Booking Sheet
The Booking Sheet is generally the first interface into the Book a Flight system. It can be viewed whether you are logged in or not, and provides a general overview of facilities, bookings and availability for the selected period.
Booking Sheet Layout
The bulk of the Booking Sheet is made up of a table. Down the page are listed the Aircraft, Instructors and Rooms that are available for hire. Across the page are the available timeslots.
At the top of the table are some useful headers. In the top row on the left are a "rewind" arrow, a calendar and a "fast forward" arrow. The arrows allow you at any time to skip forward or backward one day, while the calendar instantly brings you back to the current date.
In the next field, the current date appears in bold red. By clicking on the down arrow, you can access a dropdown list that allows you to choose a date up to a month in the future.
In the final field in this top line, are listed various durations. The default view shows timeslots from 6am to 9pm. These links allow you to change the view to show, for example, midnight to noon only.
Information and Extras
At either end of the second line of the table the current time for sunrise and sunset are provided. In the middle is a simple page title, with a "Thought for the Day" below it. This may be a message that the club needs to pass to pilots before they next fly, or it may be some words of aviation humour / wisdom.
For ease of navigation, there is a gap between each section of the table. This generally contains some useful information for users of the system such as the latest METAR and TAF.
Logging in to the System
Above the table, is some header information and icons for all of the actions that can be carried out. These are a house icon denoting a shortcut to the home page of the Club or Training Organization running the Book-a-Flight system, and an icon allowing the user to log in. If you are a club member, you will have been provided with a username and password to log into the system. Once logged in, a number of additional icons appear, depending on the user's level of access.
Logging in allows an ordinary user to #Create a Booking, to update personal data on the My Details page, and so forth. Non-members are limited to the booking sheet itself and can only view the information.
The "Make a Booking" link is to be found at the top of the booking sheet. The user can review resources before planning when to fly and then make his booking directly.
Booking Sheet Conventions
Availability is indicated on the booking sheet using a green background. A white background indicates timeslots which are already in the past. A pale beige background indicates the resource is not available during that timeslot and cannot be booked.
Bookings are shown as various coloured blocks, each colour having a significance. The name of the person who has made the booking, as well as some brief details, appear within each block. Where descriptive text is too long to fit in the block a "speech bubble" icon appears. Hovering over the icon causes the rest of the description to appear to the right of the text. To the left of the name of the person booking, a Green or Red Tag appears.
Working with your Own Bookings
Create a Booking
Click on the "Make a Booking" link. This causes the booking form to appear above the booking sheet. Fill in each of the following fields by making your selection from the available drop-down lists:
- Date
- Aircraft
- Instructor
- Resource
- Starting at
- Duration
Then fill in the comment field. This should detail the type of flight. In the case of an instructional flight, the exercise or exercises to be covered can be entered. Once the entry is complete, click on the green tick at the end of the line to save it. If you change your mind, of course, you can click on the red cross to cancel it.
Edit the Booking
If you are logged into the system, you may edit any future booking. On the booking sheet, locate the booking you wish to update. You will notice that your own future bookings are shown in yellow, whereas bookings for other people are in duller colours like blue or grey. To the left of your name, you will see some red curved lines. Clicking on these will allow you to edit the booking.
The edit form is laid out precisely the same as the booking form. However above it, you will see some additional information. If the booking is within the next 24 hours, a warning regarding the late cancellation fee will appear. The details of the person who made the booking, together with contact information, is show. This allows an instructor or club to easily contact the member who has made the booking. The dates and times at which the booking has been made and edited are also provided.
To make changes, use the drop-down arrows. When changes are complete, click the green tick to save.
Cancel the Booking
Select the booking to be deleted as for editing.
To delete the booking, click the red cross. Fill in the field which then pops up, requesting a reason for the cancellation, and press the tick to save it.
Bear in mind that in certain instances, a non-utilization fee may be charged for late cancellations. It is for this reason that it is critical to clearly state the reason for the cancellation.
Generate the Authorization Sheet
As the time of the booking approaches, a key will appear to the left of your name. Clicking on this will allow for the generation of an "Autho Sheet".
Red Tag Check
Before the Autho Sheet can be generated, a check is done to ensure the pilot and instructor both conform in terms of the Red Tag System. A link to the relevant page is provided.