When we visited Slovenia in February, we met Andrej Kolar, CEO and co-founder of NavITer, one of the father of popular SeeYou and Oudie. He is also a real friend, always joking and a great member of the famous Slovenian Gliding Mafia. He created the company with his friend Erazem Polutnik (CEO of LXNAV) taking advantage of their individual interests: statistical analysis of the flight for Andrej and graphical representation of the trajectory/environment for Erazem. A nice combo all the glider pilots around the world can thanks them for!
The company is now around for quite some time, but still the atmosphere has something of a start-up, with open space et walls full of post-it (caution: design thinking in progress). The enthusiasm of the team was perceptible and Andrej was really happy to talk with us about yesterday, today and tomorrow of NavITer. We were recording all the chat and Andrej often replied with his big smile, badly hiding that we were a bit too close to their newest development… We tried few times, but it was still a gentle clear “no” to talk about it publicly. But, as usual, he really picked our curiosity so we promised to not say a word, we tried to buy him beers, vodka, to offer to fly the Ventus-3, finally the new Arcus almost did it…. We collected information piece by piece, and it is finally at lunch, in the restaurant, that he put his biggest smile on, to give me his phone. “Et voilà”: SeeYou Navigator!
You can found the interview (only in French for now) here.
To make it simple: imagine the “Google Map” for glider pilots by NavITer team. Modern, connected, integrating weather and traffic, and with so much potential with all the data that could be brought to you, into the cockpit. You can imagine how much we were excited! The App is designed mainly for young pilots and pilots flying cross-country in a relaxed way. However, for more advance pilots, the easy access to data can also be very interesting. And this is a first (big) step with more to come, I am sure.
Official SeeYou navigator images: Thermal assistant, Airspace warning, Sat and Rain layout and a screenshot of a flight replay on SeeYouCloud directly on your phone.
We met again in March and Andrej asked us to help for the beta test. After a few days, we got an email inviting us to download the famous App as Beta tester. Andrej added: “please contact me if you find anything that is not working….”
First contact with the App: very easy to use. In 20 minutes, you know (almost) all of it as the ergonomic uses all the codes and habits we built up all using smartphones. So, let’s start to fine tunes our own layout. In the main menu/preference you can choose various parameters and synchronize your account SeeYou Cloud, with TopMeteo or Skysight if you have one. The integration of SeeYou Navigator with online data/service is definitively one of the biggests advantages, and you can already think about many many many collaborations that way. On the map, a long press on any navbox and a menu Add, Move, Edit, Edit appears so you can add/remove navbox and fine tune size and colour. A touch on the layout symbol and you can choose which layer you want to see additional to the map: traffic, weather data and weather forecasts. From the ground, navigation seems straightforward too: If you touch the navbox “target”, a menu appears with a shortcut to the nearest landing place, the list of the nearest landing places and your waypoint list database. You can also touch directly on the map a point of interest (peak, city centre, …) / waypoint / other aircraft and a “go to” is directly proposed. Easy as it is, again.
First flight. I took advantage of a small flight at the end of the day in St-Auban just before lockdown in a double seater to take some time and look at it properly in flight. The forecasted wind information (simple usual wind vectors like on a map) and thermal assistant (simple track trajectory with colour and thickness depending on vario) are really visual and work well. The traffic layer is also very nice but I needed a few minutes to realize that the glider that was so close to us on the screen was actually us… Yes, you see all the Traffic that are trackable, including yours as it is OGN data in the cockpit now! Navigation is also THAT easy with a big red dashed line indicating where you must go... Follow the line! After landing, I directly found my flight on my SeeYou cloud with access from any of my device. It is nice to have your flight trace at the bar on the evening as we all know it is best place to debrief with other pilots and instructors!
Because of the COVID-19 restriction, I was not able to fly more with the App but it was enough to have a first contact and be able to send Andrej feedback:
What did you like? "I liked the fact that it is THAT SIMPLE, easy to handle in flight."
What did frustrate you? "I was a bit frustrated because I took few pictures during the flight and that led to interrupt my IGC file…" (since sorted)
What do you want to see next? "Recording on the background would be nice but maybe not essential" (since sorted). "Airspaces warning is maybe more useful." (since added)
Our current profiles (still on Beta version it might change before the official release) with slightly different strategy: I have more information but I don't mind moving the map if I need as it is really easy to do so. Example of airspace warning on Benj profile and finally my onboard installation with the new support and my Samsung Galaxy A40.
After two months, Andrej send us the new version that is more or less the version that has just now been released. This version is way more advance with the igc recording in the background when you use your phone for anything else in flight, and a very nice airspace information feature: nearest airspace and a warning message that appear when you got too close. As SIMPLE is the deep root philosophy of Navigator, it tells you where to go to exit/avoid the airspace as fast as possible.
Since that I flew a bit more with it, and I stay on my position: The app is really nice and simple. You need to play with it for 1-2h on the ground (mainly to build your interface profile with the navbox) and it is enough to feel that you can use it during a flight with no stress at all and not needing to call a friend on radio about the typical “how to”... Still, after few flights, I am finding new things: it you touch the navbox “time” it will toggle to “flight duration” so less navbox and still simple and logical, …. You can also explore the map doing a “long click” then swipe the screen to move the map, and then click on almost everything (other traffic, name of town, waypoints, …) to be offered to navigate to that target.
So, yes, I think it is perfect for what it is made: simple navigation with few navbox and the rich Internet data onboard. I want to see my Dad using it! Yes, my Dad will like it ! He is often going crosscountry with the club gliders but he is complaining about 2 things: the gliding computer inside the glider (he will never accept to lose time using it properly and club gliders are often equipped differently...) and the complex airspace around Paris. Navigator will make him more relaxed and I am sure that very quickly he will use the traffic information to go a bit further/faster as just knowing you have friends there make you comfortable to fly there... In addition, anyone who knows how to use Google map or a GPS from the car would be able to use Navigator, period! For the XCountry pilots, all data connected information will become very valuable so I bet this new companion will find a nice place in their cockpit too. For the hardcore competitors, same story… And Navigator is just at its beginning, still a babybird!
The biggest limitation I can see today is… your phone! Benj is using a XIAOMI Redmi Note 7, and the GPS head is not good enough (he did not use these words…) to have a good recording all the time. So, chose your next phone wisely! Basically a good GPS head, and the best sun readable screen are the 2 technical targets. Also, I sometimes put my phone in the glider’s side pockets and as GPS head of phones are not made for that, it is not working well at all. So, you really need a solid mount holder, even for a small flight around the airfield or if you just want to check from time to time the weather / the traffic. Carbon fibre will be the problem also for data 3G so make a good view to ground from the smartphone for better results and check where are the antennas in the phone to optimize. Again, don’t worry, the App will work with no 3G data, you just lose some Internet enrichment, but not without GPS data!...
So, the potential is obviously bigger than this very nice but still “first big step” App, and I know the team from NavITer and its community is developing it flat out! I cannot wait to see where it will go! And SeeYou there!
Price: The package SeeYou, SeeYouCloud, SeeYou Navigation is 58,80 euros for a year, and you can add a very high-quality mount with suction cup for your phone (including a very valuable 12 to 5V silent converter with USB plug each glider around the world should have) for a total of 129 euros. You can subscribe and buy using my e-shop 😊