Stewart Kissel wrote in message ...
Any XCSoar users want to chime in?

I don't use XCSoar, but Soaringpilot on the Palm system. The most
useful feature on the moving map is the line to your next turnpoint
(or home on final glide). A glance tells you if you are flying in the
right direction and which way to turn - especially after thermalling,
which can be a little disorientating. What is also especially useful
is the thermal zoom feature. As one starts themalling, the map
automatically zooms to .9km radius. If one looses the core of the
thermal - the last ~80 seconds of track is shown and it is easy to
return to the core. The program does not feature a colour map - just
waypoints and SUA (airspace - with warnings). It is easy to use and
all the necessary information is clearly shown (even in bright
sunshine as the program runs very well on the older monochrome Palms).
The final glide computations compare very well with the LX5000 in my
glider. I get the macready setting for my LX5000 from Soaringpilot -
and the wind calculations look very accurate. The program is free and
is continually being upgraded. The money one saves on the software can
easily cover the cost of a basic Palm and thus one can have a
dedicated computer just for soaring. The program has all the normal
logging features and various statistics are available directly after
the flight. The igc file is easy to extract and view using See-you
etc.

Any computer must make cockpit workload less, and not be a distraction
to flying. Soaringpilot's easy to view and use interface is a real
asset and does not distract one from looking outside and seeing the
real moving map below the glider.

Clinton
LAK 12