Who We Are
We are two brothers from Slovenia, united by a lifelong passion for paragliding, electronics, and engineering.
What began as a personal challenge—to build a variometer for ourselves—soon became much more. At first, we simply wanted to answer one question:
Could we build a better variometer on our own?
Our professional backgrounds turned out to be the perfect combination for such a project. Nejc specializes in software engineering, while Igor focuses on electronics and hardware development. Together, we combine the skills needed to transform an idea into a reliable product that performs in real-world flying conditions.
Years ago, creating a sophisticated DIY flight instrument like this would have been extremely difficult. Today, thanks to advances in technology—and a great deal of persistence—it has become possible. What still cannot be replaced, however, is the countless hours of research, testing, and refinement required to make it truly exceptional.
How It All Started
Our journey began around 2015.
The very first prototype was incredibly simple: a microcontroller, a voltage regulator, and a barometric pressure sensor. Building it wasn't particularly difficult, and before long we had our first working variometer.
But we quickly realized that simply making a device beep wasn't enough.
The next logical step was Bluetooth connectivity, allowing the variometer to communicate with flight apps. However, another challenge soon became obvious.
A variometer based solely on a barometric sensor naturally produces altitude fluctuations of around ±1 meter, even when standing perfectly still. Without proper filtering, this creates constant false climb and sink indications—making the instrument frustrating rather than helpful.
Like many developers before us, we initially solved this using averaging filters. While this reduced the noise, it introduced a new problem: delay.
A delayed variometer is something every pilot notices. By the time the audio indicates lift, you've already flown past it. Reducing the filter delay only increased sensor noise, leaving us constantly balancing responsiveness against stability.
We knew there had to be a better solution.
Rethinking the Variometer
Our goal became clear:
Create a variometer that responds in real time without sacrificing stability.
After months of research, we began experimenting with an IMU (Inertial Measurement Unit), combining accelerometers and gyroscopes with the barometric sensor.
The idea sounded simple. The reality was anything but.
For more than six months, we struggled to extract reliable motion data. Sudden accelerations confused the algorithms, gyroscope drift slowly corrupted orientation estimates, and inaccurate position calculations produced unreliable vertical acceleration measurements.
Many times we questioned whether it would ever work.
Eventually, after countless late nights and endless iterations, we succeeded in creating a stable IMU solution. But that still wasn't enough.
The next challenge was sensor fusion—combining the fast response of the IMU with the long-term accuracy of the barometer. Once again, months of experimentation followed until we finally achieved the balance we were looking for.
The result was our first truly usable variometer. We called it MiniUp.
The First Real Success
The moment we started flying with the prototype, we knew we had created something special.
At launch sites, we often heard other variometers constantly beeping while pilots were still standing on the ground. Ours remained completely silent until actual movement occurred.
That was exactly the behavior we had been chasing from the very beginning.
Even today, that original prototype is still fully functional—a testament to the quality of the algorithms and engineering behind it.
It proved that our approach worked.
The Birth of FlySys
With a working product in our hands, we decided it deserved to become something bigger.
Igor came up with the name FlySys, and we began preparing to bring our variometer to market.
Life, however, had other plans.
We built houses, raised families, focused on our careers, and gradually the project was put on hold.
Still, every time we talked about it over the years, the feeling remained the same:
We weren't finished.
Our story · Part two
Starting Again