Why it matters
Most apps leave you to reconstruct the flight afterwards from memory and a receipt. Rank 9 records the track as you fly it and turns it into a signed entry at landing, so the logbook reflects what happened rather than what you remembered an hour later. Tracking starts on an explicit tap — continuous location recording should never begin without the pilot saying so.
Under the hood
- GPS movement threshold
After you start the track, ground speed and altitude decide when the flight begins and ends — no engine instrumentation required, and none read.
- Live in-cockpit track for debrief feed
Marathon Rank 2 debrief consumes the live track, not just imports.
- §3.403 wet-click logbook entry on landing
Entry includes route, time, landings, day/night split, instrument time.
- LAANC auto-close on landing detection
Marathon Rank 1 LAANC authorization releases when track ends.
- Currency window auto-update
90-day passenger, night currency, instrument currency all update automatically.
Regulatory and safety context
14 CFR §3.403 governs logbook record-keeping and explicitly requires the entry to be made by the airman. AeroCopilot stages the entry but requires the pilot to confirm — the "wet click" — preserving the §3.403 attestation chain while removing the transcription burden.