For Partnerships, Flying Clubs and Flight Schools
In the last 10 years we have seen a transformation of airplane cockpits. The cockpit is no longer full of Paper Charts, Approach Plates and Airport Directories. Everything we need to fly has gone electronic. That is for everything expect for one piece of paper many pilots still deal with everyday: The Paper Aircraft Dispatch Sheet.
Pilot Partner is now making it possible to track your Aircraft Dispatch Records Electronically as part of their Electronic Pilot Logbook Platform.
The Paper Aircraft Dispatch Sheet
Just about every Flying Club, Aircraft Partnership and Flying School still has a folder or binder in the airplane where the Pilot is required to log Tach/Hobbs Start and End times plus other information. After the flight the Pilot is required to do two very important things (which most pilots are horrible at):
- Write Clearly and Legibility
- And do Simple Math to Calculate Total Time
In every Club or Partnership, there is someone who is responsible for going to the airplane to collect the dispatch sheet and then convert the impossible to read nonsense into invoices for the Pilots who are flying. This has to be the most thankless job in Aviation!
The Electronic Dispatch Sheet by Pilot Partner
See how easy going Digital Is:
Pilot Partner has now integrated the Electronic Pilot Logbook with the Aircraft MX Tracker to create the first of it’s kind: Electronic Dispatch Sheet. With a Single Entry into Pilot Partner the following will happen:
- The Pilots Logbook is Filled out
- The Dispatch Sheet is filled out and read to be invoiced
- The Aircraft’s Maintenance Intervals are updated
This is all done in the same flow of logging a flight that a Pilot is already used to in Pilot Partner. The only addition is collecting Hobbs/Tach Start and End Time.
Best of all, when a Pilot Enters their Hobbs Start and End Time, Pilot Partner will automatically calculate the Total Time of the flight. Although it is simple Math, Pilots often struggle with this math and make mistakes that causes a lot of pain and extra validation for the person reading the dispatch sheet to create the invoice.
No More Trips to the Airport to Get the Dispatch Sheet
Since the Dispatch Sheet is now electronic and stored in the Cloud, no one has to drive to the Airport to get the Dispatch Sheet. This will allow Flying Clubs and Partnerships to send their members invoices more often. Some Clubs are lucky to get an invoice out a couple times a year. This leads to Pilots getting surprised at how much they owe and the club goes longer without collecting the valuable funds they need to pay for Maintenance Items and other expenses.
Downloading the Electronic Dispatch Sheet
For the Treasurer of a Flying Club, downloading the Electronic Dispatch Sheet is quick and easy. Simple visit PilotPartner.net and click “Export.” Pilot Partner will download an Excel Spreadsheet (CSV Format) of the entire log. This will include:
- Pilot Name
- Hobbs/Tach Start and End Time
- Total Time
- Any Custom Fields Setup
Custom Fields
Many Paper based Dispatch Sheets contain additional fields to collect information from Pilots. Some common additional Information includes:
- Trip Type: Business, Personal, Maintenance
- Oil Added
- Remarks / Squawks
With Pilot Partner, custom fields can be added and the Pilot can fill them out with each flight. Pilot Partner supports the following kinds of Custom Fields:
- Numbers
- Text
- Defined List (Where the Pilot selects 1 option from a list that each Club can Define)
Handling Missed Entries
Pilots are not perfect, and they will forget to log their flight from time to time. When a Pilot forgets to enter their data before the next pilot flies, Pilot Partner will automatically create an entry for the Pilot that Forgot. Of course, Pilot Partner won’t know who to credit that gap towards.
If the Pilot who forgot later goes back and enters their time, Pilot Partner will automatically update the entry to that Pilots Account. Also the Treasurer will be able to assign a missing Entry to a specific Pilot the group. No matter how hard a Club tries to get all Pilots to stay current with their paperwork, one or more members won’t turn their paperwork in on time.
Updating MX Inspection Records
With Every entry the Pilot makes to their logbook, they will also be updating the Pilot Partner MX Tracker. This will allow all of the Pilots in the Partnership/Flying Club seen an updated record of when important Maintenance Intervals are due, including:
- Next Oil Change
- 100 Hour Inspection
- AD Complaiance
- Annual Inspection
- And More
Included with Pilot Partner
All of these features are included in the current Pilot Partner Platform. All that is required is an active Pilot Partner logbook subscription and an Aircraft configured with the Free Pilot Partner Maintenance Tracker.
Pilot Partner is looking at adding support for Club Members who do not use Pilot Partner as their electronic logbook of choice.