inReach Comment 2025

[sd]

I recommend flying with an inReach (so your wife can know that you are actually flying and not over at your girlfriend’s house).
There are other options, but there are also practical advantages of being on the same platform as everyone else. Over 90% of the XC pilots in the western United States fly with an inReach (as of 2025-ish).

In the western United States, we often fly locations with unreliable cell phone coverage, so a Satellite tracker is arguably “essential” for various reasons. In other locations like Europe, cell coverage is more reliable.
After a scare (potential for deep out-landing) in 2015, I opted to start flying with an inReach.
http://paraglide.net/log/2015/06-13/photo/

I think in another 8 years (or sooner) Garmin’s inReach satellite tracking will be abandoned in favor of evolving and more cable satellite networks?

An inReach is a hardware satellite communicator that serves several functions, like being able to signal for help and or get found if you land in the wilderness out of cellphone or 2-meter radio range. It is mainly used for tracking.

In addition to the hardware (physical device), you need a “data plan”.

I use the least expensive monthly option, which sends a data point every 10 minutes via satellite to the “inReach Server”.
With my plan I pay 10 cents per data point, so a 5-hour flight cost me 3 dollars in tracking. I use the device mainly for tracking and emergency rescue. I rarely use the 2-way texting feature (because it is clunky?) or other optional features like photos and voice messages, but if I wanted to, those options are still available as a pay as you go per use charge rather than an “allotment” offered in the more expensive plans.

Currently (2025), the lowest priced monthly plan is the Consumer “Enabled” Plan at $8 a month (plus 60 cents per hour for tracking).
https://www.garmin.com/en-US/p/837461/pn/010-D2237-SU/
I don’t fly a lot so for me 60 cents per hour for tracking is more cost effective compared to paying $30 per month for unlimited tracking (included at no hourly cost in the “Standard” plan). If you fly a lot or regularly use advanced features, then a higher-level plan might be better for you? The “Premium” plan ($50 per month) offers a 2-minute tracking interval, but I would still recommend using the 10-minute tracking interval for various reasons like battery longevity, plus most everyone else is on a 10-minute interval so it can be confusing to someone glancing at your track if you are an outlier?

There are also numerous 3rd party “tracking apps” that will pull data from various sources like the Garmin server, but they can also pull data from other servers linked to your phone or a flight instrument that has a SIM card. Most (but not all) pilots around here are registered on
XCfind.paraglide.us
XCfind is an older app that is not as feature rich as many of the newer app options, but since most pilots locally (California) are on XCfind, I use XCfind to see the big picture of what is going on where. I’ll then click on a pilot’s individual inReach map page to view the most current info from Garmin’s inReach server.

InReach operates on the Iridium satellite network which is composed of 66 satellites (11 satellites in each of 6 orbital plains spaced 30 degrees apart) They are in high-ish low earth orbits (485 miles up). At 100 minutes per orbit, one of the satellites will pass within 15 degrees of overhead every 9 minutes (which is why a 10-minute breadcrumb tracking interval is the default). The hardware uses very little power because it only runs its Iridium radio intermittently to send a small data packet once every 10 minutes.

Most of the inReach versions will run several days on a single battery charge but it does depend on how you configure it. I mostly opt for maximum battery life but have my display configured to 100% brightness for 5 minutes and communicate on the Iridium Network every 10 minutes (compared to a longer interval which would use less battery).

You can configure your inReach in various ways, but that is another discussion? I use 10-minute tracking, no Bluetooth or pairing to phone. I think the default for coordinates are Decimal Degrees. You can change it to something else (IGC files use Decimal Minutes) but it is simpler to have the same units as most pilots in your area (Imperial for the US)? Newer models might off the capability to log your coordinates (similar to an IGC file?) but I don’t think mine does? I have an older model SE and only use the basic features.

The inReach has 2 radios. One is the GPS Network one-way “receiver” and the other is an Iridium Network 2-way “transceiver”. I think (but have not confirmed) that the GPS runs continuous? because the GPS receiver needs time to acquire multiple satellites. The Iridium radio only turns on briefly every 10 minutes (configurable). The main uses of power are likely the Iridium transceiver radio (in transmit mode) and the display (but the display is rarely “on”.

I don’t use my inReach to “log” my flight.
I rely on my Flymaster Vario to log my flight in an IGC file (data file with 1 track point per second, logging time, latitude, longitude, and altitude.
Most pilots simply use their phone to capture IGC files, but I prefer to have a dedicated instrument. My Flymaster battery will last for about 40 hours so I don’t need to worry about draining my phone battery.

When following flight activity, I do most of my tracking from my computer. You can do it from a phone if mobile, but I’m not very phone literate and prefer a big screen.