Flying mode and alerts
Starting flying mode
Section titled “Starting flying mode”Open the tools menu and choose Go flying. You can follow:
- GPS: your real position. The screen stays awake while it runs.
- Simulator: a built-in simulator to try the app on the ground, or an external simulator. See Simulators and devices.
Choose Stop flying to end it. Flying mode can also start and stop by itself from takeoff and landing (see below).
While flying mode is on:
- Satellite imagery is turned off.
- Route editing is locked unless you tap a leg first.
- Some actions that change data (such as checking for data updates) are unavailable.
The in-flight screen
Section titled “The in-flight screen”- Instrument bar: ground speed, track, altitude, and the next waypoint with its time and distance. Tap the next-waypoint value to cycle between ETE and ETA. A course correction indicator shows how far you are off the planned leg. On native the bar is a gauges strip: GPS altitude or height above ground (tap to switch), barometric altitude on QNH (tap to set the QNH), vertical speed, ground speed, true track, UTC and wind.
- Auto zoom: zooms the map with your speed. Panning pauses it, and the map returns to your aircraft after a short countdown. A Resume button brings it back at once.
- Orientation: north up, track up, or course up (tap the compass).
- Pilot log: the route table with live ETA and actual arrival times, a progress bar on the current leg, upcoming frequencies (looking ahead about 10 minutes) and nearby VOR and NDB frequencies. See Aerodromes and briefing.
- Direct to, Drop point, Brief, the vertical profile with your aircraft on it, and the alert stack. See the other pages.
Altitude
Section titled “Altitude”GPS reports height above the ellipsoid on Android and in browsers; OpenVFR converts it to height above mean sea level (using a geoid model) so airspace, terrain and obstacle margins are not too high. On native, if a barometer or vario is connected, altitude can come from there. See Simulators and devices.
Auto start and stop
Section titled “Auto start and stop”Flying mode can start and stop itself from takeoff and landing. Under Settings → Auto flying mode, choose:
- Off: never.
- Ask (default): a prompt suggests starting or stopping.
- Auto: acts immediately.
| Rule | |
|---|---|
| Start suggestion | Ground speed at or above the start speed on 5 fixes in a row (accuracy 100 m or better), while not flying. It fires once and re-arms after speed falls below the landed speed, so a car or train gives one dismissable prompt. |
| Stop suggestion | After the aircraft was seen at takeoff speed and 60 s have passed: ground speed below the landed speed on 10 fixes in a row. A slow spell right after takeoff does not trigger it. |
| After a manual stop | No new start suggestion until speed drops below the landed speed. |
The three speeds come from the aircraft’s Takeoff speed V: takeoff
= V, start = V + 10 kt, landed = two thirds of V (at least 10 kt). With the
default 30 kt that is 40, 30 and 20 kt. See Aircraft and fuel.
Only GPS flying mode is started or stopped this way, not simulators or external feeds. On the web app the pre-flight position comes from the location dot, so detection only works while location is on. Native’s GPS runs from launch, so opening the app already in the air prompts on the first fast fix.
Alerts
Section titled “Alerts”All in-flight alerts appear in one stack at the top of the map. It is designed to stay quiet:
- Red alerts always show as a full card. Yellow alerts and notes share two card slots; everything else becomes a one-line chip, with “+N more” beyond four.
- A condition must hold for 2 seconds before its card shows, and a card stays at least 5 seconds. Red alerts show at once.
- Obstacles alert only when they are ahead on your track (within about 0.5 NM either side, 1 to 5 NM ahead) or within 0.25 NM. Your altitude is compared with the tip plus 500 ft. A sustained descent is projected to the obstacle and the card suggests an altitude that clears it. There are no obstacle alerts below 30 kt ground speed. All obstacles are one merged card.
- Airspace warnings look ahead (2, 5, 10 or 15 minutes; default 5) and use a vertical buffer (default 500 ft; set 0 to warn only on climb/descent projections). Each category has a level: Alert (a red or yellow card), Info (a quiet blue chip) or Ignore. Defaults: restricted, class A and B/C/D Alert; E/F Ignore; zones and glider/other Info. Restricted areas and class A can be set to Info but never Ignore. Several yellow airspaces at once merge into one “N airspaces” card.
- Entered and left notices for airspace have their own switch.
- Aerodrome nearby (within 1 NM and 1,500 ft, not on the route) only alerts while a route with two or more waypoints is planned.
- NOTAM circles you are about to enter can alert as well. Several merge into one card.
- Planned course: with Mute airspace warnings on planned course on, yellow and blue airspace warnings are hidden while you move within 1 NM of a route leg and track within 30° of it. Red hazards always show.
- Dismissal: a dismissed alert stays muted while the hazard is still detected, and can alert again after it has been absent for 60 s.
- Recent alerts: a “↺ N recent” pill under the stack lists everything from the last 30 minutes (time in UTC, newest first).
Under Settings → Alert banners you can switch banner types off and set the warning level per airspace category.
Alerts are an aid to awareness. They can be late, missing or wrong (for example when GPS accuracy is poor or data is out of date). They do not replace looking out, your charts and your own judgment.