Vulture Blog Marketing Plan

Moved from vulture-web/docs/marketing-plan.md

Context

We have 12 blog posts for the Vulture gliding app website. They are released on a schedule that starts in the active gliding season and runs through the off-season (August 2026 to January 2027), with social media posts on X, Instagram, and LinkedIn for each release. LinkedIn posts should subtly mention availability for side projects.

Blog Posts (in recommended release order)

The order is designed to tell a story: start with the most broadly useful feature, build toward competition-specific tools, then branch into standalone topics.

#	Release Date	Post	Why this order
1	Mon Aug 17	PEV cylinder starts	Timely: EGC just happened, Polish competitions fresh in mind.
2	Wed Aug 26	How to open flights from Soaring Spot	Core competition feature, season still running.
3	Wed Sep 9	Compare competition flights	End-of-season analysis: pilots reviewing their flights.
4	Mon Sep 21	Browser extensions	Extends the Soaring Spot post: “here’s an even easier way”.
5	Wed Oct 7	Align task start times	Natural follow-up to comparison.
6	Wed Oct 21	iPhone Duo	New device support in 4.0.
7	Wed Nov 4	Airspace inspection	Safety content for the quiet months; the profile sheet is new.
8	Wed Nov 18	Tips and tricks	Low-effort, high-share: a list post for existing users.
9	Wed Dec 2	SkySight weather overlays	Planning focus as pilots shift to next-season preparation.
10	Wed Dec 16	Widgets	Standalone, visual. Weather on your Lock Screen and nightstand for the off-season.
11	Wed Dec 30	Apple Watch in flight	Visual and aspirational, for the holidays.
12	Wed Jan 13	Paragliding and hanggliding	Expands audience beyond glider pilots.

Cadence: 1 post every ~10 days until the end of September, then one every two weeks, always on a Wednesday (Oct 7 to Jan 13). Dates are the file’s date prefix in posts/; that file is the source of truth, this table mirrors it.

Release Workflow (per post)

Morning (before 9:00 CET): Check the post went live; it publishes by itself on its date:, so the finished post has to be deployed before that day
10:00 CET: Post on LinkedIn
12:00 CET: Post on Instagram
14:00 CET: Post on X

X (Twitter)

Short, punchy text (under 280 chars)
Include one screenshot as an image
Link to the blog post
Use 3–4 hashtags max
Tag relevant accounts where appropriate (@SkySight, @soabordo, etc.)

Instagram

Use the hero image or a key screenshot as the post image
Longer caption with the full social copy
End with “Link in bio”
Use 8–10 hashtags
Consider Instagram Stories linking to the post (swipe up / link sticker)

Professional tone, focus on the “why” and the craft behind the feature
End every post with a soft CTA for side projects:

“Vulture is a side project I build and maintain alongside my freelance work. If you’re looking for an iOS developer for your project, feel free to reach out.”
Include the blog link
No hashtags or minimal (2–3 max)

Each platform lists its posts in release order, so one sitting in that platform’s scheduler covers all eight. The link above each text is the blog post it belongs to.

LinkedIn: schedule at 10:00 CET

Wed Oct 7: Align task start times

https://vulture.aero/blog/align-task-starts

When you replay two competition flights together, the first thing in the way is the start time. One pilot left 20 minutes after the other, so on the map they are never at the same point in the task at the same moment.

Align start in Vulture takes the earliest task start as the reference and offsets every other flight to match, on the map, the barograph and the playback slider. If one pilot is then ahead on leg two, that is down to the flying and has nothing to do with when they started.

Read the guide: vulture.aero/blog/align-task-starts

Vulture is a side project I build and maintain alongside my freelance work. If you're looking for an iOS developer for your project, feel free to reach out.

Wed Oct 21: iPhone Duo

https://vulture.aero/blog/iphone-duo

Vulture never asks which device it is running on. Every list and every map lays itself out from the size of the window it has been given. That rule was already there for the iPad, where a window can be dragged down to a narrow column, and for the Mac. On iPhone Duo it is the same rule on a hinge: closed you get the phone layout, open you get the iPad's.

The case that needed work was the thermal sheet on an open Duo on its side, which is wide and not very tall. The post also names three things Vulture does not do yet. One of them: all of this was built on the simulator, so the in-flight screen is deliberately unchanged.

Read the post: vulture.aero/blog/iphone-duo

Vulture is a side project I build and maintain alongside my freelance work. If you're looking for an iOS developer for your project, feel free to reach out.

Wed Nov 4: Airspace inspection

https://vulture.aero/blog/airspace-inspection

Reading airspace off a chart means holding floors, ceilings and your own altitude in your head at once. Vulture's airspace sheet draws the stack above any point on the map as a vertical profile, with your altitude marked on it in flight and the replay position marked while analysing.

The post explains why it is a profile rather than a list, and how hiding a sector for today only works.

Read the guide: vulture.aero/blog/airspace-inspection

Vulture is a side project I build and maintain alongside my freelance work. If you're looking for an iOS developer for your project, feel free to reach out.

Wed Nov 18: Tips and tricks

https://vulture.aero/blog/tips-and-tricks

The features people find are the ones with a button. This post is a tour of everything in Vulture that works well but never introduces itself: gestures, keyboard shortcuts, drag and drop, Siri, Spotlight and Quick Look previews.

It is also a note on discoverability: some of these should probably have a button.

Read the post: vulture.aero/blog/tips-and-tricks

Vulture is a side project I build and maintain alongside my freelance work. If you're looking for an iOS developer for your project, feel free to reach out.

Wed Dec 2: SkySight weather overlays

https://vulture.aero/blog/skysight-weather-overlays

Vulture can draw SkySight's forecast on the planning map, under the task you are building. Close to forty layers are filed under thermals, clouds, wind and wave, and a slider sweeps the day from 06:00 to 20:00 in half-hour steps.

The layer list follows what SkySight publishes, so a layer they add shows up without an app update. On a recorded flight there is one layer, satellite imagery, and it moves with the replay so you can see where the Cu was while you were flying.

Read the guide: vulture.aero/blog/skysight-weather-overlays

Vulture is a side project I build and maintain alongside my freelance work. If you're looking for an iOS developer for your project, feel free to reach out.

Wed Dec 16: Widgets

https://vulture.aero/blog/widgets

Most of what you want from a gliding app before a flying day is a glance, not a session. Vulture's redesigned widgets put the nearest METAR, tomorrow's TAF and a flight from your logbook on the Home Screen, the Lock Screen and StandBy, each surface with its own shape and its own single number.

The post walks through the constraints each surface sets and why the tiles are built the way they are.

Read the guide: vulture.aero/blog/widgets

Vulture is a side project I build and maintain alongside my freelance work. If you're looking for an iOS developer for your project, feel free to reach out.

Wed Dec 30: Apple Watch in flight

https://vulture.aero/blog/apple-watch

In the cockpit the iPhone is on a mount or in a bag. The Watch is on your wrist, so Vulture puts the flight there: duration, altitude, distance, average vario, and a wind estimate from thermal drift once it has about 90 seconds of circling to work with.

A second page points home, with your current glide ratio next to the one you need. The Watch holds a workout session while it records, which is what keeps the screen running in flight, and nothing is written to Health for it.

Read the guide: vulture.aero/blog/apple-watch

Vulture is a side project I build and maintain alongside my freelance work. If you're looking for an iOS developer for your project, feel free to reach out.

Wed Jan 13, 2027: Paragliding and hanggliding

https://vulture.aero/blog/paragliding-and-hanggliding

Vulture started as a gliding app, but what it analyses is IGC files, and paraglider and hang glider pilots fly with those too. Since version 3.3.0 it treats paragliding and hanggliding as sports of their own.

When you open a flight, Vulture takes the 95th percentile of the groundspeed to decide what flew it: above 100 km/h a glider, 80 to 100 a hang glider, below 80 a paraglider. The thresholds for thermals, wind, takeoff and cruise legs follow from that. A speed threshold is a guess, so there is a switch to turn the detection off for the flights where it misses.

Read the guide: vulture.aero/blog/paragliding-and-hanggliding

Vulture is a side project I build and maintain alongside my freelance work. If you're looking for an iOS developer for your project, feel free to reach out.

Instagram: schedule at 12:00 CET

Wed Oct 7: Align task start times

https://vulture.aero/blog/align-task-starts

Two pilots fly the same task and start 20 minutes apart. Replay them together and one is on the second leg while the other is still on the first, which tells you nothing about who flew it better.

Align start in Vulture shifts the timelines so every flight starts at the same moment. The map, the barograph and the playback slider all follow. Flights from Soaring Spot already carry the day's task, so it is one tap in the map's menu.

Link in bio.

#gliding #soaring #competition #flightanalysis #vulture #soaringspot #replay #sailplane

Wed Oct 21: iPhone Duo

https://vulture.aero/blog/iphone-duo

Vulture on iPhone Duo. Closed, you get the phone layout you already use. Open it and the window is the size of a tablet's, so the sidebar stays beside your flights, the lists become a gallery, and the graph, the airspace profile and the thermal sheet float over the map as cards.

Open the phone while you are looking at a flight and you stay on that flight.

The post also lists what it does not do yet. Link in bio.

#gliding #soaring #vulture #iphoneduo #foldable #ios #flightanalysis #sailplane

Wed Nov 4: Airspace inspection

https://vulture.aero/blog/airspace-inspection

What is above this point? Long-press the map and Vulture draws the airspace there as a vertical profile, one band per zone from floor to ceiling, in ICAO chart colours. In flight a line marks your altitude on it; while analysing, the marker follows the replay.

Hide a sector for good, or just for today.

Link in bio for the full guide.

#gliding #soaring #airspace #safety #vulture #sailplane #flightplanning #openaip

Wed Nov 18: Tips and tricks

https://vulture.aero/blog/tips-and-tricks

Some features get a button. Others are a gesture, a key or a menu item three levels down. A tour of the second kind: two-finger measuring, the keyboard map, scrubbing a thermal, scanning a task off a briefing screen, dropping a task onto the map to override it, Siri, Spotlight, and Quick Look for IGC files.

Link in bio for the full list.

#gliding #soaring #vulture #sailplane #tips #flightanalysis #igc #ipad

Wed Dec 2: SkySight weather overlays

https://vulture.aero/blog/skysight-weather-overlays

I wrote up how the SkySight overlays in Vulture work. Connect your SkySight account and the forecast sits on the planning map under your task: thermal strength and height, cloudbase, wind, convergence, wave, close to forty layers in all. A slider sweeps the day from 06:00 to 20:00 in half-hour steps.

On a flight you have already flown, the satellite layer shows the clouds as they were, and they move with the replay.

You need a SkySight subscription from skysight.io. Link in bio.

#gliding #soaring #skysight #weather #thermals #taskplanning #vulture #sailplane #crosscountry

Wed Dec 16: Widgets

https://vulture.aero/blog/widgets

Three widgets: METAR with a wind dial, Tomorrow with the TAF for the launch window, and Flight, which puts a track from your logbook on your Home Screen. Wind and QNH also come as Lock Screen circles and inline rows, and the wind dial and Tomorrow sit side by side in StandBy on the nightstand.

One setting: current location or home base.

Link in bio for the full guide.

#gliding #soaring #metar #aviation #weather #widget #vulture #sailplane #QNH #standby

Wed Dec 30: Apple Watch in flight

https://vulture.aero/blog/apple-watch

Vulture on Apple Watch records your flight and shows the numbers you want in the cockpit: duration, altitude, distance, average vario, and the wind worked out from how your circles drift. Turn the Digital Crown for the next page, with the bearing home and the glide ratio you need to get there. Heart rate and blood oxygen are on the last one.

After landing, add the flight to your log and it syncs to your iPhone and iPad for the full analysis.

Link in bio.

#gliding #soaring #applewatch #inflight #vario #vulture #sailplane #wearable

Wed Jan 13, 2027: Paragliding and hanggliding

https://vulture.aero/blog/paragliding-and-hanggliding

Vulture supports paragliding and hanggliding next to gliding. Open an IGC file and it works out the sport from the flight's cruising speed, then analyses the flight with the thresholds for that wing. A paraglider thermal counts after six turns where a sailplane needs ten.

If the guess keeps missing for your flights, switch off Detect sport automatically and every flight is read as the sport you selected.

Link in bio for the full guide.

#paragliding #hanggliding #freeflying #freeflight #parapente #vulture #thermals #xcflying #igc #flightanalysis

X: schedule at 14:00 CET

Wed Oct 7: Align task start times

https://vulture.aero/blog/align-task-starts

Two pilots fly the same task but start 20 minutes apart, and the replay is hard to read. Align start in Vulture shifts the timelines so every flight starts at the same moment. New on the blog: vulture.aero/blog/align-task-starts #gliding #competition

Wed Oct 21: iPhone Duo

https://vulture.aero/blog/iphone-duo

New on the blog: Vulture on iPhone Duo. Closed, it is the phone app you know. Open, it lays out like it does on an iPad, with the sidebar beside your flights and the graph floating over the map. vulture.aero/blog/iphone-duo #gliding #iPhoneDuo #iOS

Wed Nov 4: Airspace inspection

https://vulture.aero/blog/airspace-inspection

Long-press the map and Vulture draws the airspace above that point as a vertical profile: every floor, ceiling and frequency in the stack. vulture.aero/blog/airspace-inspection #gliding #airspace

Wed Nov 18: Tips and tricks

https://vulture.aero/blog/tips-and-tricks

Measure with two fingers, drive the whole map from a keyboard, scan a task from a QR code, preview an IGC file without importing it. The corners of Vulture that never announce themselves. vulture.aero/blog/tips-and-tricks #gliding

Wed Dec 2: SkySight weather overlays

https://vulture.aero/blog/skysight-weather-overlays

New on the blog: @SkySight forecasts on the planning map in Vulture. Thermals, wind, cloud and wave, from 06:00 to 20:00 in half-hour steps, with your task drawn on top. Needs a SkySight subscription. vulture.aero/blog/skysight-weather-overlays #gliding #soaring #skysight

Wed Dec 16: Widgets

https://vulture.aero/blog/widgets

The wind at your airfield, tomorrow's forecast, and a flight from your logbook, on your Home Screen, Lock Screen and nightstand. Vulture's widgets, redesigned. vulture.aero/blog/widgets #gliding #aviation #widget

Wed Dec 30: Apple Watch in flight

https://vulture.aero/blog/apple-watch

New on the blog: Vulture on Apple Watch. It records the flight and shows altitude, average vario, wind and the glide ratio you need to get back to your takeoff point, with heart rate on the last page. vulture.aero/blog/apple-watch #gliding #applewatch

Wed Jan 13, 2027: Paragliding and hanggliding

https://vulture.aero/blog/paragliding-and-hanggliding

New on the blog: paragliding and hanggliding in Vulture. Open an IGC file and it works out the sport from how fast the flight cruised, then uses the thermal and wind thresholds for that wing. vulture.aero/blog/paragliding-and-hanggliding #paragliding #hanggliding #freeflying

1. PEV cylinder starts (Aug 17)

https://vulture.aero/blog/pev-cylinder-start

Flying EGC or Polish competitions? Vulture now auto-detects PEV cylinder starts per FAI Annex A 7.4.4. No config needed. vulture.aero/blog/pev-cylinder-start #gliding #FAI #EGC

Instagram:

Flying in Polish or European competitions? Vulture now automatically detects PEV cylinder starts — press the event button inside the start cylinder and Vulture uses your last PEV as the credited start. No configuration needed.

Works with Soaring Spot competition tasks out of the box.

Link in bio for the full guide.

#gliding #soaring #competition #PEV #cylinderstart #FAI #EGC #vulture #sailplane

LinkedIn:

Many Polish and European competitions use cylinder starts with PEV (Pilot Event) markers instead of traditional start lines. Vulture now automatically detects these per FAI Annex A 7.4.4 — the last PEV recorded inside the start cylinder becomes your credited start.

No configuration needed. Download flights from Soaring Spot and the task, zones, and PEV start are all handled automatically.

Read how it works: vulture.aero/blog/pev-cylinder-start

Vulture is a side project I build and maintain alongside my freelance work. If you're looking for an iOS developer for your project, feel free to reach out.

2. How to open flights from Soaring Spot (Aug 26)

https://vulture.aero/blog/how-to-open-flights-from-soaring-spot

Browse competitions, tap a flight, done. Vulture pulls flights straight from Soaring Spot with the task already applied. Here's how: vulture.aero/blog/how-to-open-flights-from-soaring-spot #gliding #soaringspot

Instagram:

Ever wondered how to get your competition flights from Soaring Spot into Vulture? There are 2 ways:
1. Browse competitions right in the app — filter by country and year, pick a day, tap a flight
2. Use the Safari or Chrome extension to open flights straight from soaringspot.com

The competition task gets applied automatically — observation zones, waypoints and all — so you can jump straight into replay, thermals and comparison. Link in bio for the full guide.

#gliding #soaring #competition #soaringspot #vulture #flightanalysis #igc #sailplane

LinkedIn:

Competition flying generates some of the most interesting flights to study. Vulture makes it easy to pull flights straight from Soaring Spot — browse competitions in the app, use the Safari extension, or share a direct link.

The competition task is applied automatically when you download, so you can immediately replay, compare, and learn from every flight.

Read the guide: vulture.aero/blog/how-to-open-flights-from-soaring-spot

Vulture is a side project I build and maintain alongside my freelance work. If you're looking for an iOS developer for your project, feel free to reach out.

3. Compare competition flights (Sep 9)

https://vulture.aero/blog/compare-flights

New on the blog: comparing competition flights in Vulture. Open the top finishers from a Soaring Spot day next to your own and see where the time went, thermal by thermal and leg by leg. vulture.aero/blog/compare-flights #gliding #competition

Instagram:

I wrote up how the compare tool in Vulture works. Open a few flights from the same competition day and it lays them out as columns: thermals, cruise speed, every task leg, and who was leading whom. Best value in each row gets a medal.

Flights from Soaring Spot come with the day's task already attached, so there is nothing to set up before you start reading the numbers.

Link in bio.

#gliding #soaring #competition #flightanalysis #vulture #soaringspot #sailplane #comparisons

LinkedIn:

After a competition day I like to open the winner's flight next to my own and find out where the difference was made. That is what the compare tool in Vulture is for: several flights as columns, ranked per row, across thermals, performance, task legs and leader/follower behaviour.

The part I am most pleased with is the task handling. Flights downloaded from Soaring Spot carry the day's task, and any other flight can be given one with a tap, so every column is measured on the same route.

Read the guide: vulture.aero/blog/compare-flights

Vulture is a side project I build and maintain alongside my freelance work. If you're looking for an iOS developer for your project, feel free to reach out.

4. Browser extensions (Sep 21)

https://vulture.aero/blog/browser-extensions

New on the blog: the Vulture browser extensions. They put an Open in Vulture button on Soaring Spot and Charron.line pages, so a flight opens in the app with the day's task already applied. Safari and Chrome. vulture.aero/blog/browser-extensions #gliding #safari #chrome

Instagram:

I wrote up how the Vulture browser extensions work. Turn on the Safari extension on your iPhone, open a results page on soaringspot.com and tap Open in Vulture. The flight opens in the app with the day's task already applied.

It also works in Safari on iPad and Mac, and there is a Chrome version for macOS.

Link in bio.

#gliding #soaring #competition #soaringspot #vulture #safari #chrome #browserextension #sailplane

LinkedIn:

Vulture has browser extensions for Safari and Chrome. They add an Open in Vulture button to Soaring Spot and Charron.line result pages, so you can go from a results table to the flight in the app without copying anything over by hand.

The Safari extension comes with the app on iPhone, iPad and Mac. You only have to turn it on in Safari's extension settings. The Chrome extension is a free download from the Chrome Web Store and works on macOS.

Neither extension collects any data. They read the page you are already on and turn the flight links into links that open Vulture.

Setup guide: vulture.aero/blog/browser-extensions

Vulture is a side project I build and maintain alongside my freelance work. If you're looking for an iOS developer for your project, feel free to reach out.

Apple Search Ads

Strategy

Run Apple Search Ads campaigns alongside the blog release schedule to capture high-intent App Store searches during peak gliding season. Increase spend during August–September when pilots are most active, then shift keywords toward planning and weather tools as the season winds down.

Keywords

Category	Keywords
Core	gliding, soaring, sailplane, glider app
Competition	soaring spot, competition flying, flight comparison, igc viewer
Features	vario app, flight analysis, metar widget, apple watch vario, airspace
Weather/Planning	skysight, aviation weather, flight planning, thermal forecast
Free flight	paragliding app, hanggliding app, free flight, xcflight

Campaign Timing

Align ad campaigns with blog releases to reinforce each feature launch. Boost relevant keywords in the week following each post.

Period	Focus Keywords	Reason
Aug 17–25	competition, soaring spot, PEV	PEV post live
Aug 26–Sep 8	soaring spot, igc viewer	Soaring Spot post
Sep 9–20	flight comparison, flight analysis	Compare post
Sep 21–Oct 6	browser extension, soaring spot	Extensions post
Oct 7–20	flight comparison, flight analysis	Align post
Oct 21–Nov 3	core keywords	iPhone Duo post
Nov 4–17	airspace, flight planning	Airspace post
Nov 18–Dec 1	flight analysis, igc viewer	Tips post
Dec 2–15	skysight, thermal forecast, flight planning	SkySight post
Dec 16–29	metar, aviation weather, widget	Widgets post
Dec 30–Jan 12	apple watch, vario, in-flight	Apple Watch post
Jan 13+	paragliding, hanggliding, free flight	Paragliding post, expand audience

Budget

Peak season (Aug–Sep): higher daily budget, competition pilots are actively searching
Shoulder season (Oct–Nov): moderate budget, shift toward airspace, planning and weather keywords
Off-season (Dec–Mar): low budget, maintain brand presence on core keywords only

Tips

Use Search Match to discover new keyword opportunities early in the campaign
Add negative keywords for unrelated terms (e.g., “vulture bird”, “glider furniture”)
Monitor Cost Per Acquisition (CPA) weekly and pause underperforming keywords
Create separate ad groups per feature so creative matches the search intent
Use Custom Product Pages in App Store Connect to match ad creatives to specific features (e.g., show the widgets screenshot when someone searches “aviation weather”)

Checklist Per Release Day

Before the day: the post’s date: and file prefix are the release date, the hero image and all screenshots are in /public/images/blog/{subfolder}/, and all of it is deployed to production
Test the live blog post URL (the post publishes by itself on its date)
Post on LinkedIn (10:00 CET)
Post on Instagram with image (12:00 CET)
Post on X with image (14:00 CET)
Update Instagram bio link if needed

Notes

Screenshots: Every post has its images under public/images/blog/. Re-check them against the shipping app the day before release.
LinkedIn CTA: Keep the side project mention consistent but natural: always at the end, never the focus.
Cross-linking: Later posts can reference earlier ones (e.g. “Compare” links to “Soaring Spot”, “Align” links to “Compare”).
Season timing: The plan runs Aug 17 to Jan 13, from the European gliding season through the off-season.
Home page: The blog section on the home page only appears once three posts are published, which the compare post did on Sep 9.
Adjust dates: If a post isn’t ready (missing screenshots), swap it with the next one rather than skipping a slot.

Vulture Blog Marketing Plan

Context

Blog Posts (in recommended release order)

Release Workflow (per post)

Social Media Strategy

X (Twitter)

Instagram

LinkedIn

Social Media Copy: upcoming, grouped by platform

LinkedIn: schedule at 10:00 CET

Wed Oct 7: Align task start times

Wed Oct 21: iPhone Duo

Wed Nov 4: Airspace inspection

Wed Nov 18: Tips and tricks

Wed Dec 2: SkySight weather overlays

Wed Dec 16: Widgets

Wed Dec 30: Apple Watch in flight

Wed Jan 13, 2027: Paragliding and hanggliding

Instagram: schedule at 12:00 CET

Wed Oct 7: Align task start times

Wed Oct 21: iPhone Duo

Wed Nov 4: Airspace inspection

Wed Nov 18: Tips and tricks

Wed Dec 2: SkySight weather overlays

Wed Dec 16: Widgets

Wed Dec 30: Apple Watch in flight

Wed Jan 13, 2027: Paragliding and hanggliding

X: schedule at 14:00 CET

Wed Oct 7: Align task start times

Wed Oct 21: iPhone Duo

Wed Nov 4: Airspace inspection

Wed Nov 18: Tips and tricks

Wed Dec 2: SkySight weather overlays

Wed Dec 16: Widgets

Wed Dec 30: Apple Watch in flight

Wed Jan 13, 2027: Paragliding and hanggliding

Social Media Copy: already posted

1. PEV cylinder starts (Aug 17)

2. How to open flights from Soaring Spot (Aug 26)

3. Compare competition flights (Sep 9)

4. Browser extensions (Sep 21)

Apple Search Ads

Strategy

Keywords

Campaign Timing

Budget

Tips

Checklist Per Release Day

Notes