Safety Notes

Originally written in English      

 

  • You use the TotalVario app entirely at your own risk and responsibility.
     

  • TotalVario is NOT a certified instrument.

  • Do NOT make any safety-critical decisions based on this app. Especially, do NOT rely on it when flying over unlandable terrain.

  • Be aware that wrong sensor data or a bad GPS will lead to wrong calculations.

  • Be aware that dislayed values for wind, glide ratio, arrival height are estimated average values which always include a certain error.

  • Fly only under appropriate visual flight conditions. 

 

A special WARNING addressed to HG Pilots

Pilots having problems with their landings often try to use the stall alarm as a helper to find the correct moment to push out. At the first glance, this seems to be a nice idea.

But be aware that this is dangerous for several reasons:

  • The pitot sensor can fail
  • The pitot calibration can fail
  • The instrument/software can fail
  • Thermal/turbulent air may trigger the alarm too early or too late
  • In strong head wind, it is dangerous to push out at all

If you rely blindly on the instrument and the airspeed has an error of only a few km/h, you will push out too early or too late, and may injure yourself severely! 

Learn to land your hangglider safely by yourself, without any instrument. Fly a hangglider that corresponds to your experience and skills. Only after your landings are perfect, you should proceed to a higher classified model.

There is no other or better way. So, NEVER ever rely on the stall alarm! 

And, by the way, you would need to set the alarm speed nearly equal to the trim speed to get the alarm right in time to react. Consequently there would be lots of alarms during normal flight...

 

 

Disclaimer

Copyright (c) 2023, Bernd Wing*. All rights reserved.