# Live Aircraft Scraper: ADS-B Positions by Radius (`naimurhasanrwd/adsb-aircraft-scraper`) Actor

Pull live aircraft positions around any coordinate via the public adsb.lol API: callsign, registration, type, altitude and speed. No login, no proxy, no browser.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/naimurhasanrwd/adsb-aircraft-scraper.md
- **Developed by:** [Naimur Hasan](https://apify.com/naimurhasanrwd) (community)
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 80.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

Pay per usage

This Actor is paid per platform usage. The Actor is free to use, and you only pay for the Apify platform usage, which gets cheaper the higher subscription plan you have.

Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/actors/running/actors-in-store.md#pay-per-usage

## What's an Apify Actor?

An Actor is a serverless cloud program that runs on the Apify platform. It has two run modes.
In Batch mode, an Actor accepts a well-defined JSON input, performs an action which can take anything from a few seconds to a few hours,
and optionally produces a well-defined JSON output, datasets with results, or files in key-value store.
In Standby mode, an Actor provides a web server which can be used as a website, API, or an MCP server.

Apify vocabulary and the platform model are defined once, in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md.

## How to integrate an Actor?

If asked about integration, you help developers integrate Actors into their projects.
You adapt to their stack and deliver integrations that are safe, well-documented, and production-ready.

Do not guess an integration path. Every one of them is in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md: the Apify MCP server, Agent Skills with the Apify CLI, the JavaScript and Python clients, the REST API, and the account-free path for an agent with no human to sign in. It also carries the rule on stating cost before the first paid run.

For examples already wired to this Actor's own input schema, see the [API](#api) section below.

Each client library has reference documentation the quickstart does not restate: [JavaScript/TypeScript](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md) (`npm install apify-client`) and [Python](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md) (`pip install apify-client`).

# README

## Live Aircraft Scraper

Pulls live ADS-B aircraft positions around any coordinate through the public
adsb.lol API. No login, no proxy, no browser.

### Input

| Field | Type | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| `latitude` | string | Required. Centre point latitude. Default `51.47` (Heathrow). |
| `longitude` | string | Required. Centre point longitude. Default `-0.4543`. |
| `radiusNm` | integer | Radius in nautical miles, capped at 250 upstream. Default `25`. |
| `maxItems` | integer | Cap on aircraft returned. Default `100`. |

### Output

One row per aircraft: `hex`, `callsign`, `registration`, `aircraftType`,
`altitudeFt`, `onGround`, `groundSpeedKt`, `trackDeg`, `verticalRateFpm`,
`latitude`, `longitude`, `squawk`, `emergency`, `capturedAt`.

### Notes

- **`alt_baro` is not always a number — a parked aircraft reports the literal
  string `"ground"`.** Coercing that blindly yields `NaN`, so it is split into
  a numeric `altitudeFt` and a separate `onGround` boolean.
- **Callsigns are space-padded** (`"GBRDF   "`), which breaks joins and
  grouping if passed through untrimmed.
- Results are a live snapshot of what receivers can currently hear, so
  coverage is best near populated areas and poor over oceans. `capturedAt` is
  stamped by this Actor because the payload describes "now" with no timestamp
  per aircraft.
- Aircraft that block their registration, and military traffic, may appear
  with a hex code but no callsign or type.
- The API **403s any request without a `User-Agent`**, which Node's `fetch`
  omits by default while curl supplies one — so a curl spot-check passes while
  the Actor fails. One is set explicitly here.
- It also rate limits, answering 429 under rapid repeat calls, so retryable
  statuses are retried with a backoff. A single scheduled run per day will not
  come close to the limit.

# Actor input Schema

## `latitude` (type: `string`):

Centre point latitude

## `longitude` (type: `string`):

Centre point longitude

## `radiusNm` (type: `integer`):

Search radius in nautical miles, capped at 250 by the API

## `maxItems` (type: `integer`):

Cap on aircraft returned

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "latitude": "51.47",
  "longitude": "-0.4543",
  "radiusNm": 25,
  "maxItems": 100
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `items` (type: `string`):

Every aircraft the run captured.

# API

You can run this Actor programmatically using our API. Below are code examples in JavaScript, Python, and CLI, as well as the OpenAPI specification and MCP server setup.

## JavaScript example

```javascript
import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client';

// Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
// Replace the '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token
const client = new ApifyClient({
    token: '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>',
});

// Prepare Actor input
const input = {
    "latitude": "51.47",
    "longitude": "-0.4543"
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("naimurhasanrwd/adsb-aircraft-scraper").call(input);

// Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if any)
console.log('Results from dataset');
console.log(`💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/${run.defaultDatasetId}`);
const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();
items.forEach((item) => {
    console.dir(item);
});

// 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs

```

## Python example

```python
from apify_client import ApifyClient

# Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
# Replace '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token.
client = ApifyClient("<YOUR_API_TOKEN>")

# Prepare the Actor input
run_input = {
    "latitude": "51.47",
    "longitude": "-0.4543",
}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("naimurhasanrwd/adsb-aircraft-scraper").call(run_input=run_input)

# Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any)
print(f"💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/{run.default_dataset_id}")
for item in client.dataset(run.default_dataset_id).iterate_items():
    print(item)

# 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs/quick-start

```

## CLI example

```bash
echo '{
  "latitude": "51.47",
  "longitude": "-0.4543"
}' |
apify call naimurhasanrwd/adsb-aircraft-scraper --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,naimurhasanrwd/adsb-aircraft-scraper"
        }
    }
}
```

The hosted server signs you in with OAuth on first connect, so no API token belongs in this config. Clients without OAuth support can send an `Authorization: Bearer <APIFY_API_TOKEN>` header instead, using a token from API & Integrations in Apify Console (https://console.apify.com/settings/integrations).

## OpenAPI specification

Download the OpenAPI definition: https://api.apify.com/v2/actors/cS2qGaPwTdPdW39ww/builds/Ygis10LdNziDUj6Zd/openapi.json