Help & FAQ
Everything you need to know about using SpotterLog— identifying aircraft, logging sightings, looking up tail numbers, and tracking the planes you’ve spotted. For step-by-step walkthroughs, see the spotting guides.
Getting started
What is SpotterLog?+
SpotterLog is a plane spotting app for iPhone (with a full web version). Photograph any aircraft and the app identifies it, logs the sighting with the GPS location and time from your photo, and pulls the aircraft's full story — registry record, owner, and accident history. Think of it as a birding life list, for aircraft.
Is SpotterLog free?+
Yes — SpotterLog is free to download on iPhone and iPad and free to use on the web. The free account logs up to 10 tracked aircraft, and paid plans scale with your collection. Our most popular plan is Pro, which supports up to 2,500 aircraft with live position tracking and 24/7 monitoring for accidents, owner changes, and registration updates.
What platforms does SpotterLog support?+
SpotterLog has native iOS apps built for iPhone and iPad, plus full-featured web access at spotterlog.aero that works great on Android and any desktop browser. One account works everywhere.
I'm new to plane spotting. Where do I start?+
Go to your nearest airport — big or small — and photograph what flies. Your phone is all the gear you need to start: its photos carry the GPS and time that make logging automatic, and SpotterLog handles identification. The rest of the hobby builds itself from there.
Identifying & logging aircraft
How does logging an aircraft work?+
Take a photo in the app, or import one from your photo library, Dropbox, or any file provider. SpotterLog reads the photo's metadata and automatically tags where and when you spotted the plane. Enter the tail number and the app pulls in the aircraft's record — who owns it, what it is, where it's been, and whether it's ever been in an accident.
How does SpotterLog identify aircraft?+
From the registration. Your photo establishes exactly where and when the sighting happened; the tail number you key from the shot unlocks the aircraft's identity — manufacturer, model, year, operator — from the FAA registry, international registration data, and SpotterLog's aviation database. One field to type; everything else fills in automatically.
Can SpotterLog tell me what plane is flying over me?+
Yes. The live map shows aircraft positions in real time from ADS-B data, so the jet overhead is identifiable in seconds — and unlike a plain tracker, tapping an aircraft in SpotterLog opens its full record: owner, age, and history. Photograph it and it becomes a logged sighting.
Can I import my past sightings?+
Yes — bulk import via CSV brings your whole spotting history into SpotterLog, whether it lived in a spreadsheet, a notes app, or another logging tool. Your data exports back out as CSV anytime, too.
Does SpotterLog work at airshows?+
Airshows are SpotterLog at its best — photograph every static display and demo aircraft during the day, then import and identify them that evening. A fifty-aircraft show weekend can grow your collection more than a season at the fence line.
What if my photo has no GPS data?+
No problem — you can set the sighting's location manually with the map picker, and adjust the date and time to match the catch. Photos from dedicated cameras without GPS still make complete log entries.
Aircraft data & lookups
Can I look up any tail number in SpotterLog?+
Yes — search any registration to see the aircraft's type, year, registered owner, registration status, and history. US N-numbers resolve against FAA registry data, and international registrations are covered too.
Can I find out who owns a plane?+
For US-registered aircraft, the registered owner is public record and appears on the aircraft's page in SpotterLog. Beyond the current owner, SpotterLog maintains ownership history over time — a CarFax-style trail of who has held the aircraft and when it changed hands.
Can I see an aircraft's accident history?+
Yes. NTSB accident and incident records are tied to every aircraft's page — and SpotterLog cross-references history across an airframe's previous registrations, so an accident under an old tail number still shows up in today's lookup. That's a check most registry searches miss.
Where does SpotterLog's data come from?+
SpotterLog is built on AviatorDB, a full aviation data platform: FAA registry and international registration data, NTSB accident records, ICAO type data, a complete aircraft encyclopedia, and live ADS-B position feeds — kept in sync continuously.
Tracking & alerts
Does SpotterLog track aircraft in real time?+
Yes — the live map shows tracked aircraft in flight in real time. We also save the last known position of every ADS-B-broadcasting aircraft in the world daily, so even when a plane isn't flying right now, you can see where it was last seen on the interactive map, in the iOS app or on the web.
What are change alerts?+
SpotterLog watches the aircraft in your collection and watchlist 24/7. When ownership changes, a registration event happens, a certificate expires, or an NTSB record is logged against one of your aircraft, iOS users get a push notification and web users see it in the change log on their dashboard. You never have to go looking — the news finds you.
What is ADS-B?+
Automatic Dependent Surveillance–Broadcast — the system through which aircraft continuously broadcast their identity, position, and altitude. It's been mandatory in US controlled airspace since 2020, it's what powers every live flight map, and it's one of the data layers behind SpotterLog's live and last-seen positions.
Your collection & account
What are Spotter Levels?+
SpotterLog's progression ladder: your level climbs as your collection grows, from Newbie all the way to Legend, with badges landing at milestones along the way. Every logged aircraft moves you forward.
Is my collection private?+
Private by default. If you want to show off, you can enable a shareable spotter profile with your stats, map, and rarest catches — that's your call, per account.
Can I export my data?+
Yes — your full sighting history exports as CSV at any time. It's your collection and your data, and it stays portable.
How does SpotterLog relate to AviatorDB?+
SpotterLog is the companion app to AviatorDB. AviatorDB is the aviation data platform and encyclopedia; SpotterLog is your personal collection of the aircraft you've captured, built on that same data.
Start your collection today.
Free to download. Your next sighting could be your rarest yet.