Top Hat is a project to create a glide computer with a clear user interface. To misquote Einstein, "Everything should be made as simple as possible, but no simpler."

We support both FAI and US contest rules. One of the ways we've simplified the interface is to allow the user to set their nationality -- this way, when creating tasks, only the options for their country (e.g. US) are shown, making the process faster and easier. This includes TAT, AT and MAT tasks.

Our process is to observer pilots interacting with the system and enhance the glide computer so that the pilots can figure things out intuitively. To this end we create prototypes and are experimenting with test environments that mimic the cockpit experience of the pilot.

Top Hat runs on Android, PC and Linux. We support both phones and eInk devices. If you would like to view our current release, please click the Download link on this page's menu.

If you would like to participate in the Top Hat project as a designer, tester or developer, or just want to stay informed of what we're doing with Top Hat, please join the Top Hat forum.




Pick the right device for your ship. Size, sunlight readability, responsiveness and connectivity are factors to consider when picking which device you want to use in your cockpit.


Questions about Top Hat? see our forum: http://tophatsoaring.org/forum


An introduction to Top Hat:



See design prototypes and videos: Top Hat Prototypes



A 30-second intro to Top Hat: