I found the display format I'm using very helpful in centring the lift. More
than once it was helpful when scraping away from low altitude in the
Pyrenees when I first used it. A couple of turns and it was usually quite
obvious if you were off centre. You are quite right about the head down
stuff though. One has to be very careful not to get focussed on the display

Ian


"Marc Ramsey" wrote in message
. com...
"Mike Borgelt" wrote...
"tango4" wrote:
I'm leaning towards the following solution, track is laid down in a
single
colour and where a 'significant patch' of lift is detected simply
pasting a
lift symbol over the trace, the same for sink areas. In the smaller
scales
making a selection of plus and minus signs or alternative colours.

If this is intended for use in flight how about deleting that feature
so thata the pilot looks outside more.


I've implemented this feature in my PDA software, and found that it is
essentially worthless for thermalling, which is the most likely scenario
for
head down flying. What it is invaluable for is returning quickly to areas
of
lift, and in particular, for working patches of wave. In either case, an
occasional glance is all that is required to make sure one is heading in
the
right direction.

In my case, I use fixed size (2x2) dots for the track, black for climb
less than
0, increasing intensities of green for 0 to 5 knots, and full intensity
green
for over 5 knots.

Marc