Hot Air Balloon Pilots

it's all about streamlining the common case.

An advanced user or developer can well be subjected to jump the occasional hoop.

some drumbeating: https://blog.mah.priv.at/index.php/2019/08/14/custom-cross-sections-with-windy/

great job, folks!

I'm attending another ballooning event in Austria: http://www.airfield-krems.eu/index.php/ballonfahren/ballon-news

The organizer asked me to provide trajectories for the event, I'm posting those here: https://blog.mah.priv.at/index.php/langenloiser-ballontage-2019/

@ivo how do you think about a signature check for verified plugins?

verified plugins which pass the signature check can load via URL, others must go via enter name/click load

I second @rittels suggestion for "encode plugins to load in URL"

the current sequence (click hamburger menu -> Load plugin -> type name -> hit "Load") is fine for geeks, but rather cumbersome for non-technical users

why not have it as simple as:

https://www.windy.com/?plugin=traj

and show the map panel if the plugin loaded OK - just show an error message if the load failed

MUCH lower hassle factor

This might help with weather briefings at aviation events: https://blog.mah.priv.at/index.php/2019/08/12/displaying-trajectories-for-the-masses/

Here is a case study on forecast with the traj plugin, versus track actually flown with a hot air balloon

the match is superb: https://blog.mah.priv.at/index.php/2019/08/11/trajectory-forecast-vs-track-flown-a-case-study/

super useful - I look forward using this in winter for long-distance balloon rides!

a suggestion:

for "Share", would it be possible to include the use case ("Car, hiking", "VFR flight", "Boat") in the link to be shared?

reason: when briefing a bunch of pilots, everybody should see the same view without further clicking around

thanks!

The Gordon Bennet Cup is coming up in early September - it's the most prestigious competition for gas balloon pilots. Balloons stay up for 3-4 days and the team which flew the longest distance wins.

Meteo forecasting is important - so there's support on the ground helping the pilots decide.

This year, several teams will be supported by a "weatherman" who uses the windy traj plugin for forecasting!

If everything goes well, after the event we should have the forecast and actual tracks flown, giving an idea how well this works for loooong flights.

Here's a short tutorial on creating trajectories with windy and the traj plugin:

https://blog.mah.priv.at/index.php/2019/08/10/creating-wind-trajectories-with-windy-com/