Tail Number Tracker FAQ

Tail Sniffer is a tail-number tracking app built for serious aviation users. It helps you look up aircraft activity by tail number using available flight-tracking data, with practical visibility into what is available and what may be limited.

Tail Sniffer is a situational-awareness tool. It is not a guarantee that every aircraft will be visible in every circumstance.

Sometimes, yes — when usable data is available.

If an aircraft is broadcasting usable data and that data is available through the sources feeding Tail Sniffer, the app may show activity by tail number.

Results can vary based on source visibility, aircraft status, and program limitations.

The most common reasons are straightforward:

• The aircraft is not currently broadcasting usable data.
• The aircraft is not in flight or has not been active recently.
• Source visibility is limited for that aircraft or flight.
• The aircraft may be using a privacy program or other visibility restriction.
• Available information may be delayed, incomplete, or unavailable at that moment.

That does not always mean something is wrong with the app. In many cases, it is a normal visibility limitation. For a longer explanation, see why some aircraft may have limited visibility.

Tail Sniffer may show activity for some private aircraft, but visibility is not universal.

Some aircraft may appear with limited data, delayed data, or no useful result at all depending on source visibility and program status. Tail Sniffer does not guarantee visibility for every private aircraft.

No.

Tail Sniffer is not a workaround for privacy programs, blocked-aircraft protections, or restricted visibility settings. If visibility is limited by source controls, program rules, or aircraft/operator choices, the app cannot override that.

This page is here to explain common visibility scenarios, not promise access where data is not available.

Start with the basics:

• Make sure the tail number is entered correctly.
• Confirm the aircraft is in flight or has been active recently.
• Expect some gaps when source visibility is limited.
• Keep in mind that some aircraft may be under privacy or restricted-visibility programs.
• If information looks incomplete, it may reflect data availability rather than a problem with your device or account.

Tail Sniffer is built for serious aviation users who need a practical way to monitor aircraft activity by tail number without wading through bloated consumer-style flight-tracker clutter.

The product is designed to be useful, direct, and realistic about what flight-tracking data can and cannot show.

Live positions update every minute. Where a flight has a plan on file, we add the filed destination, an estimated arrival and any delays, and aircraft details come from registration records.

Because visibility depends on coverage and aircraft status, not every aircraft will appear the same way every time.

There is a free plan: 3 aircraft, the last 30 days of flight history, and email departure and arrival alerts.

Pro is $5.99 a month or $49.99 a year: 15 aircraft (more in packs of 10), the full flight archive, push alerts and no ads. New accounts can try Pro free for 7 days. See pricing for everything.

Aircraft in the FAA’s LADD program are hidden unless you add LADD, which is for aviation professionals and aircraft owners with a legitimate reason to track them. It’s $5.99 a month on top of Pro, or Pro + LADD for $89 a year.

To add it, choose your role, enter your company, tell us a little about yourself, tick the box and pay. LADD aircraft appear straight away. We confirm every new LADD account within 48 hours; there’s nothing you need to do.

If it isn’t approved, LADD is switched off and we email you. Card payments are refunded in full automatically; if you bought it in the iPhone or Android app, the email explains how to get your refund from Apple or Google.

LADD information is for lawful aviation use only. See the LADD section of our Terms.

From Plan & Billing in your settings, or in your Apple ID settings if you subscribed in the iPhone app (Google Play → Subscriptions if you subscribed in the Android app). You keep Pro until the end of the period you paid for, and nothing is deleted: extra aircraft are paused and older flights are kept until you upgrade again.

If you are seeing a specific issue, contact support with:

• the tail number
• the approximate date and time you checked
• what result you expected to see
• what the app showed instead

That makes it much easier to separate a normal visibility limitation from an actual product issue. You can reach us through the Tail Sniffer support and contact page.