How to read the airspace. The Toronto Terminal Control Area is Class C: every aircraft inside needs a clearance from the terminal controller. It is shaped like an upside-down wedding cake around the Toronto VOR. Close in, controlled airspace starts low; further out, it starts higher, so aircraft flying under it can get in and out of the small airports around the city.

Step A: 1,700 to 2,000 ft within 12 NM. Step B: 2,000 to 2,500 ft out to 15 NM east and 20 NM west. Step C: 2,500 to 3,500 ft within 20 NM. Step D: 3,500 to 4,500 ft within 26 NM. Step E: 4,500 to 12,500 ft within 26 NM. Under 1,700 ft near the airport the Pearson control zone takes over, 7 NM around the field from the surface to 2,500 ft. The bites out of the steps are the Brampton and Buttonville airports and the Billy Bishop zone, kept outside Class C.

Each sheet you see is a floor: the altitude where Class C begins at that distance. The walls are the outer edge of each step. Tap step chips to light them with the rest dimmed; tap twice for only that one; tap again to clear.

TCA steps. The Toronto Terminal Control Area, Class C: an upside-down wedding cake. Each floor is where controlled airspace starts at that distance from the Toronto VOR; the walls are the outer edge of each step. Use the Highlight steps chips to light one or more.

Control zones. The Pearson control zone, 7 NM around the airport from the surface to 2,500 ft, and the Billy Bishop zone.

Altitude labels. Floor and ceiling of each step, in feet above sea level.

1 NM on the board is 1 NM on the ground. The board surface is the airport, 569 ft above sea level, so a 1,700 ft floor sits 1,131 ft over the runways. Heights are stretched so the airspace steps and the climbs and descents read. True is 1:1. The default is 3.3 times. Everything with a height stretches together: airspace, aircraft, trails and stems.

Arrivals. Flights that end on a Pearson runway: 540 on this day.

Departures. Flights that start on a Pearson runway: 574.

Overflights. Flights that cross the area without landing at Pearson: 401.

Billy Bishop. Arrivals and departures at Toronto City airport: 179.

On ground. Taxiing aircraft, drawn small.

Trails. Where each aircraft has just been. Gaps in receiver coverage are left blank, not bridged.

Height stems. A line from each aircraft straight down to its shadow on the board, so height reads. Not a flight path.

All-day tracks. Every flight path of 1 October 2026 at once, by category. Shows the arrival downwinds, bases and finals and the departure fans.

Data block. Callsign, type, altitude in hundreds of feet, ground speed and runway. Tap an aircraft; tap it twice to follow it.

All callsigns. A tag on every airborne aircraft. Busy at peak times.

Airport layout. Pearson and Billy Bishop at true size from OpenStreetMap: runways outlined bright at their 200 ft width with centrelines, every taxiway at its width, aprons, terminals, hangars and the tower. Runway idents at the thresholds from OurAirports. 24L and 24R centrelines are 1,000 ft apart; 33L and 33R 3,350 ft. Small hexagons are the YYZ and YTP VOR-DMEs.

Lakes. Lake Ontario, Simcoe and Erie shorelines.

Range rings. Rings every 10 NM from the Toronto VOR and bearing ticks every 5° around the 50 NM edge, true north up.

The board is 100 NM across, centred on the Toronto VOR. The board surface is the airport elevation, 569 ft above sea level, and every height is drawn from there; the labels keep the published above-sea-level numbers. Heights are drawn at 3.3 times true scale by default so the steps read; the Heights chips go from true scale to 15 times.

The aircraft are real. Every one is an ADS-B broadcast received on 1 October 2026 by the ADS-B Exchange receiver network, published as a free sample day: 1694 flights within 55 NM below 20,000 ft. Position, altitude, speed, track, callsign and type come from the aircraft. Arrival or departure, and the runway, are inferred from where each track starts and ends. Altitude is pressure altitude, not corrected to the local altimeter. Where no receiver heard an aircraft for more than two minutes it is left out rather than drawn as a straight line. The airport's ADS-B test beacon (registration TWR) is removed.

On this day: 540 Pearson arrivals (24R 365, 23 170, ? 3), 574 departures (23 461, 24R 108, 15L 2), 401 overflights.

Airspace: NAV CANADA Designated Airspace Handbook, issue effective 3 September 2026, traced point by point. Airport layout: OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL). Runway thresholds and VORs: OurAirports. Shorelines: Natural Earth. Not drawn: STAR and SID procedures and terminal sector boundaries; the Canada Air Pilot is a paid publication and sectors are not public.

Tap a plane for its data block. Tap it twice to follow it: the camera stays on it until it lands or leaves, or until you tap empty board or press Esc. Camera: drag to orbit, scroll or pinch to zoom down to 1.5 NM, right-drag, shift-drag or two fingers to move the orbit centre (up and down as well), Q and E to lower or raise it. The camera can go down to the ground and look up. Keys: space play or pause, ← → one minute (shift: ten), ↑ ↓ speed, 1 to 7 views, L the menu, Esc close.