Show HN: I'm an airline pilot – I built interactive graphs/globes of my flights

Logbooks, Data, and Tools

• Pilots are required to keep logbooks, though exact rules vary by country. In the US, only specific kinds of time must be logged, not “all flying hours.”
• Many still use paper; others use digital tools. The author uses LogTen, which stores data in SQLite and can export CSV; that DB was queried to drive the visualizations.
• Losing a logbook is described as a nightmare: reconstructing data from airlines, re-entering by hand, and seeking sign-offs.
• Tech stack discussed: Astro, Nivo, globe.gl, Flask/Python, SQLite. Some assumed Uber’s H3; others pointed to similar ADS‑B visualizations and hex-grid resources.
• A few commenters note performance issues (low framerate when zooming) and suggest label decluttering and alternate matrix/heatmap styles.

Routes, War Impacts, and Operations

• The long tail of flight duration is explained by Ukraine war–related reroutes: from the UK to East Asia they must detour via Turkey, and sometimes return via Alaska due to winds and ETOPS constraints.
• Some sectors are “shuttles” between non‑home airports; if schedules change, pilots may be “positioned” (deadhead) as passengers.
• Most flights start and end at London; clusters in Canada and Spain are from training and light-aircraft flying.
• Questions about actual vs great-circle distance arise; live ADS‑B/FlightAware data are suggested but not easily integrated at scale.

Pilot Life, Career Crossovers, and Safety

• There’s strong interest in the author’s path: computer science background, switching to a sponsored airline cadet program, choosing “professional pilot, hobbyist engineer” instead of the reverse.
• Many note the overlap between pilots and programmers; several pilots and ex-engineers chime in with similar trajectories.
• Age and retraining are discussed; commenters in their late 30s/40s debate switching into aviation or medicine.
• Long-haul pilots have rest breaks away from the cockpit; coding happens during layovers, not while actively on duty. Others argue that deep programming focus would conflict with the need to stay “mentally on.”

Health, Environment, and Additional Metrics

• Cabin pressure and ear issues: newer widebodies with lower cabin altitude are said to reduce discomfort; simple tricks like yawning or gum help.
• Several suggest tracking altitude, radiation exposure, CO₂ emissions, and passenger counts. Radiation modeling is seen as nontrivial; airlines sometimes provide aggregate dose figures.
• Some criticize the absence of carbon-footprint data alongside extensive flight stats.

Reception and Product Ideas

• Overall reaction is highly enthusiastic: multiple people call it inspiring, calming for fearful flyers, and a model of applying software to real life.
• Suggestions include turning it into a product for pilots, open‑sourcing the code, and adding training/safety‑related visualizations.