{"id":11312,"date":"2026-05-20T16:24:45","date_gmt":"2026-05-20T14:24:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.fly-air3.com\/?page_id=11312"},"modified":"2026-05-21T18:06:09","modified_gmt":"2026-05-21T16:06:09","slug":"navigation2","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.fly-air3.com\/en\/support\/air3-xctrack-manual\/xctrack-manual\/navigation2\/","title":{"rendered":"Navigation (II)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
XCTrack Pro Manual – Main page<\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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This page describes additional Navigation menu of XCTrack. Check the other sections to lean more about the different features of XCTrack.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Videos have been produced to explain the different features of XCTrack Pro. Check the videos tuto page<\/a> to learn quickly how to use XCTrack Pro. <\/p>\n\n\n

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Click on the + sign to read the details.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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<\/span>Competition task (route)<\/div>
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Competition navigation mode can be used for competition, to navigate through different waypoints (route) or just to go to a waypoint with a given circle around it.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>

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For competition, read more details about the different widgets available for competition in the competition subsection<\/a> of the XCTrack Pro widgets manual.<\/a><\/p>\n

A video tuto for competition has also been produced. Watch it in the video’s page<\/a>.<\/p>\n

More details can also be found about compliance for FAI category 1 competitions in the FAQ<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>

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If you have set a task previously, you will land on the ‘Nav’ tab with the task details.<\/p>\n

Click on the pencil in the top right corner to edit the task, or click on the three dots to access the menu features.<\/p>\n

Once you click EDIT, you can enter all the task properties as seen on the task board.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>

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At any time, you can click ‘Clear task’ to revert to the default settings and remove the different waypoints.<\/p>\n

Once you have set the task, click on the Save button.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>

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Manually setting up the task<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>
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Determine the type of race.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>

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Determine the type of goal.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>

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Set the finish altitude<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>

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Note that the designation of \u201cEnter\u201d or \u201cExit\u201d cylinder for the start has been removed, to reduce a potential source of confusion and task setting errors.<\/div>\n
Whether a turnpoint is considered reached is determined either by the presence of a single tracklog point inside the turnpoint cylinder\u2019s tolerance band, or by the presence of two consecutive tracklog points which lie on opposite sides of the turnpoint cylinder boundary (a \u201ccrossing\u201d). The direction in which such a crossing occurs is irrelevant.<\/div>\n
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Task setters may still choose to indicate whether the start or subsequent turnpoint cylinders are \u201center\u201d or \u201cexit\u201d, to explain their intended task route. But pilots are not bound to those indications.<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
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Measuring distance<\/strong><\/p>\n

XCTrack supports both FAI Sphere and WGS-84 ellipsoid for computing distances. Choose it in the drop down menu. Most competitions nowadays seem to require WGS-84 model. The two formulas give slightly different results. Depending on your Earth location you can expect the difference of about ~0.5%, with FAI sphere formula giving bigger distance in usual competition venues. This is important to have in mind nowadays with large cylinders becoming popular in PG comps in recent years. On 50km cylinder radius the difference between FAI sphere formula and WGS-84 formula can be about 200-300m, which can very easily result in making the cylinder in XCTrack yet missing it in the view of the scoring software (!).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>

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Set the time of the start and the task deadline.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>

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Adding Waypoints to a competition task<\/strong><\/p>\n

There are different ways to add Waypoints to a Competition task. The most common way during competition is to add Waypoints, one by one, once the Waypoints file is activated (see above how to activate a Waypoints file).<\/p>\n

Click ‘Add turnpoint’ to enter the Waypoints screen. Select each turnpoint and radius. When you select the first turnpoint, you can choose whether it is a regular turnpoint or the start. Once the first turnpoint has been selected, a third option will also become available: ESS.<\/p>\n

Please note that if there is any inconsistency when you save the task, the role may change. The first turnpoint is considered as start by default, and the last one is considered as goal. However, you may decide that the second waypoint is the start, in which case the first waypoint would be considered as take-off. The last turnpoint can be considered both as ESS and goal. Alternatively, you could decide that the last waypoint is the goal and the previous one is the ESS.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>

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Enter takeoff, or not?<\/strong><\/p>\n

It does not matter if you enter the takeoff as a waypoint or start your turnpoints list with the first turnpoint (usually SSS). First turnpoint if automatically marked as TAKEOFF.<\/p>\n

If you start your turnpoints list with the first turnpoint, make sure to mark this waypoint as SSS (otherwise taken by default as takeoff). Takeoff is never a target of navigation, but is used to correctly compute the task distance (see Measuring Distance<\/strong> above).\u00a0 You can specify the radius for the TAKEOFF turnpoint, but this radius is never used and even not displayed in the turnpoint list, unless you unmark the TAKEOFF flag (by converting it to SSS, pressing on the SSS\u00a0button).<\/p>\n

SSS, ESS<\/strong><\/p>\n

SSS stands for Start of Speed Section. This is usually called start cylinder in Paragliding competitions, but XCTrack uses the SSS term just because it is easy to remember and short. ESS stands for End of Speed Section and is generally used in competition tasks. ESS is the cylinder (unless it is identical with goal line), where the task clock stops.<\/p>\n

EXIT type turnpoints?<\/strong><\/p>\n

XCTrack does not distinguish between ENTER and EXIT cylinders – you have to cross the cylinder boundary in order to make the turnpoint. This works very well for all the tasks ever seen in paragliding scene. For common enter turnpoints XCTrack navigates you inside the cylinder in order to make the turnpoint, for (rare) exit turnpoints the XCTrack navigates you the shortest way outside.<\/p>\n

Save battery?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Do not worry about quiting XCTrack if you wait on the takeoff too long. Once you leave the task edit screen in XCTrack, the task is saved and you can safely quit XCTrack or turn off the device right away. The task will be loaded and ready to fly once you start XCTrack again.<\/p>\n

Distance check<\/strong><\/p>\n

After putting in the task, check the distances at the bottom of the EDIT screen with the task board. The\u00a0min distance is the shortest distance calculated from the takeoff all the way up to the goal line (or to the boundary of the goal cylinder if goal cylinder is used). If the TAKEOFF turnpoint is not specified then the distance is computed from your current location. The distance through centers\u00a0is the task distance not counting in the turnpoint cylinders, useful as reference value for checking with simple instruments.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>

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Settings: Create alerts at the right time<\/strong><\/p>\n

You can set up different alerts that will be displayed and sounded at the configured time before the start.<\/p>\n

Once you have done this, go to Menu > Preferences > Sound & Alerts and scroll down to the Competition subsection. Find ‘Speed section will open soon’. You can then select the type of notification you want: sound, alert or both.<\/p>\n

If you want to configure the sound, click on it. To see how to configure this section, check more details in Menu > Preferences > Sound & Alerts<\/a>.
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NAV: Select your turnpoint<\/strong><\/p>\n

Once everything is set up, you can quit the ‘Competition’ task setting. By default, the system expects you to start first.
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Alternative solutions for creating a Competition task<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>
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There are many alternative solutions to create a Competition task.<\/p>\n