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Windsock 2.0.1 App Walkthrough

Posted by Richard Warrender on February 1, 2014 at 6:30am

For those that don't know, Windsock is an advanced weather app for fliers of RC planes, helicopters and drones http://windsock-app.com. I've been busy on bug fixes with Air Drop and some new features such as adding in magnetic declination info for sites. Here's a app walkthrough of Windsock 2.0.1 which should be hitting the App Store soon. Let me know if you have any feature requests too.

Tags: app, iphone, walkthrough, weather, windsock
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  • Moderator
    David Anders February 1, 2014 at 7:22pm

    Hey Richard - sorry about the windfinder briefness as I was racing to get ready to head out and fly before the heat set in, but I did mean to start out with good job. (:

    I don't see all of the ads when I browse the site and the Android is also pretty clean - see below.

    3692939089?profile=originalLike I said, I have been using this with rowing for years (why the tide information was handy), but found it awfully convenient for flying too.

  • Richard Warrender February 1, 2014 at 4:23pm
    Justin, I meant that higher wind speeds tend to have a higher chance of bigger gusts so a 2kt wind speed probably has less gusting speed than a 15kt wind but it would be better to report the actual gusting. I've contacted Forecast.io and suggested it to them and they said they've put it on their feature request list.

    Yes a tone sounds good. It's doable too once the gust data is available :)
  • Justin Martin February 1, 2014 at 3:52pm

    Richard, I would have to disagree.

    If you call any ATIS they always mention gust speeds. It is easy to constantly correct for a steady wind, it is the gusts that toss you around and making clear imaging, or just easy and safe RC flying.

    As for the alarm, I was thinking more so a loud tone that you can hear. Your concentration would still be on the aircraft, but an alarm would surely tell you what is coming.

  • Richard Warrender February 1, 2014 at 3:33pm
    @Justin thanks for the support ha yes the app is much more cost effective than a developer. Yes I did have a similar idea about gusts, wind speeds and alarms actually. Keep your eyes peeled for a future update that may involve this. From experience testing the app and flying myself I've found that gusts are frustrating and very demanding on stick control but usually it's the overall wind speed that is a better indicator for a smoother flight experience and in some ways you need your concentration on the aircraft rather than an app when it's buffeting you around like a mechanical bull. As you said alarms for precipitation / showers is a bigger issue as you might have to pack up the gear and dive to the car or (club house if you're lucky).
  • Richard Warrender February 1, 2014 at 3:16pm
    @Dave Wicks thanks for the download and rating. Yes it should work fine in Canada. PM me to let me know how it goes :)
  • Richard Warrender February 1, 2014 at 3:13pm
    @David Anders thanks to the link to Windfinder, it's always good to see what the competition is doing. It's interesting that they can support themselves with ads on their web app. I may do that if I can get enough traffic. Personally I find ads a distraction unless it contains a Hobbyking discount code :P. With the app though I've tried to focus on keeping it really simple but powerful. Windfinder seems a little bit generic and cluttered to me however it does offer a lot of information. With Windsock I've tried to focus on what matters when flying RC planes and copters - mostly comparing sites quickly and whether the conditions are suitable for flying.
  • Richard Warrender February 1, 2014 at 2:58pm
    @oliver @nuno, I hear you. It's on the todo list.
  • Justin Martin February 1, 2014 at 1:58pm

    Very nice Richard!

    In the past I was trying to source out an App developer for an idea very similar to this. instead it would appeal to not only RC users, but anyone concerned with wind. My idea was the ability to look at a map, and collect data from all known (and transmitting) weather stations (IE, cell phone towers, etc). The app would have the ability to sound gust alarms, and if gusts were detected at a weather station nearby and coming your direction, it would sound an alarm or bleep ranging in intensity. This would help normal RC flyers to warn them to do something to avoid it. 

    This app could also be used to set other weather parameter alarms, rain, precipitation, etc. This would make it appealing to all sort of users. It would also have the ability to map and visualize local weather patterns, and wind conditions/vectors. For instance, it would more clearly map out wind currents around a mountain to your flying site on the other side.

  • Dave Wicks February 1, 2014 at 1:57pm
    Great app! and I just caught the mention above where you state it's worldwide, my bad.
  • Dave Wicks February 1, 2014 at 1:21pm
    @Richard - I'm not a user (yet) just an iPhone user. I'll purchase and rate the app even though I don't know if it works up here in Canada, I just love seeing our community succeed especially with something so useful such as this. Keep it up!
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