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The results are in…

It was our honour to be awarded a Special Recognition by EASA for our app “Wings Toolbox“.

I’d like to congratulate the three main winners of the contest.

1st Prize: Open Glider Network – http://wiki.glidernet.org/
2nd Prize: EasyVFR 4 – https://easyvfr4.aero/
3rd Prize: Flytool – https://www.flytool.nl/nl/uk/

All great apps and great initiatives. Congratulations for your work and thank you for your contribution.

We are of course very happy that our ideas and efforts have caught the attention of EASA, and hope they can help us spread the word so that more people can benefit from our software. You can find the press release from EASA here.

Our entry – Wings Toolbox

Wings Toolbox was designed with a very narrow focus of raising situational awareness, and awareness of your own personal minimums. It does this by showing you what the situation is on the ground at nearby airfields, not just VMC/IMC but also measuring the conditions against preset criteria defined by you as part of your personal set of minimums. We call this feature your “Personal Barometer”.

Wings Toolbox – The Swiss Army Knife of Aviation
EASA & Sunny Swift updates

This is of course great when deciding if you should fly at all, but the app doesn’t stop there. The main screen lists all of the eligible airfields closest to your current position as well as a direction, distance and ETA, all updated on the main list in real time. Once you have selected a landing field, you can then drill down to get more details about the field including a suggestion of a runway based on your presets and the wind direction.

In addition to these crucial features, the app also has some smaller but super handy features that could in some situations prove to be of crucial importance. Features such as a backup set of instruments and weight and volume conversions.

We also deliver EASA news and Sunny Swift episodes directly to your pocket if you should choose to opt-in for such notifications.

You can learn more about Wings Toolbox on our website or download it directly from the Apple Appstore.

Stay tuned!

This is just the beginning. We hope to improve and expand on this app as well as the other apps we are working on, so watch this space! And thank you EASA for showing an interest in our work and sharing our passion for technology in aviation and aviation safety.

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Happy New Year

We’ve been a little quiet recently, and that is because we’ve been busy working on our initial product offering for pilots.

As you know, we already have software for clubs and schools, so offering some products for pilots was the logical next step.

We thought a lot about what could be useful to pilots on the various platforms, and have come up with two initial products, or rather two variations of the same product. That product is called Wings Toolbox for Pilots, and is completely free.

We have split the product in two by platform, a web app which requires an account, and an iOS app that does not. Both are free and easy to get started with.

The iOS App

Currently only available on iOS 13 capable devices, our toolbox app has a focus on safety both before and during a flight.

We thought long and hard about how we could bring something new to the market without re-inventing the wheel or being yet another aviation app that tries to do it all. For that reason, we have deliberately maintained a narrow focus for the app and its features.

We are describing the app as a “Swiss Army Knife” of aviation apps, as there are a number of scenarios where having the app could save you time, effort and in some cases maybe even your life or a bent plane!

The app has three main functions… 1, An overview of nearby airfields and details, 2, a personal barometer to manage your own minimums and 3, a backup set of instruments in case you lose one or more in the air.

We have worked hard to make the app simple and intuitive, the design should help ease the mental load in a stressful situation by giving you simple and visual aids to help you make decisions and guide you safely to a suitable airfield.

Additionally, the app will keep you informed of news from EASA and other safety related information.

The Web App

The web app is designed for use on the ground and offers a variety of tools for student and licensed pilots alike. Tools such as basic weather reports for your favourite airfields, an aviation chart with your visited fields pinned, a “smart” digital logbook and a comprehensive PPL and ATPL question bank for students.

This is an initial set of tools that we plan to extend based on user feedback, but already we are getting really positive feedback, especially on our question bank. We are actually considering putting this into its own app and bringing it as a native app on Android and iOS, what do you think?

What now?

Both of these apps are built for pilots of all levels and experiences, so go ahead and give them a try @ https://www.wingstoolbox.com/. Let us know what you think!

A very Happy New Year from everyone at Oscar Yankee! Fly safe.