The new flight wizard can be called from various views and the
main window using menus or the
button.
Main window: Menu Edit/Flight or tool bar
Flight logs view: context menu, menu or tool bar
Flights view: context menu, menu or tool bar
Aircraft view: drop an aircraft over the flights view
The wizard tries to fill as many fields as possible in an intelligent way. How many fields may be filled depends on the way the wizard was started and which objects were selected then.
The following selections are used (depending on the preferences):
Flight log: If a log is selected its holder is chosen as pilot. For the log to add the flight her or his latest log is selected.
Person: If a person is selected or determined by the log (see
above), this person is selected as pilot and her or his latest log is
selected as the log to add the flight to. If defaults are defined for
the person these are used as explained below. The picture shows the
defaults, which can be defined for a person. These can be entered when
the person is recorded; they can be modified with the person.
The default duty is taken as the duty of the person on the first pilot
seat. The default flight rule resp. the default launch method is taken
as flight rules resp. launch method (the launch method is optional,
self launch is used if no launch method is selected) for the new
flight. The default aircraft is taken if no a/c selected or if the
selected a/c is ignored because of the preferences.
Aircraft (if the option “Use a/c selection as default a/c” is active), cf. section preferences: If the option is active the selected aircraft is used for the new flight. Otherwise the pilot's default a/c is used if any is defined. If an a/c is dropped on the flights view this a/c is used independent of the preferences. The next paragraph lists another exception (last .
More fields are filled depending on the previous flight: The previous flight's destination airfield is taken as departure airfield for the new flight. The selection of a destination for the new flights depends on the preferences:
If the option “use home base as destination if meaningful” is active and if the pilot's home base is known (see above) it is used as destination.
If the departure airfield is the pilot's home base and if the pilot prefers local flights then the destination is the home base.
If the last flight did not end at the home base, the aircraft of the last flight is selected independent of the selection and the pilot's preferences. Exception: if the a/c has been dropped on the flights view the dropped a/c is selected for the flight.
The number of landings defaults to 1. The date of flight defaults to the current date. The date must be later than the date of the previous flight. All preselected values can be modified, of course. The flight no. as well as the type and class of the used a/c are automatically computed, they cannot be edited resp. can be edited by choosing another aircraft.
In the best case only the times are missing now. The focus is automatically set to the first empty obligatory field. Ideally this is the off-block or take-off time. The first only if the option “usually block times are entered” is active (see section preferences)
To select an airfield it is possible to enter a prefix of the airfield's name or ICAO registration into the field. The widget automatically selects the first airfield which has a name resp. ICAO registration starting with the entered prefix. If the option “Show ICAO airfields only” is selected only those airfields are shown in the combo box.
When all obligatory field are filled (otherwise an error is displayed in the status area at the top of the wizard page) the “finish” button is active and the wizard can create a new flight.
If a flight takes longer than midnights the landing time is entered as if it is before the take-off time (analogous for the block times). The wizard realizes that and asks if 24h should be added to correct the time differences (total time airborne): “The off block, take off, landing, and on block times are not consistent with each other. The times can be corrected by moving take off and on block (if specified) by 24h. (midnight while in the air). Shall we do that?”. If the question is answered with “yes” the times are corrected. Otherwise an error message is displayed and the times can be edited using the wizard. Skylog cannot work with flights taking longer than 24 hours; these are seen as flights with a duration of less than 24 hours.
If some fields are not filled or filled erroneous a message is shown at the top of the wizard indicating the affected field.
Attendants, special time, remarks, and used ratings are entered on the second wizard page.
To add an attendant select a person in the “attendant” combo box. If this person has a default attendant duty (see above) it is automatically selected in the “duty” combo box. Otherwise you have to manually select the attendant's duty. The attendant is added by clicking the “add” button. All attendants can be added this way.
To modify an attendant or his or her duty select the line in the crew table. The combo boxes are filled with this person and his or her duty and can be modified now. Clicking “add” then modifies the crew.
To delete an attendant select the respective line in the crew table and click “remove”.
Special times an remarks are edited in the second wizard page. The special time entry consists of a time and a purpose, e.g. NVFR instruction. The remark is simply text.
Used ratings can be recorded for a flight on the second wizard page. If a rating is selected in the combo box it is automatically added to the list of used ratings. A rating can be deleted if it is selected by clicking the “Remove” button.
This information is currently not used. However, a future version may use this information to check the validity of these ratings in the time limits view.
The “new flights” preferences influence the behaviour of the new flight wizard. The following picture displays the dialog to edit these options.
The option concerning special times is only relevant when creating a new similar flight.
You
can exclude items from selection lists
of combo boxes; this is possible for aircraft and persons.