The Reddit post highlights a common observation among aviation enthusiasts near Rochester, New York: military and civilian demonstration aircraft conducting practice runs ahead of a local air show are visibly present in the sky but absent from consumer flight-tracking platforms like FlightRadar24. This is not an anomaly or a glitch—it reflects a deliberate and well-established practice within military and air show operations. Aircraft such as fighter jets, aerobatic performers, and jet demonstration teams (e.g., the Blue Angels, Thunderbirds, or civilian warbird operators) frequently disable or do not equip ADS-B Out transponders with publicly broadcast identification, or they operate under exemptions that keep their position data out of the ADS-B Exchange ecosystem that feeds sites like FlightRadar24, FlightAware, and ADS-B Exchange itself.
For working pilots, this scenario is a useful reminder of the layered and sometimes incomplete nature of real-time traffic awareness, even in an era of near-ubiquitous ADS-B mandates. While the FAA's ADS-B Out rule (effective January 2020) requires most aircraft operating in controlled airspace to broadcast position data, military aircraft, particularly those flying tactical or demonstration profiles, are frequently granted exemptions under FAA Order 7110.65 and related NORAD/DoD agreements. This allows military flights to suppress Mode S/ADS-B identification for operational security reasons, meaning they remain invisible to commercial tracking aggregators while still being fully coordinated with ATC via primary radar, TCAS-compatible transponder codes, or military-only tracking systems. Air show performers, particularly military demonstration teams practicing box patterns or aerobatic sequences, often fall into this category even when flying in otherwise uncontrolled or lightly controlled airspace near the show site.
This matters operationally for pilots flying in the vicinity of announced air show practice windows. The FAA typically issues NOTAMs establishing temporary flight restrictions (TFRs) around air show venues, often 3-5 nautical miles in radius and up to 17,999 feet MSL, which take effect during both the show and preceding practice days. Pilots transiting near Rochester or any air show location during these windows need to rely on NOTAM review and TFR graphics from the FAA's TFR website rather than assuming that flight-tracking apps or ADS-B In traffic displays will paint a complete picture of activity. This is especially relevant for GA pilots and business jet operators who might otherwise use apps like ForeFlight or FlightAware's traffic layer as a quick situational check—these tools can create a false sense of security if military or demonstration aircraft are not broadcasting.
More broadly, this thread touches on a recurring theme in aviation situational awareness: the gap between "what's on my screen" and "what's actually in the airspace." Similar blind spots occur with military training routes (MTRs), VFR corridors near restricted areas, and certain law enforcement or government aircraft that also suppress ADS-B for security reasons. As air shows remain a popular seasonal draw across the U.S., pilots operating near host airports—whether Rochester's KROC or any similar venue—should treat published NOTAMs, TFRs, and ATIS/CTAF advisories as the authoritative source of traffic information, rather than crowd-sourced tracking sites, which are increasingly capable but still not omniscient when it comes to military and specialized demonstration flying.