Flying

8Tiles and the map area

How tiles work, what the map area does, the linear edge bars, the side view and the flight radar.

Works offline

What a tile is#

A tile is one number, one label and one job. You place it anywhere on the screen, at any size, in any color. There are 57 metrics to choose from, plus a set of control buttons that do something instead of showing something.

Fig. 8.1A selection of tiles, showing the range from a single value to a full graphic instrument.

Tip

You can see every tile with realistic data, without flying, from Settings, then Other, then Open feature demo. Tap any tile there to read what it shows.

The tile categories#

The Add tile list is grouped, which makes it much faster to find what you want.

Category What lives there
Base The map itself.
Altitude Altitude above sea level, AGL, GPS altitude and the airspace altitude limit.
Flight Ground speed, air speed, vario, wind, current glide ratio, speed to fly, the side view and the flight radar.
Navigation Distance to your target, height above it, the next airspace and required glide.
Task Task glide ratios, percent flown, leadout, task distance, arrival margins and time to goal.
Statistics XC speeds over 30 and 60 minutes, XC distance, possible triangle, last thermal average and hike vario.
Map and Sensors Heading, compass rose, linear vario, GPS signal, map scale, battery, time, flight time and civil sunset.
Controls Buttons: zoom, pan, auto zoom, next and previous turnpoint, switch layout, capture and the level messages.

Every metric is described one by one in Appendix A.

Units on tiles#

Which units the numbers use, and whether the unit is printed next to the value, are both settings.

Where Settings › Tracking › Units
Horizontal distance
km / mi / nm Default: km
Distances along the ground.
Vertical distance
m / ft Default: m
Altitudes and heights.
Horizontal speed
km/h / mph / kt Default: km/h
Ground speed and air speed.
Vertical speed
m/s / fpm Default: m/s
Climb and sink.
Waypoint radius unit
m / ft Default: m
The unit used when you enter turnpoint radii.
Coordinates format
Decimal degrees / Degrees and decimal minutes / Degrees, minutes, seconds Default: Degrees and decimal minutes
How positions are written throughout the app. Match whatever your competition or your club uses so you can read coordinates out loud without converting.
Show units on tiles
On or off Default: On
Prints the unit next to each value on the flight screen. With it off you get numbers only. Turn it off when your tiles are small and every pixel of digit height counts. You already know your own units.

The map area#

The map is a tile too. It can fill the screen with other tiles floating over it, occupy half the screen, or be a small window in a corner. You set that in the layout editor.

What is drawn on it comes from other chapters: your track, the task, airspace, obstacles, weather stations, the XC plan, buddies and the glide line.

Tail track on map
Last 5 minutes / Last 15 minutes / Last 60 minutes / Entire flight Default: Entire flight
How much of your own track stays drawn behind you. Shorten it when you are working a small area and the whole flight turns the map into spaghetti. Lengthen it when you want to see the shape of your day.
Where Settings › Tracking › Behavior › Tail track on map

Tiles that are more than a number#

A handful of tiles are graphical instruments rather than digits. They are worth understanding before you place them, because they need more room than a value tile.

Side view
A vertical slice through the terrain ahead of you, with your glide drawn onto it and the next turnpoint marked. It is the fastest way to see whether a ridge is a problem. It can show up to three extra metrics while you circle.
Flight radar
A radar style view of the air around you: your climb colored trail, the predicted thermal core, wind, target and shortest pointers on the rim, plus nearby airspace and obstacles. See Thermal assistant.
Compass rose
A rose fixed to north with a red heading dot, drawn around your position.
Linear vario
A vertical bar along the edge of the screen showing climb and sink. Readable from the corner of your eye without focusing on a number.
Linear L/D
The same idea for glide ratio: are you achieving what you need.
Linear speed to fly
A bar telling you to speed up or slow down relative to the McCready recommendation.
Fig. 8.2The side view tile. Terrain ahead, your glide, and the turnpoint you are heading for.

Note

The three linear bars mount along the left or right edge of the screen. You choose which side per tile in the layout editor.

Caution

The side view needs terrain height data. Inside a downloaded offline region it works with no connection. Outside one, with no signal, it shows No terrain data.

Control buttons#

Control tiles are buttons you place on the layout. They do the same jobs as a remote control, for pilots who would rather tap the screen.

  • Zoom in, zoom out and auto zoom toggle
  • Pan the map up, down, left and right
  • Next turnpoint and previous turnpoint
  • Switch layout
  • Photo and video capture
  • Level 1, Level 2 and Level 3 messages

Tip

Zoom and pan buttons are what make Touch gestures safe to turn off. Put them where your thumb naturally sits and you get deliberate map control with no accidental drags.

The wind tile explainedWatch on YouTube