Orbx have taken to social media, and their own forums, to introduce a new personal flight tracker called Volanta. It will be able to run on most current simulators and operating systems. Now in beta stage, Orbx are calling upon potential users to sign up for beta testing, which will then be by invite only.
According to Orbx, Volanta is a smart flight tracker that has the ability to integrate users flight data across all simulators. It can also be used to set up flights with its built in flight planner, courtesy of SimBrief. However, plans can imported from other flight planners such as Vatsim or from the SimBrief website.
From what the screenshots show, the main user interface consists of a map showing airports, waypoints and airways, and simulated flights, in real time. The live data is collated from VATSIM, IVAO, PilotEdge, FSCloud and of course, Volanta. Zooming is an important feature as it allows the user to zoom in to view airport layouts, which is helpful when trying to find your way around taxiways.
From the map screen, menus can be accessed to plan flights, view the current progress of a flight, view aircraft and users, and access challenges, which Orbx will update regularly. Completing challenges will give rewards, including achievements, experience and prizes.
All flight recording is done automatically once Volanta is opened and the the simulator is started. Recorded data can then be viewed on mobile devices or through other software that uses .json files. Friends can compare data from their time in each others simulator whether that be afterwards or during flight.
Orbx have stated that the core version will be free. However there will be a Premium version with extra features available. Anyone interested in registering for the invite-only beta can do so by clicking the link.
Key Features
- Automatically track your flights in all major simulators, on all operating systems
- Fun and fresh challenges to complete
- Regular giveaways from Orbx and selected partners for active pilots
- Performance focused. Super fast application on every page
- Detailed GPU rendered map with advanced filtering options tailored to aviation
- Unlimited flight storage and retrieval
- Detailed statistics for aircraft, airports and routes
- Generate a flight plan with SimBrief, or import one you’ve already made
- Keep up with your friends flying activity and view detailed statistics
- Security focused. Adjust who can search for you, see your flight history, or see you on the map. TOTP multi-factor authentication supported.
- Access your flights from anywhere in the world via the web and mobile
- Connect with Navigraph to see up-to-date navdata on the map
Roadmap
This is just the beginning. We want to see Volanta grow into a tool everyone in our community uses.
- Integrations: we plan to integrate with many more simulators and services. DCS World, Infinite Flight and FlightGear are just some of the things on our list.
- Notifications: get notifications to your mobile device when you’re reaching top of descent. Get notified when your friends go online and start flying.
- Schedules: imitate real-world flights with up-to-date real-world schedules.
- Streaming tools: including a comprehensive overlay, a Twitch bot and a Twitch extension (plus more).
- More challenges: minigames, interactive challenges, multiplayer challenges.
- Translations into many other languages (let us know if you want to help!)
- Other community driven features
Keep in mind that the roadmap above isn’t a commitment. It will be heavily shaped by what you, our community, want to see.
