simulator flight logger reads data from the simulator and records items such as departure and arrival airports, route, altitude profile, airborne time, fuel use and landing statistics. Its data comes from your simulated aircraft, not from real ADS-B broadcasts.
A capitalised FlightLogger service may instead be supplied by a flight school, operator, community or other organisation. A FlightLogger login does not automatically give access to public live-tracker data, and Fly Away Simulation accounts are not interchangeable with third-party FlightLogger accounts.
How do I access my FlightLogger login?
Use the official sign-in address or invitation supplied by the organisation that created your account.
- Confirm which service you need. Similar names are used for different aviation and simulator tools. Check the welcome message, documentation or organisation portal rather than selecting an unrelated search result.
- Use the assigned account details. Enter the email address or username with which the account was registered. An organisation-managed account may not accept another personal email address.
- Reset the password from that same service. If no reset message arrives, check the address entered and the spam folder before asking the organisation’s administrator to verify the account.
- Fix a looping or blank login page. Allow the cookies and scripts required for sign-in, temporarily test without content-blocking extensions, or clear stored data for that service. Do not reuse credentials on an unrelated flight-tracking page.
“My FlightLogger” normally means the private dashboard or logbook attached to that account. Any export, simulator connection or route-import capability depends on the specific product; the word logger alone does not guarantee live tracking or simulator integration.
What does cruise level mean on a flight tracker?
Cruise level is the pressure-based altitude or flight level used during the en-route portion of a flight.
For example, FL350 means flight level 350: nominally 35,000 feet on the standard pressure setting of 1013.25 hPa or 29.92 inHg. It is not necessarily the aircraft’s exact height above sea level or terrain. Transition altitude and transition level vary by country, airport and atmospheric pressure, so set standard pressure at the appropriate point rather than copying the tracker number blindly.
Long flights may make one or more step climbs as fuel burns off. A tracker can also switch between reported barometric altitude and another derived altitude source, producing an apparent jump that the real aircraft did not make.
Cruise level is normally two words in operational use. The one-word name Cruiselevel may also be used by third-party aviation services; it is not a universal simulator setting, tracking format or Fly Away Simulation login.
Why does my recreated flight not match the tracker?
Differences usually come from route clearances, weather, aircraft setup, navigation data or the tracker feed itself.
- The route diverges near an airport: the real crew probably received vectors, a shortcut, a runway change or a different SID or STAR. Fly the clearance supplied by your simulator or use the closest available procedure.
- The whole track is offset: verify the operating date, flight number, airports and registration. Codeshares and reused flight numbers can identify a different service.
- Your arrival time is wrong: compare groundspeed with groundspeed, then check winds, route length, aircraft mass and climb schedule. Do not compare tracker groundspeed with indicated airspeed.
- Your heading differs while the track matches: this is normal wind correction. The aircraft points into the wind while following the required ground track.
- A fix or procedure is missing: your simulator, planning tool and aircraft may use different navigation-data cycles. Substitute a valid fix or procedure and inspect the entire route before departure.
- The altitude differs slightly: confirm pressure settings and whether the displayed tracker value is barometric, geometric or corrected altitude.
- The tracker aircraft jumps or freezes: coverage was lost or the display is interpolating between reports. Continue the planned route instead of chasing it.
- Fuel burn or climb performance differs: check the aircraft variant, engine model, payload, fuel load and cost-index or speed assumptions. Trackers do not normally reveal these operating inputs.
Can a public tracker follow my simulated aircraft?
Public real-aircraft trackers generally cannot see a simulated aircraft because the simulator is not transmitting genuine ADS-B position reports.
Tracking your own flight requires a compatible in-simulator feature, plug-in, external connector or community logging system that reads the simulator’s telemetry. Availability differs by simulator, aircraft and platform; console editions generally allow fewer external connectors than PC installations.
For post-flight analysis, save the simulator telemetry or use a replay facility rather than relying on a public map. Our guide to recording, replaying and reviewing simulator flights covers the available approaches and their limitations.