I started off just using the web page widget in XCTrack Pro to display values from the nearest wind stations to my current position. I could turn this on before launching, and then didn\u2019t need to touch the screen again during flight:<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/flyfiesch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/IMG_4595a.jpg\")
<\/a>Windspion display in XCTrack Pro<\/p><\/div>\n
Detailed instructions as to how to set this up can be found here<\/a>; however, I have been told that the page may not display correctly on newer versions of XCTrack (mine is 0.9.12.3).<\/p>\n This works for me because I am familiar with the geography of the area and therefore the position of these stations; for visitors, a map display such as SpotAir<\/a> may provide a more helpful interface:<\/p>\n Spotair map display<\/p><\/div>\n A page on the Air3<\/sup> manual<\/a> has instructions on how to set this up.\u00a0 You can zoom in and out, and tap on individual stations to access more detailed data there.<\/p>\n Winds.mobi<\/a> is similar, includes more relevant stations, and is supposed to re-centre on your current position, but I don\u2019t know if it\u2019s compatible with XCTrack Pro:<\/p>\n Winds.mobi map display<\/p><\/div>\n The Burnair app<\/a> (from which the header image on this page is taken) is quite popular among Swiss pilots, but it’s only available in German, and seems to be aimed at those who are happy with touch screen use in flight (which I prefer to avoid).\u00a0 However, the map can be configured to show a wide range of relevant data as well as wind values, including airspace, thermal hotspots, known leeside areas, cables, landing fields, and even other pilots, colour coded to indicate whether in lift or sink!<\/p>\n I am currently expanding my use of XTrack Pro, which involves getting used to changing pages in flight.\u00a0 So far, I have found zooming in on the map page when landing near the M\u00fcnster sailplane runway<\/a> very useful to avoid clipping the airspace.\u00a0 I have added a file containing all the thermal hotspots in Switzerland on thermal.kk7.ch (which you can download here<\/a>) to the app’s waypoints folder, to assess whether this will help me find my next climb in areas with which I’m less familiar, but as yet I haven’t had enough experience with this facility to assess its usefulness.<\/p>\n If you want to get a Swiss sim card to save on data roaming charges, I can recommend the Coop mobile prepaid sim<\/a> (which is what I use).\u00a0 When I last checked (March 2026) this costs CHF 19.80 and comes with CHF 15.- of credit (which can be converted to 1500 MB of data) and 100MB of data.\u00a0 Neither credit nor data has an expiry date, which is unusual.\u00a0 My use of XCTrack for access to the wind station data plus live tracking consumes less than 4 MB per hour, but obviously other usage may be more data-hungry.\u00a0 You can buy one of these sim cards at Fust and Inter Discount shops, as well as some Coop supermarkets; Swiss law requires photo ID to be shown, but foreign passports are accepted for that purpose.<\/p>\n Paraglidingforum members have recommended travel-dealz<\/a> and digitalrepublic<\/a> but I have no direct experience of either.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The use of a smartphone in flight to access online data \u2013 particularly current wind station readings \u2013 is popular amongst XC-orientated pilots in Switzerland.\u00a0 I used to think this was ridiculously techy until I tried it myself, and discovered … Continue reading ![\"\"](\"https:\/\/flyfiesch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/Screenshot-2023-09-13-at-12-01-21-SpotAiR.jpg\")
<\/a>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/flyfiesch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/Screenshot-2023-09-13-at-12-44-08-winds.mobi-observations-du-vent.jpg\")
<\/a>