diff --git a/src/get_latest_planequery_aircraft_release.py b/src/get_latest_planequery_aircraft_release.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..3d7506a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/get_latest_planequery_aircraft_release.py
@@ -0,0 +1,145 @@
+from __future__ import annotations
+
+from dataclasses import dataclass
+from pathlib import Path
+from typing import Iterable, Optional
+import re
+import urllib.request
+import urllib.error
+import json
+
+
+REPO = "PlaneQuery/planequery-aircraft"
+LATEST_RELEASE_URL = f"https://api.github.com/repos/{REPO}/releases/latest"
+
+
+@dataclass(frozen=True)
+class ReleaseAsset:
+    name: str
+    download_url: str
+    size: int  # bytes
+
+
+def _http_get_json(url: str, headers: dict[str, str]) -> dict:
+    req = urllib.request.Request(url, headers=headers, method="GET")
+    with urllib.request.urlopen(req, timeout=120) as resp:
+        data = resp.read()
+    return json.loads(data.decode("utf-8"))
+
+
+def get_latest_release_assets(repo: str = REPO, github_token: Optional[str] = None) -> list[ReleaseAsset]:
+    url = f"https://api.github.com/repos/{repo}/releases/latest"
+    headers = {
+        "Accept": "application/vnd.github+json",
+        "User-Agent": "planequery-aircraft-downloader/1.0",
+    }
+    if github_token:
+        headers["Authorization"] = f"Bearer {github_token}"
+
+    payload = _http_get_json(url, headers=headers)
+    assets = []
+    for a in payload.get("assets", []):
+        assets.append(
+            ReleaseAsset(
+                name=a["name"],
+                download_url=a["browser_download_url"],
+                size=int(a.get("size", 0)),
+            )
+        )
+    return assets
+
+
+def pick_asset(
+    assets: Iterable[ReleaseAsset],
+    *,
+    exact_name: Optional[str] = None,
+    name_regex: Optional[str] = None,
+) -> ReleaseAsset:
+    assets = list(assets)
+
+    if exact_name:
+        for a in assets:
+            if a.name == exact_name:
+                return a
+        raise FileNotFoundError(f"No asset exactly named {exact_name!r}. Available: {[a.name for a in assets]}")
+
+    if name_regex:
+        rx = re.compile(name_regex)
+        matches = [a for a in assets if rx.search(a.name)]
+        if not matches:
+            raise FileNotFoundError(f"No asset matched regex {name_regex!r}. Available: {[a.name for a in assets]}")
+        if len(matches) > 1:
+            raise FileExistsError(f"Regex {name_regex!r} matched multiple assets: {[m.name for m in matches]}")
+        return matches[0]
+
+    raise ValueError("Provide either exact_name=... or name_regex=...")
+
+
+def download_asset(asset: ReleaseAsset, out_path: Path, github_token: Optional[str] = None) -> Path:
+    out_path = Path(out_path)
+    out_path.parent.mkdir(parents=True, exist_ok=True)
+
+    headers = {
+        "User-Agent": "planequery-aircraft-downloader/1.0",
+        "Accept": "application/octet-stream",
+    }
+    if github_token:
+        headers["Authorization"] = f"Bearer {github_token}"
+
+    req = urllib.request.Request(asset.download_url, headers=headers, method="GET")
+
+    try:
+        with urllib.request.urlopen(req, timeout=300) as resp, out_path.open("wb") as f:
+            # Stream download
+            while True:
+                chunk = resp.read(1024 * 1024)  # 1 MiB
+                if not chunk:
+                    break
+                f.write(chunk)
+    except urllib.error.HTTPError as e:
+        body = e.read().decode("utf-8", errors="replace") if hasattr(e, "read") else ""
+        raise RuntimeError(f"HTTPError {e.code} downloading {asset.name}: {body[:500]}") from e
+
+    return out_path
+
+
+def download_latest_aircraft_csv(
+    output_dir: Path = Path("downloads"),
+    github_token: Optional[str] = None,
+    repo: str = REPO,
+) -> Path:
+    """
+    Download the latest planequery_aircraft_*.csv file from the latest GitHub release.
+
+    Args:
+        output_dir: Directory to save the downloaded file (default: "downloads")
+        github_token: Optional GitHub token for authentication
+        repo: GitHub repository in format "owner/repo" (default: REPO)
+
+    Returns:
+        Path to the downloaded file
+    """
+    assets = get_latest_release_assets(repo, github_token=github_token)
+    asset = pick_asset(assets, name_regex=r"^planequery_aircraft_.*\.csv$")
+    saved_to = download_asset(asset, output_dir / asset.name, github_token=github_token)
+    print(f"Downloaded: {asset.name} ({asset.size} bytes) -> {saved_to}")
+    return saved_to
+
+def get_latest_aircraft_csv_df():
+    # csv_path = download_latest_aircraft_csv()
+    csv_path = Path("/Users/jonahgoode/Documents/PlaneQuery/Code/planequery-aircraft/data/faa_releasable_historical/planequery_aircraft_2024-06-05_2024-06-08.csv")
+    import pandas as pd
+    df = pd.read_csv(csv_path, dtype={'transponder_code': str, 
+           'unique_regulatory_id': str, 
+           'registrant_county': str})
+    
+    # Extract date from filename pattern: planequery_aircraft_{date}_{date}.csv
+    match = re.search(r"planequery_aircraft_(\d{4}-\d{2}-\d{2})_", str(csv_path))
+    if not match:
+        raise ValueError(f"Could not extract date from filename: {csv_path.name}")
+    
+    date_str = match.group(1)
+    return df, date_str
+
+if __name__ == "__main__":
+    download_latest_aircraft_csv()