Fly long and safely with a tablet

Flying with a tablet? Not a very serious idea, many pilots would say, as they are reluctant to take along a fragile and cumbersome device. But the arrival of the iPad mini and specialized accessories is changing all that: long live high-resolution touch-screen assisted piloting!

When paragliding or hang-gliding, you need to take many parameters into account to manage your flight optimally. It's all about flying safely and staying aloft for as long as possible. The number of on-board electronic assistants is increasing all the time: alti-variometers, GPS, speed probes, anemometers, even weather stations... How about putting all this into an iPad?

Flight preparation

The first parameter to take into account before setting off is, of course, the state of the weather. Specialized applications that can be consulted on your tablet will provide you with all the necessary data: temperature, cloud cover, humidity levels and, above all, wind strength. What's more, you can view live weather conditions at certain take-off sites via webcams installed nearby.

What's more, you can view the topography of the site from all angles on the iPad screen, identify obstacles, site effects and potential hazards, and examine the various possible landing zones.

An efficient flying instrument

Most paragliders use an alti-variometer to guide them during their flight. However, it is possible to replace these specialized devices with a more versatile iPad. Indeed, comprehensive and precise applications, developed by free-flight professionals, are available on the appstore (see selection of the best applications).

Using your iPad's built-in GPS, accelerometer or gyroscope, they offer information similar to that of various flight instruments. For example, they can tell you your absolute altitude and altitude relative to the take-off point, vertical speed, sink rate, heading or GPS position in longitude and latitude. What's more, if you're in any doubt about your location, a glance at the topographical map displayed on its high-resolution screen can get you out of a tight spot.

Needless to say, you'll need to secure the device to your wing or body, so that you can operate the touchscreen without risk, and protect it from rough landings! We offer protective cases and accessories for this purpose.

After the flight

The iPad also allows you to record all your flights and then view them in 3D on Google Earth for analysis and sharing with other enthusiasts. On a more playful note, you can also record beautiful videos and photos of your flight to share on social networks. The number of electronic devices that can be taken along on a flight is particularly limited in free flight, so the iPad and its versatility could prove to be the perfect compromise, especially in the iPad mini version.

Useful links

Our recommended applications
Selection of free-flight applications for smartphones (wikidelta.com)
Forum for paragliding enthusiasts (le chant du vario).