Gaggle has partnered with SafeSky to bring you even more safety with every flight by giving you live traffic updates from other aircraft around you that are equipped with transponders like ADS-B, FLARM, Mode-S, and many more.
In supported countries your position is also broadcast via the SafeSky application to aircraft that are using SafeSky during their flight helping to make them aware of you as well.
To enable live air traffic you need to enable the SafeSky integration from the Flight Recorder Settings. You can specify your call sign that will be displayed to other SafeSky users, so they can contact you on the radio (where applicable). If you want additional privacy you can enable privacy mode which hides your call sign but still broadcasts your position without personally identifiable information.
To enable live air traffic follow the following steps:
Once enabled, the SafeSky integration in Gaggle you will immediately start getting traffic updates on your next flight. You wil see other aircraft within a 25 km radius around you in real-time and if Gaggle detects an aircraft will be within 1km of the position in the next 3 minutes, an audio cue warning will sound, alerting you about the type of aircraft, its current position, altitude, and travel direction. A typical audio cue will sound like “Warning: Helicopter on your 3 0’clock traveling east at 5000 feet”. The icon will also turn red on the map, so you can quickly see all the aircraft with warnings to look out for.
Live air traffic is a best effort service and reliability is dependent on country, cell reception, base stations nearby and many more variables. You should never rely on Gaggle or SafeSky to make you aware about aircraft. It’s a convenience aid that hopes to enhance your situational awareness. It remains your responsibility to make sure you are observant of your surroundings and to see and avoid other aircraft.
SafeSky works by sending signals received by ADS-B ground stations over the internet to Gaggle. In order for this to work reliably there needs to be a ground station near your location where you are flying (<90km away). Ground stations are fairly inexpensive, and you can easily create your own to receive ADS-B signals that will then be sent to SafeSky and Gaggle. If you want to set up your own base station have a look at ADS-B Exchange and ADS-B Hub on how to set up stations to feed data to their services. Here is a good starting point for ADS-B Exchange: Share your data - ADS-B Exchange (adsbexchange.com)