Andy,

Well, maybe for you, but the InReach flight data (alt, airspeed, heading) doesn't show up for me or, more importantly, Tiffany (my crew/wife). It did once, a couple years ago, for a short time. Today, only position info (like Spot) is displayed for us. If it ever did work it was unreliable and inconsistent. This really should not be that hard. When I recently inquired about the concern, I was told it was an "integration issue" and they could not figure it out right now (PAGC timeframe). I chose to leave it alone.

That said, it does drive us crazy. We know Skylines and LiveTrack24 work wonderfully for example. The SSA tracker app, on the other hand, actually discourages our friends and colleagues almost immediately. Initially, when I described the idea (follow my flight live and watch a race!), many of my friends showed interest in following flights live. Most stopped bothering, rather quickly, including a major news reporter who became interested in soaring and gave the tracker a shot for a potential news story. To put it mildly, it didn't work well. They usually give up "watching" (10 minute updates is hardly, watching...) flights on the SSA page in under 30 minutes. Some switched to my InReach page (30 second updates). This was better but, of course, misses the entire point of watching "a race." No other competition gliders and no task info is available on the personal InReach (or Spot) page.

Bottom line: the SSA tracking app is boring, pointless, and any further development is a complete waste of time. It was a good idea but it has been overrun now by better, cheaper tech. Sat trackers is now, again, primarily emergency beacons. The truth is that most glider pilots are unwilling to pay the required Spot or InReach satellite "tracking" subscription and half of those who do pay forget to turn the tracking function on (simple checklist item...).

Side note: How hard would it be to have a contest commentator and do a live stream of every SSA contest flight by the way. Cell data based tracking enables this possibility. This is not really that hard or far-fetched. Modern technology (the horror, I can already hear the screams....) such as the cellular data based LiveStream24 automatically gives us task relevant data and all sorts of telemetry such as altitude, current place, climb rate, heading, speed, etc. We could simply record these live streams (with a good commentator) and then upload and build an SSA YouTube contest task library with all of our tasks for pilots (new and experienced) and anyone else who is interested (family, friends, colleagues, students, media, sponsors, etc) to replay anytime. What a resource that would be for the SSA and its membership. This could of course be done remotely for nearly zero cost. Amazing idea. But I digress.... Back to the actual SSA situation...

We have many great volunteers in the SSA. I am not blaming them for this problem, specifically. This is an example of more of a cultural problem. We consistently spend money (and precious volunteer time) on the wrong priorities. "The oligarchy" keeps us firmly in a relative stone age vs. our peer sports. See SSA website in general as a glaring example. The rest of the sailplane world seems to innovate and improve the sport continuously (Europe, Australia, etc).

Watching the Junior Worlds live via LiveTrack24 in Australia last month, for example, was an eye opening contrast in technology adoption philosophy. Not a single person (that I know of) brought up cellular data as being "illegal." Reason, because that is a ridiculous statement. In the US, we would have guys (oligarchs) saying it was illegal and calling the FAA. Pathetic, but sadly true. We all know this is a direct response to their technology insecurity and pointless crusade to attack any technology that moves, at almost any costs.

I wish to argue that we have numerous COTS (commercial off the shelf, ready to go) contest tracking options that are proven, great, affordable solutions (LiveTrack, Skylines, European COTS solutions, more every month) and yet we are still screwing around with some home grown (POS) SSA solution that doesn't really work for the trackers that are most worthwhile to track (InReach). Developing and maintaining custom software in an organization as small as the SSA is quite insane. See results. We should replace the SSA tracker with a livetrack24 solution (or similar).

Spot tracking and their infamous 10 minute "position only updates" (no altitude, no heading, no speed, etc) are completely useless and put people to sleep.

Furthermore, while watching an SSS tracker app task, any given pilot could be "on the ground" not moving (or dead) or could be at 18,000 ft going 150 knots! Who knows? Let's wait 10 minutes and see what happens! Did it move? Is it stuck? Is the transmitter blocked? Let's wait another 10 minutes and see what happens?!

Oh the suspense of SSA tracker app Spot contest tracking!!! Yeah! The SSA tracking app is useless for watching "a race" and even more useless as a safety tool. It can take up to 20 minutes to realize that a glider in in the same "Spot" (get it? Spot? -) or still moving. Far longer to determine if there is a problem, a potential land-out (or worse). This is a massive waste of critical time from a safety perspective. We should not even bother with the SSA satellite tracker tool any longer. It is already irrelevant. Has been for over a year. We must, wait for it, INNOVATE. Or put less politely, GET OUT OF OUR OWN WAY.

Meanwhile we have RAS "FCC lawyers" and anti technology "Oligarchs" typing out their posts in black robes wearing white curly wigs with round wire glasses as the scoff aloud. Cell phones are illegal in flight! Of course they have no idea what that actually means technically. "We walk uphill and into the wind all the time at the SSA, and we like it! See!" Meanwhile paragliding and hang-gliders (and large amounts of the sailplane world) are light years ahead of us...and gaining...

It's really quite out of control...the SSA needs to get out of its own way in many, many cases. Cellular data is a fine example. We need leaders who can help our sport innovate in the USA, not leaders who are hallucinating (that pilots can simply leech from BVR with their Flarms or cell phones) the desperate need to "protect us" from any new (evil) technology that comes along, at all costs like a on infamous 1700's witch hunt...

"Those young whipper snappers don't even look out the damn window anymore! They just watch their cell phones and Flarms like an X box game, finding synthetic thermals and leaching us, the rightful lords of soaring, from miles away!"

"It's unfair! It's not the tradition of soaring! It's blasphemous! Back in my day I had a map and compass, and I liked it! That's all you need for soaring! No fancy screens and gadgets! Pilots who use gadgets are "weak-assed!" Yeah! Yeah! It's weak assed!"

"Burn them! Burn those whipper snapping witches alive! Burn the young technology whipper snapper witches! Yeah! Guilty! GUILTY! Cheaters! They just use the cell tracking data to drive their leeching autopilots!!!"

"Weather data...Fuey! That's cheating! We just flew right thru the thunderstorm, and we liked it!"

Seriously. We need some reasonable people to take the reigns here. It's become a little spooky.