I recently finished writing a program for beginner and intermediate
cross-country glider pilots called GlidePlan. The program can create
all the distance ring markups around landing sites that are
traditionally done by hand on sectionals for XC planning. It also
utilizes a new method for visualizing glideslopes called altitude
contours. These contours represent lines of equal elevation (MSL)
required to make it back to the airport at the selected arrival
altitude and L/D. I feel it's more intuitive, and it also allows the
effects of wind to be visualized.

Additionally, it can check tasks for FAI badge compatibility and give
suggestions as to how to make them compliant. It uses FAA supplied
scans of actual current sectionals, so maps are always up to date, and
can be printed and used in the cockpit if desired.

Since it is a new program, I was hoping that some folks here might be
willing to try out a demo and share their opinions on it. As I am a
relatively new XC pilot myself, my goal is to create a genuinely useful
tool for this group of folks, so please be honest and open about your
criticisms (as I know you will ;-). If you are interested, or just
want to take a look, a demo can be downloaded at
http://www.glideplan.com/download/download.html There is no
documentation yet, but the QuickStart file contains a short tutorial
that covers most of the features.

Thanks in advance to anyone willing to give it a go. I am happy to get
feedback here, or privately at .

Cheers,

Matt Herron Jr.