At France AIR EXPO in Lyon, France, KRISTAL.aero and Michelin unveiled the innovative KRISTAL.air mobile app, dedicated to everyone who flies light aircraft for fun, sports or travel. Designed for the entire community of flying enthusiasts, it can be used by pilots, flight instructors and flying clubs, as well as by airshow organizers and tourist destination operators.
A mobility solution for light aircraft users
With KRISTAL.air, KRISTAL.aero and Michelin are seeking to bring together a very broad community of private pilots around a mobile app offering an array of innovative, highly useful features enabled by the technological development of smartphones. Today, these devices have become powerful hand-held computers, connected to the world and available in every pilot’s pocket, in every kind of aircraft and on every kind of flight.
The app’s features are organized into four categories: a flying community, flight data, challenges and an experience-sharing forum. They support a wide variety of uses, including pilot training, travel and leisure flying, racing and contests, aircraft fleet tracking and community sharing among enthusiasts.
Major innovations to enhance the general aviation experience…
The new app offers a compelling range of unprecedented innovations. For example, KRISTAL.air can automatically record every flight based on data from the phone’s GPS, barometer and accelerometer, then enable the pilot to view his or her flight in 3D with onboard camera-like playback. A 3D radar view also displays the real-time position of a student pilot, friends in the air, or racing competitors.
The app can also be used to create instructional challenges, races or contests directly on the phone, and supports participation in races and rallies as well as precision flying.
Access to a community of aviation enthusiasts will offer users a myriad of opportunities to share their experience and get inspiration for new flight plans and places to visit, along with tips and advice.
… and make it more sustainable
The KRISTAL.air app’s very broad feature set delivers a lot more than just piloting tools. The enhanced pilot information and the ability to share it will help to improve the plane’s in-flight environmental footprint and safety. For example, the app can track fuel consumption and speed, indicate restricted zones, optimize flight plans and waiting times, and display a collision-avoidance radar screen. In this way, it will significantly improve user safety in the air while promoting environmentally friendly eco-piloting practices.
With KRISTAL.aero, Michelin came up with the original idea and participated in the app’s development, providing input, for example, in data security, digital technology and information services.
During the development phase, KRISTAL.air also enjoyed the support of such prestigious partners as the Fédération Française Aéronautique, the Equipe de Voltige de l’Armée de l’Air, French aerobatics champion Mélanie Astles, flight safety engineers, and a large number of enthusiastic pilots and instructors.
Currently available in English and French, the KRISTAL.air app for iOS devices (iPhone or iPad) may be downloaded for free at: https://apps.apple.com/fr/app/kristal-air/id1538117218#?platform=iphone
An Android mobile app and a web browser version will be introduced at a later date._
Michelin’s involvement in aerospace dates back both to its own beginnings and the dawn of aviation. To learn more about the Group’s aerospace activities and aircraft tires, please visit: https://aircraft.michelin.com/
