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NC Software, Inc.

Logbook Pro Newsletter

Edition:  May 2002

Read Online:  http://www.logbookpro.com/logbookpro/newsletters/2002/05/Default.htm

 

Logbook Pro Latest Version:  1.6.232

Download link:  http://download.logbookpro.com/lbpro.exe

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Table of Contents:

·         Logbook Pro PDA Companion Update

·         Announcing a Route Browser for Logbook Pro 1.7

·         MGOent Hot Summer Specials (save up to 30% off)

·         How to Handle Endorsements in Logbook Pro

·         Tip of the Month

·         Give your Flight Instructor a Gift

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*** Logbook Pro PDA Companion Update***

 

 

The Logbook Pro PDA Companion providing support for both Palm and Pocket PC Operating Systems is well under way.  The beta team is 50 members strong and is very active in the testing process.  At this point the Palm Companion is feature complete and finalizing testing over the next two weeks.  The Pocket PC Companion is still in development as it has much more capability we are taking advantage of the increased computing power of the Pocket PC platform, as well as larger screen real-estate. 

 

How much will the PDA Companions cost?  First off, the PDA Companions will only work with v1.7 and higher of Logbook Pro.  Version 1.7 is a FREE upgrade for all existing Logbook Pro customers.  The PDA Companions will work with ALL Logbook Pro versions and will be sold separately as an Add-In to Logbook Pro.  Licensing specifics are not yet complete so please be patient over the next month as the details are finalized.

 

The PDA companions are simple to use, designed as an ADD only system, i.e. the data is added to the PDA device, then uploaded to be ADDED to your Logbook Pro PC data.  Logbook Pro PC data will not be brought down to the PDA device, i.e. your entire logbook will not be reflected on the device.  The concept of the PDA companion is to track flight information (including Certificates, Ratings, and History) while on the road, then upload the information to the PC for reporting and data analysis, as well as data archiving.  Keeping it simple is the motto, making the PDA companions easy and fast to use, so you can pay attention to flying and not tinkering with your Logbook data!  There will be four reporting areas as a minimum, showing Currency status, Lookback, Summary Bar data, and Flight Log Summaries similar to the Percentages report in Logbook Pro.

 

 

 

*** Announcing a Route Browser for Logbook Pro 1.7 ***

 

 

NC Software, Inc. has teamed up with a 3rd party vendor to produce a route browser Add-In for Logbook Pro.  Now you’ll be able to see your flight routes overlaid on top of the United States and do computations such as distance calculations, etc.  We will have more information to release when version 1.7 goes public.  Stay tuned for this exciting new software Add-In for Logbook Pro.

 

 

 

*** MGOent. Summertime Super HOT Specials on Leather Binders ***

 

 

Having your Logbook Pro data is great, but being able to professionally present it is another hurdle we aviators have to overcome.  Worried about keeping a paper “hard-copy” of your Logbook?  Don’t worry about duplicating your flight logging, once into Logbook Pro then a second time into a paper log.  Take advantage of the classy printouts Logbook Pro produces and put them in a professional binder, with the option of signing the bottom of the pages for certifying the accuracy and completeness of the log.  Logbook Pro has advanced page numbering schemes so you can add pages to the end of your binder as they are completed vice having to reprint the entire log each time. 

 

MGOent has slashed their prices up to 30% on their fine leather binders and perforated pre-hole punched heavy bond paper.  Take advantage now at http://mgoent.logbookpro.com and pick up a binder, which can be personalized with your name, today.  Perfect for a gift as well…a perfect gift to give your flight instructor as you graduate to your new rating.

 

Sale Pricing going on now at http://mgoent.logbookpro.com:

 

98-001 Premier:

Fits custom MGOent Premier and Universal printouts from Logbook Pro.  Dark leather (Brown or Burgundy), personalization, and 24K gold rings and corner savers.

 

Normally:  $98.99

Sale Price:  $78.99

 

98-002 Old World:

Fits custom MGOent Premier and Universal printouts from Logbook Pro.  Light Brown (Terra) and brown, soft leather with personalization and 24K gold ¾” rings.

 

Normally:  $68.99

Sale Price:  $55.99

 

98-003 (Logbook Pro Recommended) Full Sized Carry Model:

Light Brown (Terra) fits any full sized report from Logbook Pro as well as any additional 8 ½ x 11 document you would like to add to your logbook, i.e. endorsements. 

 

Normally:  $119.99

Sale Price:  $89.99 

 

*** How to Handle Endorsements in Logbook Pro ***

 

One of the most frequently asked questions about using an electronic logbook format is “how do you handle endorsements?”  Well, the answer is more obvious than it looks.  We always try to think of the harder way, i.e., how do I get my instructor to make a signature in Logbook Pro?  Our approved solution is to create your own endorsement page using your favorite word processor such as Microsoft Word or even a spreadsheet program such as Microsoft Excel.  Make the endorsement blocks look just like those in the back of your favorite bound paper logbook then print out a page of repeating blocks.  Purchase the MGOent 98-003 Full Sized Carry binder and you can place your custom endorsement pages right in the back of your logbook printouts, thereby creating your own endorsement section.  Separate sections using dividers from your favorite office supply store and voila, you now have a section for your instructor to sign-off your new and hard earned ratings / flight reviews.

 

 

*** Logbook Pro Tip of the Month ***

 

 

May's Tip of the Month Topic:  Currencies

 

One of the hardest parts of flying is maintaining within the prescribed regulations.  Regulations seem to be continuously changing especially in light of the recent tragedies with the aviation industry.  Logbook Pro offers the ability to create ANY currency with it’s easy to use intuitive interface like NO OTHER software program available.  This month’s Tip of the Month will guide you through the currency editor, familiarizing you with the different sections and their purpose, and finally, walk you through the creation of your very own currency.

 

Let’s start by opening up the Currency Editor by clicking the appropriate menu option on the Menu, Toolbar, or Nav Bar.  Logbook Pro ships with the two most commonly used currencies, day and night VFR.  You can also review these to see how simple creating a currency really is.  Once a currency is created, you can view the instant currency status in a number of areas.  1)  Clicking the small report icon on the top right of the currency editor, 2) View the Currency Report from the Reports Menu, 3) Clicking the Currency button on the status bar at the bottom of the screen, 4) Clicking the Currency node in the Explorer view, and 5) On startup, a reminder dialog will appear if within the user-defined warning window as set in the Options…Currency section.  The default factory warning period is 14 days.

 

To orient you around the Currency Editor, first take note of the screen, it contains three main sections.  The far left section is where you can create currency groups, such as delineated by FAR’s, Day or Night, Instrument, etc.  Within each group, you can add your currencies by right clicking on the group title and selecting the menu option from the popup menu, or by clicking the section toolbar, at the top of the group list “New Currency.”  The far right section actually contains two major areas: 1) Creation of Currency Items, and 2) History Events.  The History area of Logbook Pro is where you keep any event that has an expiration, i.e. a medical, flight review, etc.  Since History events have expirations, they can be wrapped into a currency calculation easily from the Currency Editor.  The default view of the far right section is the Currency Item Configuration, however, if you look at the very bottom, you will see a bar that says “History.”  Click this bar and you’ll see the right side change to where you can select existing History events to add to your currency formula.  The middle section contains two groups, with a connector.  The top group is where you put either currency items or history events and where ALL items within this listing must be current (aka not expired or meets the required criteria) for this group to pass.  The lower group is different in that if ANY item in the lower listing passes, that group itself passes.  The connector (drop down menu between the top and bottom group) allows you to further define your currency by saying my ALL TO PASS [AND] my ANY TO PASS must be good for this currency to be good, or if the connector is a [OR] then if either group passes, my currency passes.  This will make more sense in a minute.

 

Let’s walk through creating a simple currency, a fictitious one.  The currency we are going to build requires:

 

·         3 Landings in a Multi-Engine Aircraft within 90 days at Night 

·         Current Flight Review (formerly Biennial)

·         Current Medical (Class I, II, or III)

 

Let’s step back for a moment and discuss the Medical.  As you know, a Class I medical automatically regresses to a Class II then a Class III as time goes on.  Those that log a Class I or II medical in the History section should also make an entry for the regressed medicals.  This will come in handy with creating your currencies.  So to sum this up, if you get a Class I medical, you should make three entries into the History section, your Class I, but also enter a Class II and Class III and enter the expirations as FAR’s dictate.

 

Back to building our currency.  The first thing we have done is created a new currency on the far left side of the screen, either under the General group or under a new group we created.  Click the New Currency button and the Editor is ready for you to define the required elements.  Let’s start by adding in our medicals.  Since any one of a Class I, II, or III medical will work, let’s show the medicals by clicking “History Events” on the bottom right, select each of the three medicals and click the large black arrow copying them to the ANY section (bottom of the two sections).  Remember, ANY of these three medicals will work to pass this currency, so we want these in the ANY TO PASS group.

 

Since a Current Flight Review is required for the currency to pass, and there are no substitute events to pass if this fails, this is an item that MUST pass for the currency to pass.  So, with the History Events section still showing, click on the “Flight Review” (or Biennial) item showing (which should have been recorded in the History section of Logbook Pro) and click the large black arrow to copy this item to the ALL TO PASS group.  Remember, ALL TO PASS means every single item in this group must pass for the currency to pass and the Biennial/Flight Review is mandatory.

 

The last thing we have to do now is configure the Currency Item so we have an item that let’s us test for 3 Landings in a Multi-Engine Aircraft within 90 days at Night.  On the far right, click the Currency Items bar to show the Currency Items configuration screen.  Notice that once you create this currency item, it is reusable to build other currencies, a very powerful feature of Logbook Pro.  Create your catalog of items, then use them over and over for all of your currencies that require the same elements.

 

We don’t have this specific item yet, so let’s build it.  Click the toolbar button “New Currency Item” and begin configuring your currency item.  The title is important as you see it will show on the caption bar for you to catalog your items clearly.  Be short and concise, so let’s put in “3 Night Lands in AMEL (90 days) as our title.  Notice how the caption bar will automatically reflect this title when you move out of this field.  Now go down the list and configure the different elements.  End-of-Month would be NO, Time Period = 90, Time Units = Days (or you could use 3 and Months), Requires 3 and the field is Night Landings.  Now we have one more step, the requirement of being in a Multi-Engine Aircraft.  Logbook Pro has the power to roll in any of the Aircraft Configuration items from Options…Aircraft into your currency item.  So click the drop down “Class” and click the Multi-Engine Land item and that will now be the only item checked.  Click the down arrow to close the popup list and the currency item is now designed.  Click off of the field for it to be committed (saved) and the currency item is ready for use.  When a currency item is expanded it is considered active, therefore clicking the large black arrow will copy the item to the desired group list.  Let’s click the large arrow to copy this new currency item to the top “ALL TO PASS” list.  That’s it, your currency is now created and saved.  Click the white icon on the top right of the currency editor title bar and view your currency status.  The status will show you the EXACT day it will expire.

 

To summarize, currencies are VERY simple to create in Logbook Pro.  Use either custom defined currency items or choose from the catalog of History Events.  Depending on where they are placed, the ANY TO PASS or ALL TO PASS groups, and how the groups are connected, will determine the currency configuration.  Practice and experiment, you’ll see how easy it is.  If you place a currency under the wrong group, simply drag and drop it to the group desired, no need to delete and recreate the currency.  Fly Safe!!!

 

 

*** Give your Flight Instructor a Gift ***

 

Want to get your flight instructor something special?  You know that CFI’s don’t exactly make a lot of money for instructing and most can’t afford the goodies that some others are fortunate to have.  CFI’s are working hard to build hours to fulfill their dreams, just as you are with getting your new rating.  Get your flight instructor something special, something to help them with their flying career.  Did you know you can buy Logbook Pro for someone else?  When ordering Logbook Pro from https://secure.nc-software.com you can specify a name other than the billing name for the registration key code.  Include a CD-Rom with your order and surprise your instructor with his/her very own copy of Logbook Pro.  MGOent binders can be personalized with your instructors name, why not order a MGOent binder, stuff it with a Logbook Pro CD-ROM and show your instructor your appreciation in helping you achieve your dreams.  MGOent binders can be purchased directly from the MGOent store at http://mgoent.logbookpro.com.