Offer for tender “Konkurs w sprawie wyboru

Offer for tender “Konkurs w sprawie wyboru platformy WXC/FAI”
Platform: XContest
Platform provider: XContest team (Petr Chromec, Jakub Havel)
To make things clear ­ we are interested in running Polish WXC/FAI XC paragliding platform in
case it would be also official Polish XC contest, with rules according to NAC.
Standard service on XContest is payed, costs are 100 EUR + 3 EUR per pilot, for each season
(for example in case of 500 pilots it is 1600 EUR). NAC is free to contract advertisement from
3rd party advertisers on national contest website to cover their costs.
We are able to offer the service for Poland for free ­ in this case, advertisement on national
contest pages is managed by XContest team.
In following text, issues connected to the conditions of the tender are described. We are open to
any additional questions and requests.
Method of flight airspace detection & disapprovement process
On XContest platform, airspace violations are detected automatically according to the airspace
data. Flights with airspace violation are marked in admin zone
Administator is able to check by each violation:
● violated airspace
● duration of violation
● maximal altitude violation
Since the system of airspaces is different in each country, there is no automatic global
disapprovement process. Each disaprovement decision must be done by administrator,
because he must decide, which violation is relevant and which not.
There is a possibility to implement process of automatic disapprovement, if customer wishes to.
For such automatic process, additional conditions must be defined and agreed by NAC
(definition of “no­entry” airspaces, vertical tolerance etc.).
For example in Czech paragliding cup, similar solution is implemented for pilot’s “self­regulation”
and education. Each flight which violatiates CTR or TMA more than 100 m verticaly is followed
by automatic e­mail message to the pilot with explanation and request for action. Pilot has 3
choices:
1. confirm that the flight is OK (got airspace clearance, altitude gps error, etc.)
2. remove the flight from ranking (0 points for the flight)
3. set flight inactive (such flight disappears from public flight lists and rankings ­ but still
remains visible for admins and on direct flight detail URL)
Concerning rules and process of flight disapprovement, usually we (as platform provider)
cooperate with declared responsible person (one or more) defined by NAC. Such person
(administrator) is authorized to decide about problematic flights. Administrator is able to check,
approve/disapprove flights easily in dedicated admin zone on website. It is not usual to rely on
automatic approval process, because there are many accidental influences, which play role
(GPS vs. baro altitude issue, altimeter settings, individual airspace clearances, tolerance for
small violations etc.).
Online sync with FAI/WXC, other Polish platforms
XContest platform is fully prepared for FAI/WXC sync protocol and many national contests on
XContest platform use it for a long time (Switzerland, Austria and Italy to mention the biggest
ones).
Platform may be used as an agregator of flights from other polish XC platforms using the same
WXC sync protocol. External flights may be shown in public flight lists (daily score etc.) with
different backgroud and link to original flight detail. XContest platform is prepared for handling
external flights from the times of exchange with Leonardo servers (although this exchange is not
working now because of various reasons).
User interface, features
XContest platform is very intuitive for pilots ­ flight detail view, introduced with the platform, set
new standard of user experience. Flight detail views in other platforms converged through the
time to the similar view.
Few days ago we made a slight facelift of flight detail view. Pilots are now able to add likes to
flight, we also updated our Topo XC map (color, better shading, contour lines in detailed zooms).
We have also implemented some unique features, never seen on any other platform:
● Air buddies ­ detecting most related flights (in the same time on the same place) to
each single flight. Pilots and visitors are able to easily check, who are they flying with.
● Daily hotspots ­ unique view, where flights are grouped to flying places, so visitors see
where were the best flying places each day. All flights from one single takeoff may be
shown on one map
In case it would be used as national XC contest, XContest platform provides most complex
settings for contest rules. Task factors, closing distance rule, various types of scoring
systems according to regional zone etc., everything is customizable according to NAC priorities.
Possibility to check airspace violations before flight claim
Pilots and administrators are able to see flights on the map with airspace layer, result of
airspace check is visible by the flight in user/admin zone, as described in previous text.
Automatic detection is finished usually short time after the flight claim (not before the claim ­ it is
a matter of application design and is also connected with performance reasons in case of high
traffic on the server).
It would be possible to supress public visibility of the flight in case of airspace violation (any
airspace, or defined collection of airspaces/with defined altitude tolerance) and send e­mail to
administrator/pilot with request for resolving (similar to the solution we implemented in Czech
Paragliding Cup, but with more strict rules concerning preliminary flight handling).