— Risk-based profiling approach —
Patterns in the ADS-B record that owners don’t advertise.
Twelve months of ADS-B flight history contains more diagnostic information than most buyers ever read. Not just utilization — the shape of the data: when flying stopped, how it restarted, what the first flight after a gap looked like, whether short-return density suggests a training workload the logs may not fully reflect.
TailProof runs four pattern checks, calibrated against A&P/IA judgment to minimize false positives on benign patterns — seasonal gaps, annual-at-shop dormancy, snowbird rhythms. When a pattern triggers, the report names the specific signals, the gap dates, and the inspection targets your mechanic should prioritize.
Below: four real-world scenarios, each triggering a different flag. Click through to see the actual report — synthesized from ADS-B data designed to match each pattern exactly.
— Four scenarios —
NDEMO1
2019 Cessna 182T Skylane · FL — simulated
Flag 1 — Prop Strike Proxy
The September Stop
Active every few days for thirteen months — 10+ flights per month through a Florida summer. In mid-September 2025, flights stop. Thirty-seven days later, the aircraft appears at Opa-locka Executive Airport, not its home field, for a 12-minute out-and-back. Two days after, it ferries back to Pompano Beach. In the thirty days that followed: four flights. Baseline was ten. All four post-gap signals align — test flight at a non-home airport, subsequent ferry home, utilization collapse, non-home departure. High-confidence prop strike or hard landing proxy.
NDEMO2
2017 Beechcraft A36 Bonanza · TX — simulated
Flag 2 — Training Cycle Profile
The Bonanza Flight School
Registered to a Dallas flight academy, this A36 has 55 flights on record over sixteen months — 35 of which are touch-and-goes at Dallas Love Field under 25 minutes. That works out to a cycle proxy rate of 49 landings per 100 estimated flight hours. For a high-performance complex single, landing gear, propeller, and brakes bear the training load. The A36 falls in the sensitive tier: lower thresholds, because the consequences of untracked fatigue are greater. Logbook review is the follow-up.
NDEMO3
2004 Mooney M20J 201 · CA — simulated
Flag 3 — Flown to Sell
Listed in March
A steady five flights per month through November 2025, then nothing for 99 days. On March 10, 2026 — 46 days before this report — the aircraft reappeared. In the following 30 days: 22 flights, 4.4 times its prior baseline. It appeared on Controller.com five days after the gap ended. The pattern is specific: dormancy long enough to suggest a grounding, a recent gap end (30–60 days ago), and a sharp activity spike. High-confidence flown-to-sell signal.
NDEMO4
1976 Piper PA-28-235 Cherokee · FL — simulated
Flag 4 — Geo Dormancy (informational)
The Florida Summer
Mostly clean activity — light but regular cross-country flying out of Fort Lauderdale. Then a 94-day gap from early June through early September 2025. In Florida — a HIGH_RISK corrosion zone where the threshold is 75 days — that summer break matters. No other patterns triggered. The badge stays green; Flag 4 alone is informational, not alarming. What it does: names the gap, names the zone, and lists the targeted inspections worth asking your A&P about before writing a deposit check.
— How the flags work —
Four pattern checks. Each calibrated, each explainable.
01
Prop Strike or Hard Landing Proxy
Detects disruptions in flight patterns followed by test-flight or ferry-like activity — potential indicators of a serious maintenance incident. These signals alone don't confirm damage; they warrant asking the seller to explain the change in pattern.
02
Heavy Training Pattern Detected
Identifies aircraft used intensively for training, where landing gear, propeller, and brakes bear higher loads. Particularly significant in high-performance aircraft where fatigue can accumulate faster than in typical training aircraft.
03
Flown to Sell
Flags aircraft that were dormant for months and then suddenly ramped up in activity — a common pattern when owners prepare aircraft for sale or auction.
04
Climate-Adjusted Dormancy
Accounts for regional weather patterns — a Florida summer break or Maine winter is normal, but extended inactivity in a corrosion-risk zone may warrant targeted inspection questions.
— Limitations —
All flags are best-effort signals based on ADS-B coverage, which varies by region and provider. A gap in the data may reflect coverage, not dormancy. A triggered flag is a prompt to investigate — not a verdict. These checks are the homework before the pre-buy inspection, not a substitute for one. Every report states clearly what it does and does not cover.