Mavic pro showing up on Flight Radar 24....weird?>

mrreddog · Sep 25, 2018

So I usually always use Flight Radar 24 when flying my Mavic Pro just to be on the lookout for any low flying aircraft or helicopters, I live in the northern suburbs of Detroit. well the other day I noticed a Drone icon flying near a Canadian airport, when I clicked on it, it said it was a Mavic pro??? Anyone seen anything like this before?? whats going on here?? Height and speed don't seem right either.

Simmo · Sep 25, 2018

Wow??? It would have to have a transponder on it surely??
Maybe they were testing something in the app???

sar104 · Sep 25, 2018

That has to be some kind of testing mode. A quick look at the history for that tail number doesn't suggest real flights:

Flightradar24.com - Live flight tracker!

ac0j · Sep 25, 2018

Do they issue "N" numbers for drones? I dont believe it.
N12345? Really?

sar104 · Sep 25, 2018

ac0j said:
Do they issue "N" numbers for drones? I dont believe it.
N12345? Really?

Yes - you can get an N number if you apply via the paper registration method. And yes - it is registered:

FAA Registry - Aircraft - N-Number Inquiry

ac0j · Sep 25, 2018

sar104 said:
Yes - you can get an N number if you apply via the paper registration method. And yes - it is registered:

FAA Registry - Aircraft - N-Number Inquiry

It seems odd, that with all the N numbers issued, that this one gets the sequential 12345.

Just_nick · Sep 25, 2018

I highly doubt that is real. There is a slim-to-none chance of him having a 12345 N-number.

mrreddog · Sep 25, 2018

Something weird with it, the 1st screenshot says 1,193 feet high & 74 mph....WTF ??

ac0j · Sep 25, 2018

Registered in NY, all the recorded flights were less than 1 minute long, And in Hawaii and some other places. around the planet. all within a few days or hours.
Fishy! I think air data has been hacked

'

neggy · Sep 25, 2018

well the Mode-S code comes back to a drone and a N Number

N12345 (DJI MAVIC PRO owned by GUTTERMAN ADAM D) Aircraft Registration ✈ FlightAware

And it shows in the FAA database... you ain't hacking that
FAA Registry - Aircraft - N-Number Inquiry

WithTheBirds · Sep 25, 2018

We need to think a bit more broadly about the possibilities here. A quick search reveals a surprising number of DJI drone recordings, including phantom 3&4.

Could this be as simple as datasharimg between aeroscope and Flightradar24? We know a lot of airports and other installations run aeroscope.

Enable your personal identification sharing in GO4 and Bobs you aunties brother....

ac0j · Sep 25, 2018

There is NO WAY that N12345 was in all the places on the dates and times listed in the link in post #3 And NO WAY it achieved those altitudes and speeds in a minute or less of flight. iTS SOMETHING, but it is NOT accurate!

mrreddog · Sep 25, 2018

If you look at its flight history, it shows an airplane icon. But in my screen shot while it was live and flying (or whatever) its shown as a drone icon, thats why I screenshot it. I have been using Flight radar 24 for a while, and never ever seen a dron icon on the screen till this time

sar104 · Sep 25, 2018

Just_nick said:
I highly doubt that is real. There is a slim-to-none chance of him having a 12345 N-number.

Are you doubting the output from the FAA Registry lookup? Or did you just not follow the link I posted in #5?

ac0j · Sep 25, 2018

sar104 said:
Are you doubting the output from the FAA Registry lookup? Or did you just not follow the link I posted in #5?

What I am doubting is your link in post #3
No way he was in all those different places in that time period of just days.
The flights were all only about 1 minute or less, and the altitudes, would not have been possible in those time frames.

EDIT; Another thing, is it common to reissue a "N" number off of a museum aircraft?

My thought is that "flight radar 24" is worthless if it shows fictitious flights at random.

sar104 · Sep 25, 2018

ac0j said:
What I am doubting is your link in post #3
No way he was in all those different places in that time period of just days.
The flights were all only about 1 minute or less, and the altitudes, would not have been possible in those time frames.

EDIT; Another thing, is it common to reissue a "N" number off of a museum aircraft?

Well the link is real but the flights were clearly not, or at least not all of them.

You can reserve an N-number that is not currently assigned. Interesting that he snagged that one. Whether it was luck or something else I have no idea.

ac0j · Sep 25, 2018

sar104 said:
Well the link is real but the flights were clearly not, or at least not all of them.

You can reserve an N-number that is not currently assigned. Interesting that he snagged that one. Whether it was luck or something else I have no idea.

It looks like the N number was previously held by a museum, presumably on an aircraft. With an interesting number like that, I am surprised the museum let it go if the aircraft still exsists.

sar104 · Sep 25, 2018

ac0j said:
It looks like the N number was previously held by a museum, presumably on an aircraft. With an interesting number like that, I am surprised the museum let it go if the aircraft still exsists.

It was probably de-registered as no longer airworthy.

https://twitter.com/x/status/959895561435582469

sar104 · Sep 25, 2018

sar104 said:
It was probably de-registered as no longer airworthy.

https://twitter.com/x/status/959895561435582469

I should have elaborated. It looks as if N12345 is a commonly used spoof tail number to obfuscate aircraft identities.

ac0j · Sep 25, 2018

interesting reading....... I do not know if I would want that N number on anything I owned.
It seems it is the go to "n" number for the FAA when giving examples or also used to replace a real 'n' number when writing about aircraft involved in an incident.
N12345, legal?
Get the Flick: N12345, You’re Busted