Navigation and safety

14Obstacles

Cables, wires and other obstacles: installing the official set or your own files, and setting the warning distances.

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What obstacles are#

Obstacles are the things that are almost invisible from the air and extremely dangerous close to the ground: cableways, power lines, lift cables, antennas and masts. The app carries them as a separate database from airspace, with its own warnings.

Where Settings › Obstacles

Important

Obstacle databases are never complete. A cable that is not in the database produces no warning at all. This feature adds a layer of protection, it does not replace looking, asking locally and choosing landing fields carefully.

Installing obstacle data#

The app describes the sources as Obstacle databases from local GeoJSON files or download the official SkyTrackPro set.

  1. Open Settings, then Obstacles.
  2. Let the app check the server. It shows Checking SkyTrackPro obstacle packages…
  3. Download the package that covers where you fly. Progress is shown as Downloading… and finishes with Obstacles downloaded.
  4. Make sure the file's switch is on. To remove a database later, swipe it left.
Fig. 14.1Obstacle settings. Installed databases at the top, warning distances below.

Caution

Only GeoJSON files are supported for your own data. Anything else is rejected with Only GeoJSON (*.geojson) obstacle files are supported.

Tip

Competitions sometimes publish an obstacle file for the task area. You can add it directly from the competition files list, see Competitions.

Alerts and alarms#

Obstacle warnings work like airspace warnings, but the distances are much smaller because obstacles are small and you meet them late.

Show obstacle alerts
On or off Default: On
Shows warnings on screen when you approach an obstacle.
Sound alarms
On or off Default: On
Plays an audio alarm when an obstacle warning triggers. Keep this one on above all others. Obstacle warnings arrive when you are low and busy, which is exactly when you are not reading the screen.
Warning distance (horizontal)
100 to 20000 m Default: 50 m
How close horizontally before the warning starts.
Warning distance (vertical)
20 to 3000 m Default: 50 m
How close vertically before the warning starts.

Tip

The defaults are deliberately tight so you are not warned about every cable in the valley. If you fly a site with a lot of cableways and you want earlier notice on approach, raise the horizontal distance.

In flight, an obstacle alert can be muted for an hour in the same way as an airspace alert. The app asks Disable this obstacle alert? and confirms with Obstacle alert disabled for 1 hour.

Obstacles on the map#

Enabled obstacle databases draw on the flight map and on the task study map, so you can spot the cable across a valley you were planning to cross low.

Tip

Look at the obstacles overlay during task study rather than in the air. A cable you have already noticed on the ground is a decision you have already made.