pilotscafe.com

[FloridaAviator]

Good day fellow pilots ... Since I was a young boy, I have been fascinated by aviation. I was the kid you saw parked at the end of a runway with eyes turned skyward watching heavy jetliners and single engine piston aircraft alike touching down and kissing the earth. I presume the look of awe and wonder in my eyes 25 years ago is the same look you would see today.

After years of procrastination, I finally committed (with the support of my family) to working towards my private pilot certificate. After 45 hours of flight training (and a lot of adverse weather in the state of Florida), I realized the dream I had imagined in my mind since I was a little boy … acting as pilot in command of an aircraft. However, I have always wanted a little more out of my aviation experiences than I was getting ... I needed a sense of purpose and a sense of adventure.

I have always believed that aviation is my professional calling in life. Not being positioned to fly for a living, I thought I would embark on the next best thing. I want to rekindle the spirit of adventure in aviation that I felt as a child (and still feel today). I want to share that passion with others and have it permeate the entire general aviation community.

I have developed FliteJournal as a web-based application that allows current and future pilots to share their passion for aviation with others. I am committed to helping this site evolve into the collective vision of all its members. However, I need your involvement and input in order to make this endeavor a success.

In today's world of high speed jets, commercial airliners, and the daily to-and-fro rush, the sense of glamour, prestige, and adventure that was present in the early days of aviation has been dissipated. With FliteJournal, I am looking to revive the allure and charm of aviation and rekindle the spirit of adventure associated with aviation in its infancy. You can visit us online at http://www.flitejournal.com.

FliteJournal is composed of four main modules: Flite Plan, Flite Crew, Flite Log, and Flite Photo. Over the next four days, I will cover each of these modules and how it can help you and your fellow pilots find adventure and novelty in your next aviation endeavor. In the meantime, please check out our new community at http://www.flitejournal.com. Remember that a mile of road will take you a mile, a mile of runway can take you anywhere ...

Best Regards and Clear Skies,
Dave Cenker
FliteJournal Admin
http://www.flitejournal.com

[admin]

Dave,
Welcome to pilotscafe and thanks for your post.
I'd like to wish you good luck with the new website.
Amir Fleminger
pilotscafe.com

[FloridaAviator]

Thanks Amir! I am looking forward to getting to know some of the other pilots and aviation enthusiasts here at Pilots Cafe!

Dave

[FloridaAviator]

As stated in my previous post, FliteJournal is divided into four main modules. Today, we will take look at some of the things that the Flite Plan module can help you and your fellow pilots with on your next flight.

Flite Plan

• Find new airports and points of interest to visit on your next aviation endeavor by entering an airport code and a radius value. FliteJournal will locate all the airports and points of interest within that search area so that you can find a new and exciting place to visit on your next $100 hop.
• Each point of interest in the database can have user reviews added to them so that you know beforehand which are the favorites of other pilots. Of course you may also enter new POIs for those golden nuggets that are yet undiscovered.
• Find the top POIs in each category (restaurant, attraction, lodging) by entering an airport code and radius value. FliteJournal will search for and find all the top rated POIs within the search area to make your choice for next place to visit easier for you.
• Have you ever wondered what you are flying right over on your flight? Have you ever wondered whether you are missing out on a can't miss $100 hamburger? Wonder no more ... provide a departure and destination airport along with a corridor width and FliteJournal will find all the POIs that you will pass over on your next planned flight. This is a great tool for discovering those pilot favorites that you are going to be flying over on your next flight and may not want to miss.
• Of course, you can add new POIs and/or modify the information for POIs and airports already in the database so that the information is current and relevant to other pilots.
• In an effort to provide more information to you in a smaller space, color coding has been added to the site to indicate the airport's airspace (where available) and the number of POIs present at a particular airport.
• All the airports and points of interest that are provided to you the user are sortable by clicking on the column headings. Do you want to find the closest airports? Click on the distance column header. Do you want to find the highest rated POIs? Click on the rating column header.

Currently, all the POIs for my home state of Florida have been added to the database. If you are a pilot in the state of Florida, you are lucky (disregarding the fact that the heat index has been 105+ over the past week). I will be working over the next several weeks on the POIs in other states as well as feature updates as requested by the user community. Please provide feedback so that we can grow this community into our collective visions. If there is a POI in your area that is not yet in the database, feel free to add it so that other pilots can find great places to visit in your area on their next flight.

Tommorow, I will cover the next module of FliteJournal ... Flite Crew. In the meantime, check out our community at http://www.flitejournal.com and prepare for your next aviation adventure.

Clear Skies,
Dave Cenker
FliteJournal Admin
http://www.flitejournal.com

[FloridaAviator]

Today, I will cover the heart and soul of FliteJournal. The Flite Crew module of FliteJournal allows you to connect with other like minded pilots and aviation enthusiasts across your field or across the country. Check out some of the features that Flite Crew provides to FliteJournal members ...

Flite Crew

• Search for pilots within a certain radius of a specified airport. You are able to filter the results based upon the type of pilot certificate held by the FliteJournal member (student, sport, recreational, private, commercial, ATP, or all certificate levels).
• For each pilot who chooses to make themself "discoverable" to other FliteJournal members (this option can be set by each user in their profile), you can view their biography which includes recent flights, background information, and pesonal interests. Other people may be looking for you so make sure you fill out your profile with information on yourself.
• Once you find a pilot that you would like to connect with, you can invite them to be a part of your Flite Crew. Basically, they are sent an invitation to be your "friend" in the FliteJournal community. Once connected, you can communicate with your entire Flite Crew via messages and planned aviation events that you choose to set up (more on that below).
• An email system has been built into the Flite Crew module that allows you to communicate with other pilots registered at FliteJournal. You can choose to send a message to an individual pilot, your Flite Crew members, or all the pilots at a particular airport (if you are looking to get some information for an upcoming flight or event, for example).
• You can schedule your own aviation events or fly-ins either at your home airport or at an airport you are planning to visit. Provide a date, time, location, title, and description for the event. Choose to open the invitation to all FliteJournal members or just your Flite Crew. If you want to cap the maximum number of attendees, you can do that too. Once the event is set up, a running blog on the event page allows you to exchange messages with other invitees leading right up to the event itself.
• Of course, you will also be able to see and sign up to attend any events set up by other FliteJournal members.

The main idea behind Flite Crew and FliteJournal itself is to provide a conduit for pilots to get in contact with each other and share their passion for aviation. I hope you all take the opportunity to check out our community at http://www.flitejournal.com and touch base with other pilots in your area.

Tomorrow, I will be covering the Flite Log module of FliteJournal. Until then ...

Clear Skies,
Dave Cenker
FliteJournal Admin
http://www.flitejournal.com

[FloridaAviator]

Every pilot has a logbook. After all, it is required for proof of flying requirements when obtaining a new certificate or rating. Logbooks can be simple or detailed. They can be straightforward or they can tell a story. The Flite Log module of FliteJournal aims to do the latter ... help you tell a story and share it with others. Here are some of the features that Flite Log provides to you as a member of the FliteJournal community.

Flite Log

• In order to file a flight log, you first must have a plane to fly. Some of us are lucky enough to have our own flying machine while others (like myself) are renters. Flite Log starts with 'My Aircraft'. You can search from all the aircraft currently in the database and add each tail number you fly to your fleet. If your aircraft is not in the database, no problem ... just add it. You can have any number of aircraft in your fleet and you can choose to make one of these aircraft as your default when filing a flight report.
• View, edit, add, and sort the flights in your logbook on the My Flites page. Sort flight logs by date, tail number, departure and/or arrival airports, and total time for easy viewing of your flight data.
• Entering a new flight log can be simple or detailed ... we leave it up to you. You can enter as little as your departure/arrival time and place along with an aircraft, but you would be missing the opportunity to tell your story. Add details on the number and types of piloting hours and landings to more accurately describe your flight.
• Enter the weather conditions of your flight (temperature, dew point, barometric pressure, visibility, cloud coverage, cloud ceiling, wind direction, and wind speed). This information is used in the compilation of your Flite Reports described later.
• Make a journal entry for your flight and attach photos to your flight log through the Flite Photo module (covered tomorrow) so everyone can share in your experience.
• Have you ever wondered what your flying tendencies are? Flite Reports provides you with a report based upon the data you enter in each of your flight logs. Enter a date range and create a report that provides the following information: types of piloting hours broken down by number and percentage, average flight length, shortest and longest flights, flight frequency, most visited airport, number and percentage of full stop and touch/go landings, and number and percentage of flights into different airspace classes. Right now there is one report ... tell us what other types of reports you would like to see and we can provide an option to create additional reports.
• Flite Alerts help you stay on top of all the required (and non-required) proficiency checks dictated by your certificate. Do you have a valid medical certificate and when does it expire? FliteJournal will keep track of this for you and let you know when your expiration date is approaching. Do you want to make sure you are current on your biennial flight review, general VFR experience, and night experience requirements? FliteJournal tracks all that for you also!
• Custom Flite Alerts are a nice additional feature that allows you to set your own proficiency requirements. Do you want to make sure you fly at least a certain number of times in a given period? Set up a custom alert and let FliteJournal track it for you. As with all the built-in flite alerts, FliteJournal will alert you when the expiration date is approaching. The number and types of alerts you can set are limitless so you are sure to be able to track any metric you want in your flying endeavors.

As you can see, Flite Log is much more than just a logbook. It is really meant to be a way to tell and track your story as an aviator. You can make it as simple or detailed as you would like, but I am sure that there are other pilots out there who would love to hear your story. Vist us online at http://www.flitejournal.com and share your story and passion for aviation.

Tomorrow, I will conclude my brief description of the FliteJournal feature overview by covering the Flite Photo module. If you have any questions that I haven't covered, or want to provide feedback, I would love to hear it!

Clear Skies,
Dave Cenker
FliteJournal Admin
http://www.flitejournal.com

[FloridaAviator]

We've all heard it before ... a picture is worth a thousand words. The Flite Photo module is like adding a splash of color to a black and white photograph. It adds a dimension to the FliteJournal community that allows its members to fully immerse themselves in their aviation experiences. Here are a few of the current features in the Flite Photo module at http://www.flitejournal.com.

Flite Photo

• Everyone likes to be able to put a face to the words they see on the screen. You can do this with your fellow FliteJournal members by submitting a photo of yourself and sharing it with others. Whenever someone views your profile or creates a members slideshow (more on slideshows later), they can put a face to your name.
• Whenever you are preparing to visit a new place, it's beneficial to have some pictures giving you an idea of your surroundings. FliteJournal members are able to submit photos of airports and/or points of interest (restauarants, attractions, lodging, etc) so that other pilots have visual references for these entities prior to visiting them. All these photos will be available within the context of the other features already explained earlier (Flite Plan airport page, point of interest page, etc).
• You can add a new dimension to your flight logs by submitting photos from your in-flight experience and attaching them to your Flite Log entry. Anyone viewing your Flite Logs (including yourself) can view these photos within the context of your other flight log information. With a caption as well as a full description, each submitted picture adds a little more detail and life to your story.
• Manage all your photos from your 'My Photos' page ... a central location to see all your submitted photos and add/delete photos as necessary.
• My Slideshows allows you to create dynamic slideshow presentations on the fly. Create a slideshow that shows all the current FliteJournal members. Enter an airport code and display all the photos submitted for the airport and all its points of interest. Compile a slideshow of a fellow user's in-flight images ... choose to select one particular flight log or all the in-flight images supplied by a given pilot.
• One special slideshow option is 'Flight Path'. Much like the Flite Plan feature, enter a departure and destination airport along with a radius value that defines a corridor along your flight path. FliteJournal will create and display a slideshow of all the airports and points of interest along your flight path. This is a great way to see what you're going to be flying by on your next flight and choose a new and interesting place to visit.

FliteJournal is a work in progress. I don't think that I will ever call it 'done'. I want to continue to enhance the functionality and find new and innovative ways to make it more usable for the general aviation community. If you find yourself saying "I wish FliteJournal could do X ...", contact me and let me know. I have some ideas of my own, but I want this site to be a reflection of its members so please voice your opinion!

"When once you have tasted flight, you will forever walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward, for there you have been, and there you will always long to return." Take flight, explore new places, and share it with others ... rekindle the spirit of adventure in aviation and make FliteJournal your point of origin for that journey ...

Clear Skies,
Dave Cenker
FliteJournal Admin
http://www.flitejournal.com

[FloridaAviator]

During the month of July 2009, a new member promotion will be in place to help populate the point of interest database (restaurants, attractions, lodging, etc) at FliteJournal (http://www.flitejournal.com) with information that is helpful to you and your fellow pilots.

All FliteJournal members who submit reviews for ten (10) different points of interest will receive a three (3) month extension to their initial free one (1) month premium membership. In addition, the one (1) FliteJournal member who submits the most reviews for the period from July 1-31, 2009 will receive a free lifetime premium membership at FliteJournal!

All reviews must include a rating value and a comment about the point of interest in question to be valid. If your point of interest does not yet exist in the FliteJournal database, create it first and then submit the review.

If you have any questions, please contact me here. Take to the skies ... then navigate to http://www.flitejournal.com and tell us all about your flight! Clear skies and good luck!

Dave Cenker
FliteJournal Administrator
http://www.flitejournal.com

[FloridaAviator]

For all those pilots who have followed my posts concerning the features available on the FliteJournal site, I have added a slideshow of screenshots for each module showing how FliteJournal can help you and your fellow pilots. The link to the slideshows are under the Services menu on the home page. I hope to add screencasts in place of these slideshows as time permits.

Please check it out and provide any feedback you may have ...

Clear Skies,
Dave Cenker
FliteJournal Administrator
http://www.flitejournal.com