Balloon Live
Historically Top Gun has utilized the BFA scoring system employing Garmin Dakotas for GPS tracking. To allow for greater flexibility, tracking accuracy, and easier scoring of tasks, the BFA and the FAI World Ballooning Commission have adopted the Balloon Live/Watch Me Fly tracking and scoring system. Subsequently, Top Gun has adopted the Balloon Live/Watch Me Fly systems. The BFA scoring system is no longer utilized.
Balloon Live is an application that can be downloaded to any Android or iPhone device and is utilized to track flights and for the pilots to declare goals and record virtual marker drops. The Android or iPhone device can utilize its internal GPS capabilities for tracking in the application, or the preferred “more accurate” GPS tracking system would be the Balloon Live Sensor which interfaces with the mobile device application. The Balloon Live Sensors are manufactured by Flytec and can be ordered, but production runs and wait times can be substantial. Top Gun has found the use of the internal GPS within the Adroid and iPhone devices to provide very accurate tracks. Following is a link to a video developed by the creators of the Balloon Live system for pilots to utilize in learning to operate the system.