Guide
Helicopters, balloons and other oddities
Most of the thousands of aircraft over the US at any moment are airliners and business jets on routine routes. The interesting ones are the exceptions: helicopters, balloons, gliders, blimps, rare types and aircraft flying unusual patterns. This guide explains what each looks like in the data and how our "interesting right now" panel finds them.
Helicopters
On a typical afternoon, a few hundred helicopters broadcast ADS-B across the US. They are easy to spot: low altitude (often 500 to 2,000 ft), slow ground speed (60 to 140 knots) and emitter category A7. Common roles include:
- Air medical (HEMS): aircraft like the Airbus H135 and H145 flying between hospitals and scenes, often with callsigns referencing the operator.
- News and police: often AS350/H125 and Bell 407 helicopters orbiting over an event or a traffic incident.
- Tours: loops over the Grand Canyon, Las Vegas, New York, Hawaii and Alaska.
- Offshore: Sikorsky S-76 and larger helicopters shuttling crews to oil platforms in the Gulf of Mexico.
- Utility and training: Robinson R44 trainers, power-line patrols and crop work.
- Military: UH-60 Black Hawks and others.
See them live on helicopters now.
Balloons
Balloons broadcast emitter category B2 (lighter-than-air). Two very different kinds show up:
- Hot-air balloons fly low and slow in the calm air just after sunrise, drifting with the wind at 5 to 15 knots. Large events such as the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta each October can put dozens in the sky at once, though many carry no ADS-B.
- High-altitude research balloons float in the stratosphere, often at 60,000 to 120,000 ft, drifting for days. They are launched by universities, NASA's balloon program and commercial companies. Their tracks wander slowly across the country.
The many National Weather Service radiosonde balloons launched twice a day do not transmit ADS-B, so they will not appear.
Gliders
Gliders broadcast category B1 when equipped, and many squawk 1202 in the US. Look for slow speeds and tight circles as they climb in thermals, or long straight lines along ridges.
Blimps and airships
A handful of advertising airships tour the US, often appearing over stadiums during major sports events. They move at 20 to 40 knots at low altitude and are also category B2.
Orbits, grids and racetracks
Patterns are often more interesting than types. Common ones:
- Tight circles over a city: news or police helicopters, or a survey aircraft photographing an area.
- Parallel lines: aerial mapping, survey or search and rescue flights.
- Long racetracks: aerial refuelling tankers such as the KC-135R, or aircraft in a holding pattern waiting to land.
- Figure eights at airshows: display teams and warbirds.
Rare and unusual types
Out of roughly 70 types that make up most US traffic (see aircraft types), the rest of the list is a long tail: warbirds, Antonov freighters, vintage DC-3s, experimental aircraft, record attempts and one-off prototypes. Our dashboard flags types that appear only once or twice in the national snapshot. The military and government now page covers a separate category of unusual traffic.
When the oddities appear
Timing matters. Hot-air balloons fly mainly in the first two to three hours after sunrise, when winds are lightest, and again sometimes near sunset. Gliders need the sun to heat the ground, so they appear from late morning to late afternoon in spring and summer. Helicopter counts follow daylight and weather: air medical flights run around the clock, but tour, news and training flights fade at dusk. Stratospheric balloons can stay up for days, so they may appear at any hour, and they are often launched from places such as Palestine, Texas and Fort Sumner, New Mexico, which host NASA balloon operations.
How the "interesting right now" panel works
- Category A7 or a known helicopter type → helicopter.
- Category B1, B2, B4 or B6 → glider, balloon, ultralight or drone.
- Military-looking address, type or callsign → military or government.
- A type seen only once or twice nationally → rare type.
Each item links straight to the aircraft's live track on airplanes.live. For local oddities overhead, our sister site heywhatsabove.com shows what is flying near you.
Questions
Do hot-air balloons show up on flight trackers?
Some do. Balloons with ADS-B Out broadcast emitter category B2 and appear as slow, low targets drifting with the wind. Many hot-air balloons carry no ADS-B and do not appear.
Why is a plane flying in circles?
Common reasons include news or police helicopters watching an event, survey and photography flights, flight training, holding patterns before landing, and aerial refuelling tracks. It is rarely a sign of trouble.