Live · pilot-built · open data
The shared map for
hot air balloon pilots.
Every tower, wire, turbine, airspace ring, refuge boundary, and click-to-fetch parcel a balloon pilot might need before launch — on one fast map, contributed by other pilots, refreshed nightly from the official sources.
Built for the things pilots actually worry about
Drawn from canonical government feeds, then enriched by the people who fly the routes.
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Every tall obstacle, fused
FAA Digital Obstacle File + FCC Antenna Structure Registry + USGS Wind Turbine Database + OpenAIP worldwide + crowd uploads — deduped into one searchable layer.
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Airspace, US + worldwide
Class B/C/D/E rings, SUAs (MOA, Restricted, Prohibited, Warning) from the FAA. Class A–G + TMAs from OpenAIP for ~200 countries everywhere else.
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Power lines, color-coded
52k HIFLD high-voltage transmission segments (color + width scale with kV) plus 470k OSM distribution lines below 100kV. The #1 unmarked snag hazard, finally visible.
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Protected areas
All 437 NPS units (parks, monuments, recreation areas), 720+ USFWS refuges, BIA tribal lands, and HIFLD prison boundaries — with overflight advisory levels baked in.
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Every US airport
20k FAA NFDC facilities: public, private, heliports, seaplane bases, gliderports, ultralights — and yes, every registered balloonport, called out in orange.
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Click-to-fetch parcels
Click any field across 500+ US counties — we ping the county's GIS, draw the polygon, and pre-fill owner + acreage so you know who to call for permission.
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Drawing tools
Sketch polygons, lines, or waypoints right in the map. Pick a color, label it, drop one of 13 bundled icons, mark it public or keep it private to you.
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Pilot-to-pilot messaging
See an upload you have a question about? DM the pilot who posted it. In-app inbox + threading, no email-tag, no Facebook group.
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Bring your own files
Upload KML, KMZ, GPX, PLT, WPT, GDB, GPKG, or FAA DOF .dat. Auto-classified as obstacle / zone / track / waypoint. Dedupe-with-notify means your upload doesn't bury someone else's.
For festivals & events
Stop emailing a new KML every time the map changes.
The old way: someone updates the pilot-zone map, exports a KML, and emails it to every pilot — who each have to download it, delete the old one, and re-import, before every single briefing. Miss one update and a pilot is flying last week’s map.
With a ltapzmap festival, there’s one live map. Attendees join once and always see the current zones automatically — no files to send, download, or re-import. When a pilot spots a new red or green zone in the field, they send the edit straight to the festival admin from the map; once it’s approved it’s live for everyone instantly.
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One live map, always current
Attendees join the festival once. Every zone update shows up automatically on their map — no KML to redistribute, nothing to re-import before each briefing.
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Crowd-sourced edits
Spot a new red or green zone on the ground? Send it to the festival admin right from the map. Approved edits go live for every attendee instantly.
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Still export when you want
Prefer offline? Bundle-export the whole festival to KMZ/GPX for ForeFlight or a handheld anytime — but you're never forced to chase file updates again.
Native integrations
Works inside the tools you already fly with.
The map plugs straight into the apps balloon pilots already use — so most of the data is just there, live, with nothing to export or import.
HotAir
ltapzmap embeds directly inside HotAir — your zones, obstacles, and airspace show up in the app you're already running, no separate window.
LTAGo / QGIS
A native plugin pulls the map live into LTAGo and QGIS over the API — current zones appear on the canvas without ever downloading or re-importing a KML.
OziExplorer / Ozi Target
The OziExplorer companion drops your waypoints and tracks straight into Ozi, so the same zones follow you onto your in-flight handheld setup.
Skybound Dashboard
Skybound's flight-planning dashboard pulls ltapzmap layers in alongside its weather + crew tools — your zones, obstacles, and event maps in the same pre-flight view.
One source of truth, everywhere you already work — no juggling files between tools.
Have an app you’d like to integrate the map into? We expose a clean API and are happy to help you wire it up.
Get in touch →From the FAA, your county GIS, and your fellow pilots — in three steps.
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We pull from canonical sources
FAA, OpenAIP, HIFLD, USGS, FCC, NPS, USFWS, BIA, and 500+ county GIS servers. Nightly differential UPSERT — unchanged rows are skipped.
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Pilots layer in local knowledge
Verified balloon pilots add the things only locals know — landowner LZs, recurring no-fly events, ground-school landmarks.
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You preflight the whole picture
One map, one search, one set of color-coded tiles. Filter to what matters today. Click anywhere for context.
Powered by open data from
Full source list, license terms, and contributor credit on the About page.
Ready when the wind is.
Sign-up is gated to verified balloon pilots — we ask for your certificate number and an admin clears you. Keeps the map honest.