Node-RED OpenSky Nearby Planes Radar 🌍✈️

A plug-and-play Node-RED flow that uses the OpenSky Network public REST API to show live airplanes around any location on an interactive worldmap.

You choose a center latitude / longitude / radius, and the flow:

• Polls the OpenSky /api/states/all endpoint
• Draws nearby planes on node-red-node-worldmap
• Colors planes by airline
• Shows distance & bearing from your center
• Shows altitude, speed, and last contact time

No API key is required for this basic setup.

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1. Features

• ✈️ Live aircraft around your chosen city using OpenSky
• 🌎 Configurable center & radius (edit 3 values in one function)
• 🎨 Airline-colored markers based on callsign (e.g., AAL, DAL, JBU, etc.)
• 🧭 Distance & bearing from your “Radar Center”
• 📡 Altitude (ft) and speed (knots)
• ⏱️ Last contact age in seconds
• 🚁 Optional support for helicopters/other types if an aircraft DB is added
• 🏠 Radar Center home icon so you always see where your search is centered
• 🌐 Uses node-red-node-worldmap for a slick, interactive UI

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2. Requirements

Before you import the flow, make sure you have:

• Node-RED installed and running

• The node-red-node-worldmap node:

  • In Node-RED: Menu → Manage palette → Install → search node-red-node-worldmap

You’ll also need outbound internet access to:

• https://opensky-network.org

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3. Files in This Repo

• OpenSky-Planes-WorldMap.json The exported Node-RED flow containing:

  • Polling
  • OpenSky API call
  • State → worldmap marker transform
  • Worldmap and Radar Center marker

• Node-RED & OpenSky flow in the editor Screenshot of the Node-RED flow in the editor.

• Live Aircraft Radar – Miami Example Screenshot of the worldmap showing live planes around Miami.

• LICENSE MIT license for this project.

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4. Importing the Flow (Step by Step)

1. Open your Node-RED editor in the browser:

   • Usually http://<your-node-red-host>:1880

2. Click Menu (≡) → Import → Clipboard

3. Open OpenSky-Planes-WorldMap.json in a text editor, select all, and copy the JSON.

4. Paste the JSON into the Node-RED Import dialog and click Import.

5. You should see a new tab (e.g. OpenSky Nearby Planes Radar) with:

   • An Inject node (“Poll OpenSky every 30s”)
   • A function node (“Set center, radius & URL”)
   • HTTP request node
   • Function node (“States → worldmap markers”)
   • Worldmap node (“Nearby planes map”)
   • Inject + function for the Radar Center marker

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5. Setting Your Location (Center & Radius)

This is the only part a normal user needs to edit.

1. Double-click the function node named: Set center, radius & URL

2. At the top of the code, you’ll see a block like:

   // ===== DEFAULT DEMO CONFIG (edit these for your city) =====
   const defaultCenterLat = 25.7617;   // Miami latitude (change to your latitude)
   const defaultCenterLon = -80.1918;  // Miami longitude (change to your longitude)
   const defaultRadiusKm  = 200;       // Search radius in km (change if needed)
   // ==========================================================

3. Change these values:

   • defaultCenterLat → your city’s latitude
   • defaultCenterLon → your city’s longitude
   • defaultRadiusKm → how far out (in km) you want to search for planes

4. Click Done.

💡 Example: For New York City, you might use:

const defaultCenterLat = 40.7128;
const defaultCenterLon = -74.0060;
const defaultRadiusKm  = 250;

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6. Deploying and Viewing the Map

1. Click the red Deploy button in the top-right of Node-RED.

2. Find the worldmap node named:

   • Nearby planes map

   It’s configured to serve at the path: /worldmapplanes

3. Open this URL in your browser:

   http://<your-node-red-host>:1880/worldmapplanes
   

4. Within a few seconds, you should see:

   • A map centered roughly near your chosen region
   • A home icon labeled “Radar Center”
   • Colored plane icons around your area (depending on current traffic)

5. Click on a plane marker to see details:

   • Flight / callsign
   • Airline (if recognized)
   • Altitude (ft)
   • Speed (knots)
   • Distance and bearing from your Radar Center
   • Last contact time and age

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7. Radar Center (Home) Marker

The Radar Center marker uses the same coordinates as your flow configuration.

The node function reads the config that was saved by Send home marker:

// Home / Radar Center marker for worldmap
// Reads the current radar config from flow.openskyRadarConfig

const cfg = flow.get("openskyRadarConfig") || {
    centerLat: 25.7617,
    centerLon: -80.1918
};

msg.payload = {
    name: "Radar Center",
    lat: cfg.centerLat,
    lon: cfg.centerLon,
    layer: "Reference",
    icon: "home",
    popup: "<strong>Radar Center</strong><br>This is the center of your search radius."
};

return msg;

An Inject node fires once after deploy to send this marker to the worldmap.

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8. Airline Colors & Names

Inside the States → worldmap markers function node, there is a configuration section that maps callsign prefixes (ICAO operator codes) to airline names and colors.

Example (simplified):

// ✅ CONFIG: Add / edit airlines here
const airlineConfig = {
  // US Majors
  DAL: { name: "Delta Air Lines", color: "#003A70" },
  AAL: { name: "American Airlines", color: "#B7312C" },
  UAL: { name: "United Airlines", color: "#005DAA" },
  SWA: { name: "Southwest Airlines", color: "#304CB2" },

  // LCCs / Regionals
  JBU: { name: "JetBlue Airways", color: "#003876" },
  NKS: { name: "Spirit Airlines", color: "#FFEC00" },
  FFT: { name: "Frontier Airlines", color: "#007A5E" },

  // International examples
  CMP: { name: "Copa Airlines", color: "#003366" },
  AVA: { name: "Avianca", color: "#D7141A" },
  LAT: { name: "LATAM Airlines", color: "#462066" },

  // Bizjet / charter example
  VJT: { name: "VistaJet", color: "#A0002A" }
};

If a callsign prefix is not in this list:

• The flow still works.
• It generates a consistent color using a hash of the prefix.

Adding your own airline

1. Find the ICAO operator code (3-letter code in the callsign, e.g., EZY).

2. Add an entry inside airlineConfig like:

   EZY: { name: "easyJet", color: "#FF6600" },

3. Click Done → Deploy.

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9. Optional: Advanced Location Control

If you’re comfortable with Node-RED context, you can change the radar location without editing code by setting:

• flow.openskyRadarConfig or
• global.openskyRadarConfig

to an object like:

{
  "centerLat": 40.7128,
  "centerLon": -74.0060,
  "radiusKm": 250
}

The Set center, radius & URL function is already written to:

• Start from the defaults at the top
• Then apply these overrides if they exist
• Then save the final config back to flow.openskyRadarConfig

For most users, this advanced feature can be ignored. The 3 default values at the top are enough.

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10. Screenshots

Node-RED & OpenSky flow in the editor

Screenshot of the Node-RED flow in the editor.

Live Aircraft Radar – Miami Example

Screenshot of the worldmap showing live planes around Miami.

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11. License

This project is licensed under the MIT License.

See the LICENSE file for details.