THEMI and WinPilot thermal centering reviews?

I have WinPilot Pro *and* a Themi. I can find thermals even when there
aren't any!

Okay, maybe not, but I'll offer this:

Both work as advertised and usually, but not always, agree with each other.
When first encountering lift, the Themi gives useful centering info before
WinPilot.

The Themi also remembers where previous thermals are, and even appears to
compensate for thermal wind drift with altitude when calculating this. As
you are approaching a previously used thermal, even at a different altitude,
the Themi will direct you towards it with remarkable accuracy.

I find both easy to use and intuitive, but the nod goes to Themi for
requiring almost zero in-cockpit looking.

All that said, if I already had Winpilot Pro, purchasing a Themi wouldn't
make much sense (I had the Themi first).

bumper

"Eric Greenwell" wrote in message
...
John Galloway wrote:
It seems odd to me that the THEMI has no Means of Propulsion
sensor.

That is unfortunate for me, since I could not use it for an IGC logger,
and it's only value would be as thermalling aid.

--
Change "netto" to "net" to email me directly

Eric Greenwell
Washington State
USA

At 00:00 30 January 2005, Eric Greenwell wrote:
John Galloway wrote:
It seems odd to me that the THEMI has no Means of
Propulsion
sensor.

That is unfortunate for me, since I could not use it
for an IGC logger,
and it's only value would be as thermalling aid.

Eric Greenwell

Me too. Many motor/ turbo gliders will already have
hardware and functions similar to that in the THEMI
box already. The THEMI cost is quite high and the
extra value to MGs is just for the centering software.
You would think that other computer/GPS systems such
as LX7000, Borgelt B50/B2000/Volklogger, Cambridge
302 etc could include a thermal centering algorithm
and 2 LEDs as an option that would be less expensive
and also save extra installation and behind panel space
compared with the THEMI.

Having spent some time looking at the THEMI site the
use of the 2 LEDS seems quite simple and I wouldn't
mind trying one if it either gave me an extra noise-sensor-equippe
d IGC logger or cost a lot less.

John Galloway

Stewart,

I sell WinPilot and have used WinPilot for about 7 years. I flew with
the climb maximizer for the first time last season and was pleasantly
surprised. I thought we all knew how to center a thermal. WinPilot
gets its data from the vario and GPS Input. The display shows the
thermal with an arrow that points at the strongest lift the arrow gets
smaller and is a dot when the thermal is centered. It also has the
additional feature of lift dots on the main flying screen. WinPilot
also has a beep when you are in the strongest part of the thermal.

Please see my website and give me a call if you want more info.

Richard
Craggy Aero
www.craggyaero.com


Stewart Kissel wrote:
I googled this topic and found a few threads...but
nothing to recent. Anyone out in cyberspace want to
provide input from *actual* use? I am not intersted
in started a flame war over the 'purity' of using these
devices. Just curious as to how they have worked out.
I drop waypoints into my GPS on occasion when I work
a blue thermal that is on my return course...but other
then that I use the conditions outside the cockpit
to hunt thermals. I noticed where WinPilot now has
a means of evaluating multiple flights to determine
ahead of time where thermals may be...sort of a refinement
of CH's project.