Receiving the package
My BlueFly vario arrived from Australia in 16 days after ordering. It was packed in a small bubble wrap envelope labeled Variometer parts. This is probably a strategy to avoid customs on finished products. The whole approach that BlueFly uses is clearly meant to keep the costs down.
Assembly
Assembly took about 15 minutes, following the assembly instructions on the BlueFly website. It feels a little weird to be assembling your own electronic product, but it is so simple that it shouldn't present any difficulty. If you want to attach a lanyard, you do need a small drill to create too small holes in the casing.
The last step is to plug in the battery and close the case. It's a snug fit. The manual does suggest you might need to shave down the plastic spacers a little to get the case to snap shut but I didn't find it was necessary.
Contents of the package were two part casing, screws, circuit board and battery
Drilling two small holes in the case is necessary if you want to attach a lanyard
Carefully insert the circuit board into the case. A folded up piece of paper stops it moving around
Connecting BlueFly to XC Track
Once assembled, the next step was to connect the Blyfly via Bluetooth to XCTrack on my phone.
1. Setup Bluetooth paring on the phone or device. The BlueFly was simple to pair. No code or special action was required. It appeared as BlueFly-96EA
4. When the BlueFly is configured, Bluetooth Sensor: BlueFly-96EA will appear
1. Setup Bluetooth paring on the phone or device. The BlueFly was simple to pair. No code or special action was required. It appeared as BlueFly-96EA
2. Open XCTrack and from the Preferences menu, click Connection and Sensors
3. Select External Sensor. When the dialogue box pops up, select BlueTooth Sensor
Charging the BlueFly battery with XCTrack Configured
Testing the Vario
I tested it by walking outside up the back of my yard, with my phone in one hand and the BlueFly in the other. Vario response is immediate and sensitive - the first beep occuring at about 2ft of elevation difference. The figure on the XC tracker for Vario responded immediately as well, way faster than it normally would using GPS altitude.
Installation on my Flight Deck
Some sticky velcro on the back and attaching the lanyard an the BlueFly was installed on my flight deck.I made a loop just big enough to pass over the device to make removing the lanyard easiest when removing it to charge the battery.
First Flight Test
It works. One button simplicity. Vario tone is clear, audible and unambiguous. I used the standard settings and found them perfectly fine. The volume is a little low, especially if you like to fly with music, but it was loud enough that I haven't even yet made the effort how to change it.
The best thing is the seamless Bluetooth integration. As soon as I switch the BlueFly on, XC Track on my phone shows a big message right across the screen confirming the vario is connected. Unlike many other Bluetooth devices where Bluetooth connectivity seems to drop at random and often requires switching it on an off, the Bluetooth connection on the BlueFly seems to be unbreakable.
A few days after finishing the BlueFly and XC Track setup, I got a new paraglider. On my first thermal flights I was more pre-occupied with dialing in the characteristics of the new wing rather than evaluating the BlueFly. After an hour in the air, I found myself doing several out and back legs from our local site that are usually quite challenging. Whether it was that particular days great conditions, or the excitement of a new wing rather than my old Delta 2 with it's 400+ flying hours, or the accuracy of the BlueFly, I felt more confident in my equipment and thermalling than in a long time!
The key takeaway about the BlueFly is that it does exactly what it says it does, in a simple, no nonsense package, at a price that is unbeatable for currently available instruments. When combined with a Smartphone, something that pretty much every paragliding pilot has anyway, this is probably the most cost effective and powerful full featured cross country ready instrumentation solution available right now. I suspect the combination of cheap varios and powerful smartphones may start to give traditional high end free flight instrumentation makers some real competition.