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Old April 17th 13, 06:19 PM posted to rec.aviation.soaring
Sean F (F2)
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Default Butterfy Avionics iPhone Navigation for Glider Pilots

Not integrated yet but plan on working on that after contest season this year. Currently I'm set up for XC Soar and have a IOIO board (built by Luke in CA) set up to power my Dell Streak as well as pass thru NMEA info. It works very, very well. The only issue is the occasional instability of Android itself. Dell Streak is still using a very old version of Android (2.2 I think).

Both XC Soar and iGlide (full iGlide race app, $250) are surprisingly accurate as stand alone flight computers utilizing their internal GPS receivers. I simply provide an estimated wind direction and strength or allow the software to calculate that estimate in the thermals. I find the final glide quality to be very accurate although I am not one to push final glides ultra hard yet. I typically look for 2.5 MC and 250 over minimum from 10-20 miles. Usually 3-4.

Many others I know who use XC soar are using it stand alone and very happy. Stand alone makes installation incredibly simple and portable. Unless you are doing serious contest flying, I would say that it is more than good enough for either XC Soar on Android or iGlide on iOS.

Hope that helps.

Sean