Hi! As a paraglider pilot I have been using Aircotec's TopNavigator for many years. This instrument is in my opinion still far better than other and newer combined GPS / Variometers although it came on the marked already in 1997. I now use XCSoar in addition since it displays airspace, something the TopNavigator can not.
I suggest to look at the thermal assistant of this instrument, and replace XCSoars current assistant by something similar to Aircotecs. The thermal assistant on the instrument works like a dream. As far as I can observe the software does following: 1.measured wind speed and direction is calculated while circling. (as XCSoar does) 2.fat dots are plotted on the screen for each measurement with strong lift, thin dots for measurements with weak lift. (could be improved using colors) 3.wind speed, wind direction, position, height, and lift are stored for the measurements in the current thermal, and are used to build a 3D model of the thermal. 4.the instrument keeps track of the dots, compensated for drift, using the wind info for the specific height. 5.as far as I understand, the instruments also extrapolates to predict the position of the thermal both below the entry point and above current height. 6.the dots are plotted on a hi-zoom thermalling screen, north up, where the pilot always is in center. An arrow, pointing from center outwards illustrates the pilots current heading. While I am thermalling I can always see on my screen where I found the best lift. I see a slice of the thermal as a cluster of dots, and this informs me on where the best area is (so far found by me). If I should lose the thermal it is easy to get back to the best area, no matter at which height I return. The instrument shows the slice for the current height. Best regards, Rob. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ What Every C/C++ and Fortran developer Should Know! Read this article and learn how Intel has extended the reach of its next-generation tools to help Windows* and Linux* C/C++ and Fortran developers boost performance applications - including clusters. http://p.sf.net/sfu/intel-dev2devmay _______________________________________________ Xcsoar-user mailing list Xcsoar-user@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/xcsoar-user
