About Tailstrike

Tailstrike is a community-focused flight sim network built for pilots who want a deeper experience - flying a shared fleet of real-world aircraft - without the limitations or requirements of virtual airlines.

Our goal is simple: make your time in the cockpit part of something bigger, not just another solo session. On Tailstrike, every flight matters.

What you can do with Tailstrike

  • Lease unique real-world aircraft located at specific airports
  • Fly on the VATSIM network using the aircraft
  • Complete a flight to update the aircraft's position and history
  • Build your public profile through Tailstrike authenticated flights

Why we built it

Flight simulation has incredible depth, but little impact. We wanted a way to:

  • Give aircraft and pilots a sense of identity and continuity
  • Inspire flight ideas based on aircraft locations, histories, and planning tools
  • Make flying feel connected and rewarding instead of random
  • Create a shared record of virtual flights, built by the community

How it works

When you lease an aircraft and connect to VATSIM, Tailstrike detects and verifies the flight. Upon landing at any suitable airport, the flight is automatically recorded, and the aircraft location is updated.

The rules

  • 1. Depart the current airport.
  • 2. Land at any suitable airport.
  • 3. Fly in real-time.

Flying offline

Currently, Tailstrike flights must be performed on the VATSIM network. However, we are developing a plugin to allow to track Tailstrike flights while flying offline.

Who we are

Tailstrike is built and operated by long-time sim pilots, aviation nerds, and engineers who wanted to create a new layer of realism and interactivity.

Project Lead: Matt Kline (cautionwake)

Matt is a lifelong aviation enthusiast and VATSIM member since 2003. He has worked in the video game industry for nearly 20 years, most recently with Microsoft Game Studios. You can find him controlling in Cleveland Center on VATSIM.

Principal Engineer: Dan Trocchio (lavarsicious)

Dan is a senior systems engineer and cloud gaming expert. He is the co‑founder of Lightstream, a cloud-based livestreaming solution. In his spare time he enjoys hacking peripherals.

Community Contributors:

Arya Chandrasekharan (alphagolfcharlie)

Developer, consultant, and fellow Cleveland controller.

Al Kline (KDTW Al)

Lead tester. Former private pilot and avid flight simmer.

Get in touch

Join our Discord community for questions, feedback, or partnership ideas.

For general inquiries, email team@tailstrike.io.

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