• A look at 2007 - The Road Ahead
• Logbook Pro PDA Companion or APDL?
• Frequently Asked Questions on the new Affiliate Program
• Getting Technical Support Fast...
• Windows Vista Tips & Techniques
• Leg & Trip Guarantees Explained (APDL)
• Calling all Aircraft Owners and Flying Clubs
• Version Matrix

A belated Happy New Year to all and yes it is already the end of January!  Time flies when you're having fun and we are having the time of our lives developing the future of Logbook Pro, the long awaited version 2!  We have exciting things to come in the late summer time frame, but we'll be soliciting feedback as we progress in development in the spring time frame.  We currently have a wonderful and talented team in private research development and testing that have been with Logbook Pro many years, and yes, it's been almost 10 years now!  We are excited to be taking advantage of the latest technologies by Microsoft and taking Logbook Pro to a new level.

We're happy report that Logbook Pro version 1.10.26 is rock solid with zero known issues (aka bug reports).  It has taken us a long time to bring the feature set to where it is today and achieve the stability and success as a result.  Most importantly, it is a great pleasure and reward to hear the successes of the aviation community taking advantage of what Logbook Pro has to offer.  Hearing back from our turn-key printing customers getting hired at their interviews in which we were able to play a key role in preparing their logbook presentation makes us proud of what we have worked so hard to achieve over the past 10 years.

We listen to you, our customers, and if there is anything you want Logbook Pro to do to help you with your aviation record keeping, please keep your feedback coming!  The best place to make your suggestions is our Wish List forums, if your suggestions have not already been made.  It's never too late, if you have an idea please share it and we'll do our best to incorporate your requests into a future release.

Have a Happy and Safe 2007!

As many know, we offer two PDA applications for both Palm OS and Windows Mobile "Pocket PC" devices.  Our two PDA products lines are "Logbook Pro PDA Companion" and "Airline Pilot's Daily Aviation Logbook" (APDL).  At times it can be confusing as to which PDA application is best for you which I hope this article will help clear up.

Logbook Pro PDA Companion:

Logbook Pro PDA Companion is essentially "Logbook Pro" on your PDA.  Logbook Pro's custom fields, autofill options, and the look and feel are translated down to the PDA interface.  Logbook Pro's PDA Companion is for General Aviation with features transferred down from the Professional Edition for FAR 121 and 135 limitation statistics.  Logbook Pro's PDA Companion product is NOT a stand-alone logbook solution, it is what we call an "add-only" application, hence the reduced cost of only $29.95 per device.  As an "add-only" application, it is designed to allow you to ADD new data such as Certificates, Ratings, History, and Flight activity and then sync to your PC upon return from travel.  Several "static" (non-updating) reports are generated at the time the device syncs with Logbook Pro such as flight log statistics, lookback, summary bar data, and currency information.  Logbook Pro's PDA Companion is available on a try-before-you-buy risk free trial with a 10-entry limit and sync to Logbook Pro PC disabled until registered.  Please see the requirements information for supported devices.

Airline Pilot's Daily Aviation Logbook:

APDL is strictly and only a FAR 121 logbook solution for Palm OS and Windows Mobile, i.e. a solution for airline pilots (scheduled operations).  APDL is the "red book" replacement allowing you to track duty times, crew rest, expenses, Per Diem, aircraft, crew changes, delay and mechanical information, and much more!  Import your schedule or bidline with our FREE schedule importer software supporting over 95 airline/trip formats.  Analyze payroll, flight time, expenses, and on-time performance.  APDL *is* a stand-alone logbook but also sync to Logbook Pro using the powerful PDA Wizard within Logbook Pro which generates the legacy APDL reports as well as provides the full capabilities, professional reports, and analysis afforded by Logbook Pro on your PC.  APDL is available in a fully functional 90-day trial after which you can purchase a license at $59.95 per device.  Please see the requirements information for supported devices.

The following information is copied from the recent NC Software newsletter

Q:  Do I have to have a web site?
A:  No!  When you complete your application to join our affiliate program you will gain access to your affiliate management console.  Within this area you will see the option to create TEXT links.  You can then e-mail these text URL's to your friends, co-workers, post in newsletters, mailings, etc. and when anyone follows this URL, you will be credited for the referral.

Q:  What if the person clicks on my URL but doesn't buy today, do I get paid anyway?
A:  When someone clicks a banner image, text link, etc. that you created from the affiliate console and visits our web site, a cookie is created on their computer that our store will find when they eventually make their purchase.  So if they visit your URL today and come back two weeks later to purchase, such as after downloading a free trial, you will still get commission on their sale.  Cookies last for 30 days.

Q:  Do I have to be a registered customer of NC Software to become an affiliate?
A:  No.  We welcome anyone that wants to help spread the word about our products and we'll gladly pay you affiliate commissions on your referrals.

Q:  What are the commission rates?
A:  The baseline commission is 10% of the qualifying sale.  If you refer over 10 customers in a month, the remaining referral sales for the month will be credited at 15%.  If you further sell over 25 referrals in a month, you'll receive 20% commission on subsequent sales for that month. 

Q:  Can I refer others to become affiliates?
A:  Yes!  In fact when an affiliate you referred earns a sale, we'll even pay you for the same sale as we know it wouldn't have happened without you.

Q:  Can I use my affiliate links for my own purchases?
A:  No.  You cannot receive commissions on purchases made by yourself using your own referral links.

Q:  How do I sign up?
A:  Joining the affiliate program is simple, simply visit our affiliate page for more information. 

We want to help you and help you as fast as we possibly can when you have a question regarding our software solutions.  As you know we do not offer phone support services and we do this as we can help you faster if you use our electronic support means.  If we offered phone support services you'd have to wait in line for your question where if you use our support methods there are many more of us that can help you in much less time.

First off, please do not e-mail us as this is the slowest form of support.  Instead, please visit our support center to learn how to get answers very fast.  If you have a technical support question it is imperative you use our help desk and submit a "tech support" ticket filling out all the required information.  We do leave the e-mail channels open but we have to first ask you for the information that wasn't provided had you submitted a support ticket using our help desk web interface.  So that takes another round trip and more time unfortunately in trying to get you an answer quickly.  If you have questions regarding activation or registration codes, please be sure to include the codes you are having a problem with.  If you lost your unlock codes, see our "Lost Unlock Code" section of the policies for information to help you retrieve the codes from our databases.  We have automated self-service solutions ready to assist you.

When submitting a support ticket, our nifty help desk system is reading as you type and will offer suggestions from articles posted in our knowledgebase.  So please click those links and read the suggestions offered to what you've typed and you may find the answer instantly and not have to wait for our response.

We know it is a slight inconvenience but you must create an account on our store, our forums, and our help desk, they are all separate databases.  So if you try to login to the help desk and you get a message that your account was not found, just follow the link to register a new account.  For those coming from the former Auman Software (APDL Users) none of your account information was carried forward, you'll need to register for new accounts such as on the forums, help desk, etc.

NC Software is happy to announce our newest Senior Support Engineer "Eric" who is helping us keep to our goal of getting you a response in one hour or less during normal business hours and often after hours. 

In summary, help us help you "fast" by NOT e-mailing in your inquiries but instead use our efficient help desk system on our web site.  Also, with this help desk you can always log in and view prior correspondence at any time.  We have resources in place to help you, and help you promptly and accurately.  It is a great pleasure communicating with our aviation customers at any time!

Windows Vista is now officially released to the public as developers and businesses have been working with the final version since the end of November 2006 to ensure our applications are Vista ready.  Driver manufacturers such as video card vendors, sound card vendors, computer vendors, and many more are still working hard to release Vista "final" drivers.  As of this writing I am using a Dell Precision Workstation and I am using beta video drivers, beta sound drivers, no display drivers (Plug-n-Play only) and we have a long road ahead until full support for Vista is mature as it is now with XP.  Vista will, in my opinion, be better than XP when the drivers are mature but at this moment I would wait a few months unless Vista is something you have to have today.  But for those of you that do make the transition, here are a few tidbits to help you get acquainted.

I invite you to read ActiveWin.com's review of Windows Vista Ultimate, the edition I personally am running today.  But the first thing you need to know about with Vista is the new security model.  There is a new system called "User Account Control" (UAC) which prevents applications from running under elevated "administrator" rights to protect malicious code from running that may harm your system.  Even if you are logged on as an administrator, depending on how and where the program is launched, will potentially reduce security permissions from administrator to that of a basic "user" level permission set.  I can tell you that most developers turned off UAC first thing after installing Vista as it quite frankly is a pain in the @$%!  If security is a concern to you such as malicious code running, even with security'ware such as Norton AntiVirus, etc. running, then by all means, use UAC as it was designed to protect you.  However, you may have a problem installing applications such as even Logbook Pro.  My suggestion is to disable UAC while you are installing programs, then (if you must) re-enable UAC. 

Although Vista has a new look and feel, and quite frankly it's not quite as elegant as MAC, but it's definitely headed in the right direction.  Don't be overwhelmed by the eye candy, a lot of things are in the same place or accessed by the same shortcuts such as right-clicking on "Start...Computer" to get to the computer properties.  Well, actually the "Start" button is now the "ribbon" or "orb" as it's called, I'm not sure the official name, but you click in the same place as before! :)  The "Add/Remove Programs" is now called "Programs and Features" which I'm quite surprised they renamed as we all know where to go to uninstall software with Add/Remove programs.

The interface of Vista, provided your video card and system performance can handle it, will use a theme called "Aero."  Aero will provide a shadow or glow around your window frames, nice graphics effects, and a new design to your windows min/max/close buttons and caption bar.  Windows Explorer has some nice new enhancements such as the views available for previewing images, etc.  If you are submitting a support ticket and you want to take a screen capture to help us see your issue, Vista now includes a "Snipping Tool" in the Start...Accessories folder.  The Snipping Tool allows you to take then crop screen captures.

There are certainly a ton of features to discuss the people at Microsoft have worked so hard to provide us in the new Windows Vista Operating System.  I'll leave that up to you to read in PC magazines and other resources on the web.  But the biggest thing to be warned about is the new User Account Control system which you can turn off in the Control Panel...Account Settings area should it cause you problems. 

Courtesy of Rick Zurawski:

I have found that a few users do not fully understand the Leg Guarantee and Trip Guarantee functions of the program. Setting them correctly will enable different parts of the program to function correctly, enabling a more accurate "picture" of each situation unique to different pilot groups. Therefore I will attempt to “break it down” for you. The following is a discussion of the different Trip Guarantee and Leg Guarantee functions. The discussion is broken down into two sections; definitions and examples. At the end of the definitions section, you will find specific examples that should help you apply these settings more accurately to your specific situation. It’s a little lengthier than most posts. It will take about 10 or 15 minutes to read through and understand, but it will be worth the time. I hope you find it useful.

Leg/Trip Guarantees Explained

DEFINITIONS:

In this program “Trip” = 1 Day ONLY. It does not mean a multiple day trip. The software in it’s current state cannot compute trip guarantee’s of multiple days. (Sorry Midwest Express guys). We will add it to our list of possible future enhancements.

Individual Definitions:

(Leg Guarantee) - Yes = Total Credit is calculated on a leg by leg
(Leg Guarantee) - No = Total Credit is calculated on a daily basis

(Trip Guarantee) - Yes = Total Credit is the higher of scheduled vs. actual
(Trip Guarantee) - No = Total Credit is scheduled block for the entire day, if leg guarantee is set to no

Definition Combinations:

(Leg Guarantee) = No, (Trip Guarantee) = No

Program function:

The program computes a total for the entire trip, as long as (Leg Guarantee) = No. I.E.: It does not calculate credit on a leg by leg basis. Total credit will be scheduled block time only for the entire trip. It will not be actual block time flown; regardless of whether actual block time flown for any and/or all legs was higher or lower than scheduled block time. In other words, you are only being paid what the company says the trip is worth, no matter how much time it actually takes you to fly it.

(Leg Guarantee) = No, (Trip Guarantee) = Yes

Program function:

The program computes a total for the entire trip (Leg Guarantee) = No, and then compares that to the time you actually flew it in.

1.) If the total time it took you to fly the entire trip is less than the entire trip’s scheduled block time, total credit will be scheduled block time for the entire trip.

2.) If the total time it took you to fly the entire trip is more than the entire trip’s scheduled block time, total credit will be actual block time for the entire trip.

(Leg Guarantee) = YES, (Trip Guarantee) = No or Yes

Program function:

The program computes a total for each leg individually (Leg Guarantee = Yes) and then adds all leg totals together to compute the total credit.

Note: Individual leg computations are invisible. You will only see the resultant total of all individual leg computations.

Individual leg computations:

For each leg flown under scheduled block time, credit will be for actual block time for that leg, PLUS the under block time for that leg, for a resultant leg total equal to the originally scheduled block time for that leg. For any leg that you’ve flown over scheduled block time, credit for that leg will be for the actual block time flown for that leg.

EXAMPLES:

Example #1 (Most Common):

Your company pays you the greater of scheduled block time or actual block time flown, for the entire daily scheduled block time (not a leg by leg basis).

Set (Leg Guarantee) = No & (Trip Guarantee) = Yes

By setting (Leg Guarantee) = No, you are telling the program to look at the sum of actual flight time flown for that entire day. It will use this number to compare to the scheduled block time for the day. By setting (Trip Guarantee) = Yes, you are telling the program to pay you at least the total scheduled daily block time.

Result? If you are scheduled for 3 legs for the day, and the total scheduled block time for those legs is 5.2 hours, but you fly it in 4.5 hours, you are paid 5.2 hours. I.E.: You get the greater of scheduled block or actual flight time flown for the entire day.

Example #2 (Less Common):

Your company only pays you the scheduled block time for each day, regardless of whether you take more or less time to actually fly the days legs.

Set (Leg Guarantee) = No & (Trip Guarantee) = No

By setting (Leg Guarantee) = No, once again you are telling the program to sum the flight time flown for the entire day. By setting (Trip Guarantee) = No, you are telling the program to pay you only the total scheduled daily block time.

Result? If you fly a 6 day trip in 29.5 hours, but the entire trip is only scheduled for 4.5 hours, you get paid 4.5 hours.

Example #3 (Uncommon):

Your company is really cool and pays you the greater of scheduled block time or actual block time flown on a leg by leg basis.

Set (Leg Guarantee) = YES & (Trip Guarantee) = No or Yes

By setting (Leg Guarantee) = Yes, you are telling the program to pay you for at least the originally scheduled block time for each leg. If you fly a leg longer, it pays you for the acutal flight time.
Because each leg is already Guaranteed, there is no need to set Trip Guarantee to Yes, although doing so will not affect any computations.

Example: Your day is scheduled for two legs.

Leg 1 is blocked for 1.5 hours
Leg 2 is blocked for 2.2 hours

You fly Leg 1 in 1.0 hour. This means that you receive an under block credit of .5 hours. This under block credit is added to the actual block time flown of 1.0 hours for that leg, for a total leg credit of 1.5 hours.

You fly Leg 2 in 2.5 hours. This means that you have an actual leg credit of 2.5 hours.
Result?

Leg 1 Credit = 1.5 hours
Leg 2 Credit = 2.5 hours
Total Credit = 4.0 hours

Note: For you ASA Pilots out there, I know your contract allows for premium pay for a situation similar (but not the same) as this one. ASA pays under block time for each leg ON TOP of the MONTHLY guarantee, not the daily guarantee. At this time the program isn’t set up to accommodate that specific situation. We will add it to our list of possible future enhancements. If you would like a work around, post a request as a new topic and I will be more than happy to post one.

We are considering adding a module for aircraft maintenance to replace those paper logs such as propeller, engine, etc. as well as provide a method for tracking aircraft discrepancies. We need your feedback to help us provide a solution that will benefit individual aircraft owners, corporate aircraft owners, and flying clubs also maintaining multiple aircraft.

Please use this forum to help us shape requirements to suit your needs as related to aircraft maintenance. This will potentially be a separate module to Logbook Pro and link into the flight log portion to aggregate flying hours for aircraft owned.

Feel free to post screen captures, URL's, anything that will help us learn more, visualize your requirements, etc. Also feel free to state your concerns for areas we need to pay special attention.

Thank you for your feedback and we look forward to bringing you an exciting new area to Logbook Pro in the near future.