Every aircraft is part of one shared world. Pick one up where another pilot left it, fly it somewhere new, and leave it there - with the fuel, history, and story you added - for the next pilot.
This release rebuilds Tailstrike around that idea: a faster web app, a more alive shared world, and Intelligent Dispatch to give every flight a reason to exist.
Three things to try first:
Find an aircraft on the live map and lease it for free.
Ask Intelligent Dispatch to give you a realistic flight idea.
See what other pilots are flying, where aircraft are moving, and what is happening on the network.
Here is the complete launch catalog. Items marked New or Updated arrived with this release.
The world
Persistent shared world. Every flight moves an aircraft and leaves a permanent mark on the shared Tailstrike world.
Shared aircraft. Each aircraft has a permanent history of every pilot who flew it. Your flight becomes part of its story.
Updated: Web app. Rebuilt from the ground up. Much faster to load and much snappier to navigate, on every page.
New: Dashboard. A new home page built around you: resume your lease, pick your next aircraft, and see what’s happening on the network right now.
Updated: Live map. Redesigned map shows live Tailstrike flights. Toggle live VATSIM traffic or ATC coverage, and search for an aircraft to lease with the updated search bar.
The live map: every Tailstrike flight, VATSIM traffic, and ATC coverage in one view.
Updated: Aircraft registry. Improved search and filters: find aircraft by type, airline, your preferences, or where ATC is online right now.
Updated: Airport pages. Check who’s controlling, what’s the weather, and find available aircraft, missions, and VATSIM events.
New: VATSIM ATC logging. Every controller session is logged: see who’s controlling, how many aircraft they worked, and controller leaderboards. Your flights record which controllers worked you.
New: Follows and notifications. Follow your friends and see their activity on Tailstrike.
New: Email and password sign in. Three ways to sign in: magic link email, VATSIM login, or email and password.
Flying
Lease any aircraft. Pick up any aircraft exactly where it sits and fly it anywhere, for free.
Every aircraft page shows where it sits right now, who landed it, and how the landing went.
Live flight tracking. Your flight streams live: glass panel, VATSIM coverage, landing rate, and weather at both ends.
Fuel and parking continuity. The fuel in the tanks is what the last pilot left. What you leave is what the next pilot finds.
Updated: Public flight log. Complete log of all Tailstrike flights, including telemetry, route map, ATC coverage, and mission. Add your own pilot notes to any flight.
New: Aircraft context. Tailstrike AI provides context about each aircraft’s life on the network.
New: Liveries. Easily find the right livery for the tailnumber you’re flying, or suggest one for the community to use.
A logged flight: route, briefing, weather at both ends, and the ATC who worked you.
Missions
New: Intelligent Dispatch. Tailstrike Intelligent Dispatch uses AI to create the perfect flight for your preferences, aircraft, and location, influenced by flight history, real-world, VATSIM ATC, and Tailstrike activity. Dispatch provides a route, a reason, and passengers and/or cargo on board, and the mission is viewable in the flight log forever. Enjoy 15 credits to try to for free. Available on every lease for Supporters.
Intelligent Dispatch writes a real assignment for your aircraft, your location, and live ATC.
New: Community missions. Pitch a mission and vote for the winner each week. The winning mission goes live for everyone.
Updated: Mission pages. The redesigned mission hub makes it easy to pick a community mission and start flying.
Your identity
New: Notifications. The in-app bell keeps you posted: new followers, salutes on your flights, your aircraft being flown, mission wins, and more.
New: Pilot follows and activity feed. Follow the pilots you fly with and see their flights, milestones, and new aircraft in your network activity feed.
Updated: Pilot profile. Your record, your fleet, your flying personality, and your flight network on one shareable page.
Badges. Your achievements and event history, worn on your profile.
Your profile: record, badges, rankings, and your flight live on the map.
New: Pilot hangar. Each profile includes a hangar, where your one-of-one real aircraft are displayed publicly.
New: TailID. A short unique pilot code that's yours, on your profile and in search.
Updated: Pilot directory. Find pilots by name, VATSIM CID, or TailID, and see what they fly and control most.
New: Twitch in your hangar. Supporters get their stream embedded and promoted right in the app.
Supporter
New: Supporter membership. Unlock Intelligent Dispatch on every lease, add aircraft to the shared world, become an aircraft’s exclusive Patron, and put your Twitch stream in your hangar. Founder rate: $5/mo or $50/yr, locked forever for early pilots. Flying stays free.
New: Add aircraft to the world. Put permanent aircraft into the shared world, credited to you on the aircraft’s page forever.
New: Aircraft patronage. Show off your support and your favorite aircraft by becoming its exclusive Patron. The aircraft appears in gold with your name everywhere, for every pilot.
Tools
Updated: SimBrief flight plans. Navigraph integration, including automatic flight plan creation with aircraft, tailnumber, route, PAX and cargo. Connect once and stay connected.
Updated: Desktop plugin. Fly Tailstrike offline in MSFS, X-Plane, P3D, or FSX. You can now view the map, search aircraft, lease, and plan your flight directly from the plugin.
New: Pilot handbook. 29 plain-language guides at tailstrike.net/docs.
Updated: Public API. The world’s data, open to build on. Basic reads need no key.
Tailstrike is free forever. Find an aircraft, fly it somewhere new, and leave something behind at app.tailstrike.net.
Tailstrike is a persistent shared world for flight simulation. Every aircraft is one shared airframe with its own history. Land it, and it stays where you left it, with the fuel you left in it, waiting for the next pilot.
