Flight tracker output

Here's a sample of what the tracker outputs from this spring's amazing MayFly contest...  This is an iPhone 4 picture of a TV screen in the clubhouse.  There are 3 sections; on the upper left, there are time vs altitude plots for each tracker, which are modified to show contest numbers.  Each is a separate colour, so crews can see how their pilot is doing.  I took this one when VS, Ray's PW-5, was "King of the Hill"... at the bottom, you can see a signal cut-out from one of the trackers, when it was not powerful enough to call home (or battery was weak). Once back within line-of-sight range, it will just start up again. The blurry numbers are 1,000's of feet, so VS was about 6500' ASL.  Come fly MayFly...

On the upper right, a map of the area, showing the task. The same colour as the altitude trace is the ground track. A vertical line shows relative altitude.

On the bottom, statistics - speed, altitude, climb rate, average cross country speed, and so on.

All in all, it makes soaring a spectator sport, and the GGC clubhouse (nice new tile) is more comfortable for the crew.  There's also the pool out back... really.

This info can also be streamed to the internet, which we did for the 2013 Nationals, to torture the pilots who hadn't come. We don't do this on most days.

Finally, we can capture an unofficial IGC file, and use it for preliminary scoring if, for example, people land out on the final day of the contest, and the scorer is being pressed for final results. Once the trailer gets back with the official logger, a quick confirmation that the data was correct is sufficient.  Very handy (also, if a logger fails - it happens).

Nice system from two great guys! Thanks, Nick and Frank!

As always, if you want to see the picture a little larger in one of these posts, just click on it. To get back, click the x in the upper right...

tracker screen on the 37" TV in the GGC clubhouse (iPhone pic by Dan)