Many thanks to those of you that participated in the survey. The survey was first
solicited on July 4, 2003 in the Software forum of www.gliderforum.com. Some
refinements were made on that date based on early feedback. The survey was
subsequently presented to rec.aviation.soaring on July 8, 2003. The survey was
available through July 29, 2003. There were 88 responses from pilots who flew in
19 countries and three continents. There were many good comments. Since this
survey was suitable for English-speaking pilots only, there were some limitations
to the number of pilots who could participate. That said, nearly 70% of the
responses were from European pilots.
Below is a summary of the results from the survey. Since there are many different
ways to interpret the results, I thought it best to just show a basic summary. Of
course, a survey of this nature has some limitations. For example, there are no
controls to prohibit duplicate responses. Fortunately, there is no indication that
the results have been skewed in any way. As with many surveys, differences in
respondent interpretation can also have some impact on results. Also, responses
may be in the context of the respondent's current software/hardware as opposed to
PDA software as a whole. Where appropriate, the percentages shown herein apply only
to those responses received (not every respondent responded to every question).
Some rounding error may be present, so the totals may not always equal exactly 100%.
Paul Fuller
| Do you currently own PDA-based soaring software? | |
|---|---|
| Yes | 95% |
| No | 5% |
| What type of PDA operating system do you use for soaring? | |
| Windows CE/Pocket PC | 78% |
| Palm | 17% |
| Linux | 5% |
| What type of PDA do you use for soaring? | |
| Ipaq | 40% |
| Compaq Aero | 33% |
| Palm-brand | 13% |
| Sharp Zaurus | 5% |
| Dell | 4% |
| Handspring | 2% |
| HandEra | 1% |
| HP Jornada | 1% |
| Viewsonic | 1% |
| While flying, how is your PDA primarily powered? | |
| Glider battery | 79% |
| PDA battery | 21% |
| If you have a color screen, are you satisfied with it? | |
| Yes | 77% |
| No | 23% |
| While flying, how do you interact your PDA? | |
| Finger | 65% |
| Both finger and stylus | 30% |
| Stylus | 5% |
| What PDA-based software to you own?
(Check all that apply) |
|
| WinPilot | 25% |
| SoaringPilot | 17% |
| Glide Navigator II | 15% |
| WinPilotPro | 11% |
| Pocket Nav | 9% |
| GPS_LOG | 7% |
| XCSoar | 7% |
| Cumulus | 5% |
| CEGlide | 2% |
| Palm Nav | 1% |
| flyWithCE Navigator | 0% |
| What is the source of your GPS data? | |
| Logger | 59% |
| Garmin | 27% |
| Compact Flash | 3% |
| Magellan | 3% |
| Leadtek | 2% |
| Deluo | 1% |
| EMTAC | 1% |
| GPS Mouse | 1% |
| JJTech | 1% |
| Navman | 1% |
| Trimble | 1% |
| home-made | 1% |
| Does your GPS have a moving map? | |
| Yes | 51% |
| No | 49% |
| Does your GPS have an aviation database? | |
| Yes | 52% |
| No | 48% |
| In what type of soaring do you use PDA-based software?
(Check all that apply) |
|
| Cross-Country | 90% |
| Local | 62% |
| Competition | 50% |
| Badges | 40% |
| Records | 10% |
| How satisfied are you with your PDA-based soaring software? | |
| Very satisfied | 48% |
| Somewhat satisfied | 39% |
| Neutral | 7% |
| Somewhat dissatisfied | 5% |
| Very dissatisfied | 1% |
| How confident are you in your PDA-based soaring software? | |
| Very confident | 52% |
| Somewhat confident | 33% |
| Neutral | 13% |
| Somewhat unconfident | 1% |
| Very unconfident | 0% |
| Do you use audio output from your PDA while soaring? | |
| No | 63% |
| Yes | 37% |
| Do you wish your PDA-based soaring software provided more audio output? | |
| No | 76% |
| Yes | 24% |
| On what software feature(s) do you wish you had audio output? | |
| Airspace Warnings | 6% |
| Waypoint Arrival | 5% |
| Final Glide Made | 3% |
| Rank each of the following features with its importance to you. | |
| Altitude to reach a waypoint | |
| Very Important | 53% |
| Somewhat Important | 15% |
| Neutral | 13% |
| Somewhat Unimportant | 9% |
| Very Unimportant | 11% |
| Distance to a waypoint | |
| Very Important | 48% |
| Somewhat Important | 26% |
| Neutral | 15% |
| Somewhat Unimportant | 6% |
| Very Unimportant | 6% |
| Nearest landing site | |
| Very Important | 46% |
| Somewhat Important | 16% |
| Neutral | 21% |
| Somewhat Unimportant | 9% |
| Very Unimportant | 9% |
| Speed-to-fly | |
| Very Important | 10% |
| Somewhat Important | 20% |
| Neutral | 35% |
| Somewhat Unimportant | 16% |
| Very Unimportant | 20% |
| Final glide | |
| Very Important | 49% |
| Somewhat Important | 25% |
| Neutral | 11% |
| Somewhat Unimportant | 1% |
| Very Unimportant | 14% |
| Flight logging | |
| Very Important | 29% |
| Somewhat Important | 9% |
| Neutral | 20% |
| Somewhat Unimportant | 18% |
| Very Unimportant | 25% |
| Wind strength and/or direction | |
| Very Important | 35% |
| Somewhat Important | 27% |
| Neutral | 19% |
| Somewhat Unimportant | 9% |
| Very Unimportant | 11% |
| Moving map | |
| Very Important | 46% |
| Somewhat Important | 24% |
| Neutral | 12% |
| Somewhat Unimportant | 9% |
| Very Unimportant | 10% |
| Thermal centering | |
| Very Important | 11% |
| Somewhat Important | 16% |
| Neutral | 30% |
| Somewhat Unimportant | 14% |
| Very Unimportant | 29% |
| Would you have any interest in stand-alone thermal centering software? | |
| No | 67% |
| Yes | 33% |
| What, if anything, would you be willing to pay for reasonably effective thermal centering software? Select a price range in U.S. dollars: | |
| $1 - $25 | 15% |
| $26 - $50 | 56% |
| $51 - $75 | 9% |
| $76 - $100 | 15% |
| Over $100 | 3% |
| Do you own the glider(s) that you fly? | |
| Yes | 73% |
| No | 27% |
| What is the glide ratio of the glider you normally fly? | |
| Under 20 | 2% |
| 21-28 | 0% |
| 29-36 | 20% |
| 37-44 | 57% |
| Over 44 | 21% |
| In what country do you normally fly? | |
| USA | 31% |
| Netherlands | 20% |
| Germany | 14% |
| United Kingdom | 7% |
| Belgium | 4% |
| Czech Republic | 4% |
| France | 4% |
| Poland | 2% |
| Canada | 1% |
| Denmark | 1% |
| Estonia | 1% |
| Finland | 1% |
| Hungary | 1% |
| Norway | 1% |
| Scotland | 1% |
| Slovenia | 1% |
| South Africa | 1% |
| Spain | 1% |
| Switzerland | 1% |
| Approximately how many hours do you have in gliders? | |
| None | 0% |
| 1-50 | 2% |
| 51-100 | 13% |
| 101-200 | 19% |
| 201-500 | 27% |
| 501-1,000 | 19% |
| Over 1,000 | 20% |
| What is your age? | |
| Under 18 | 1% |
| 18-25 | 5% |
| 26-40 | 48% |
| 41-65 | 41% |
| Over 65 | 5% |