Live Tracking for Paragliders

4 min readSep 18, 2018

So you want to fly hundred km XCs but look like this guy and have no chance of hitch hiking:

What you need is a live tracker that allows others to track you while you’re flying and retrieve you when you land. An app on your phone sends your GPS coordinates to the tracking website while you’re flying and your retrieve buddy uses the website to see where you are.

Setup on iPhone

1. Create a free account at https://skylines.aero

2. Download FlySkyHy app from the Apple App Store.

3. Configure FlySkyHy with tracking key provided by Skylines to send your live location to Skylines

4. Fly far enough to need a retrieve.

5. Others can now use https://squiggly.cloud to see your live location

Setup on Android

1. Create a free account at https://skylines.aero

2. Download the SkyLines Tracker app by Andreas Luthi from the Google Play Store.

3. Configure Skylines Tracker with tracking key provided by Skylines to send your live location to Skylines

4. Fly far enough to need a retrieve.

5. Others can now use https://squiggly.cloud to see your live location

Skylines Account

Create an account at https://skylines.aero and thank the nerds that make these awesome tools for us for free. In your account settings, click Live Tracking and enter a Tracking Callsign. Make this something people can actually recognise you by. You only have 5 characters for this.

You’ll see some gobbledygook under the Live Tracking Key. This is what you’ll be using to link your FlySkyHy to Skylines.

Download FlySkyHy from the App Store

Search for FlySkyHy in the Apple App Store and download it. It’s going to cost you $15 or $20. Don’t be a cheap bastard and buy it. Trust me it’s well worth it. Link a $100 Bluetooth vario (https://www.blueflyvario.com) to this app and you have all the instruments you need to fly. But you don’t need the vario for tracking. This is what the icon looks like:

Link FlySkyHy to Skylines

In FlySkyHy, go to settings. Swipe up anywhere other than the map to display the settings menu.

In settings, go to Live Tracker and use the following.

Tracking Server is Skylines.

Login Name is the tracking key Skylines created for you.

Password is your Skylines password. But I think it can be anything.

Report Interval is 10 seconds. This is how often your position is updated. You can increase it if you want to save data but the amount of data transmitted is so low I wouldn’t worry about it.

Downloading Skylines Tracker app (Android)

Configuring Skylines Tracker app (Android)

Click the three dots and then click Settings.

In the Settings type/paste the tracking key that you obtained from Skylines:

How to Start Tracking — Set it and forget it

If you’ve configured your FlySkyHy or Skylines Tracker as above, your position will be tracked automatically whenever you turn on FlySkyHy or Skylines Tracker and start flying. Remember to disable tracking if you’re chucking a sickie or you’ve told your spouse/partner you’ve gone to work.

Testing on FlySkyHy

In FlySkyHy, change your tracking to Always On and press the green start button to start your ‘flight’. Then visit https://skylines.aero/tracking (or the ‘Menu’ item on SkyLines) and you should see your name in the list of people currently ‘flying’. Click the Show button to see the track and latest location on a map.

How to Track Pilots (for Retrieve Drivers)

Visit https://squiggly.cloud and find the pilot you’re retrieving. Click the Show button to see the track and latest location on the map.

Notes

1. Your tracking only works while you have internet access. Internet connectivity is usually pretty good in the air depending on where you are flying but it is possible to fly into an area with no connectivity. As soon as you get reception again, your track since the last update will be sent to Skylines.