ALEC Speed Pilot

Our implementation of the classic Car Rally "How late or early?" instrument.

IMPORTANT!..ONLY USE WITH GPS-EQUIPPED DEVICES. OTHERS WILL CRASH!

Do you remember those heady days of the open road? No speed limits (out of town, anyway) and no gps, cellphones nor electronics trying to interfere with our driving judgement. Cheap petrol (gasoline) too!

The Club Rally was a very popular sport in those days, and such events mostly took the form of regularity trials. There was no element of a race, so that ordinary family cars could compete with equal chances. The object was to maintain a set, though varying, speed over a defined course, and unannounced time controls might be encountered anywhere, with penalties for being minutes early or late. In those countries where standardised maps were available (e.g the UK with the Ordnance Survey maps) an element of map reading skills were embroiled, but in any case a few cryptic route instructions were de rigueur.

A host of devices, ranging from slide rules and comptometers through to the very popular Curta pocket-sized cylindrical calculator were used by navigators to constantly check their punctuality.

One device which stood out was the "Comparator" which automatically tracked the distance covered with the required speed against a clock hand, thus showing directly minutes late or early. These devices, which were originally concoted from army surplus parts salvaged from aircraft bombsight computers, were connected to the back of the car's speedometer, with clumsy cables and gearboxes.

Eventually a commercial version, the Halda SpeedPilot came to the marketplace and became pretty much the standard in every enthusiast's car. Halda were, and still are, the leading manufacturer of taximeters and tachographs.

Those days are, alas, past, and a "rally" is now a more hectic and specialist event.

The new era of user-friendly gps units and the deprecation of competitions on the public roads has relegated the Comparator to history. It is totally incompatible with the modern car's electronic speedometers, and examples are fetching substantial sums on e-bay and in other auctions as collector's pieces.

But for those of us who miss those times and want to pay tribute to the memories we have simulated the Comparator as an "app" to run on any Android Smartphone or Tablet. Of course this takes advantage of the built in gps functions, and requires no mechanical connection to the car, nor does its clock need "winding-up". But visually and functionally it is just like having a vintage classic SpeedPilot or similar device in your car! We have even incorporated some optional extra features to better exploit the technology.

You will find this app a practical and useful aid to your safe and efficient motoring, as well as being JOLLY GOOD FUN!

And because we want it to be enjoyed as widely as possible and uncluttered we are offering it FREE and with NO ADVERTISEMENTS!!