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 simple 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 choose a date 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 or school needs to pass to pilots before they next fly, or it may be some words of aviation humour / wisdom. Administrators can edit this from the Events page.
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 as well as 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 
. People who have been duly authorised 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 current bookings.
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 a 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. If your security level allows, 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.
Making and Changing Bookings
The Book-a-Flight system compiles and stores a full history of all interactions with it. Much of this can be viewed via the My Bookings page. The details below cover the absolute basics to create, take up and then pay for a booking.
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.
Confirm your Tag Status
Please note that when viewing your bookings, the Red or Green tag will show to the left of your name. YOU WILL NOT BE ABLE TO CREATE AN AUTHORIZATION SHEET AND GO FLYING UNLESS YOUR TAG STATUS IS GREEN. It makes sense to check and address your Status well in advance, possibly from home if your club has facilities for remote access to Book A Flight.
Before The Booked Flight
As the time of the booking approaches, a key will appear to the left of your name in place of the Red or Green Tag 
. Clicking on this will allow for the generation of an "Authorization Sheet" for the flight.
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 if any additional steps need to be taken to Green Tag yourself. Once you have completed these steps, you will either be notified there is also an outstanding Green Tag action required by your Instructor, or you will be returned to the Booking Sheet. It is not necessary to wait until you are preparing the Autho Sheet in order to Green Tag yourself. You can do so ahead of time. Any changes (such as new Notams) will revert your tag status to red, but the new Green Tag process will then require only that you familiarize yourself with that change.
Complete the Autho Sheet
The Authorization Sheet will mostly auto-complete. Please check all of the information carefully as it is extracted from your Member Details and the details you provided for the booking. Editable fields are:
- The current time
- Generally this can be left as-is. If you are completing the paperwork before leaving home or office, however, do amend it closer to the intended departure time
- Destination
- This would be the destination airfield. If you are departing and returning to the same field, then the name of the departing field should be inserted there (e.g FACT for Cape Town)
- Exercise
- This field will be pre-completed with the details from your booking. You can amend it if plans have changed, or expand on it. Examples might be: "Scenic flight", "Ex 12, 13", "Swellendam Fly-In".
- Instructor / Payment
- Select whether you will be flying Dual with your instructor, or Solo. Specify whether payment will be direct to the Instructor or through the Club. These options are provided in drop-down lists. Note that in some situations all instructor payments are handled through the club or flying school directly, in which case this field is not shown.
- Flight Type
- Select the type of flight from the drop-down list. Options include AbInitio for PPL students, Instrument Rating, and so forth. Private hire and fly falls under the heading of "Other".
- Passenger Details
- If an aircraft with more than two seats is selected, then the option to add passengers becomes available. Fill in the required details for each passenger. Please bear in mind each passenger over 18 will be required to sign the Authorization Sheet. A parent or guardian will be required to sign on behalf of each passenger who is under 18 years of age.
Once you have completed and checked all fields, click Submit. At this point the system will proceed according to the requirements of the specific institution using the Book-A-Flight system. In some instances the Authorization Sheet will now be printed and a PDF version will be generated and stored on file. This can be viewed, printed or emailed as desired. Sign the printed copy and comply with whatever requirements are laid down by your Club or Training Organizations regarding the Club copy. In other instances the authorisation is confirmed online by requesting that the pilot and the instructor key in their respective passwords to confirm their acceptance of any conditions that apply.
Weight Calculation
On the print notification page, a simple mass calculation is performed. This does NOT replace the need for a full mass and balance calculation, but is a handy guideline, as well as a clear warning if weight is excessive. It uses estimated fuel weight. The pilot, instructor and passenger weights are dependant on those provided to the system. No luggage is taken into account.
After the Flight
Generate the Invoice
On completing the Authorization Sheet, your booking will have become a darker shade of orange. This indicates a flight which has been activated. On such a flight, clicking the key icon again , will cause the Invoice sheet to appear. The sheet has three sections, namely "Flight Information", "Folio Information" and "Invoice Detail"
- Flight Information
- Startup and shutdown times
- Update the startup and shutdown times correctly.
- Instructor Code
- Confirm whether the time was Dual or Solo and whether Instructor payment will be Direct or via the Club.
- Folio Information
- Here there should be one line per flight. If the flight comprised multiple legs (say, a cross-country with a stop, or a dual flight out, solo circuits, and a dual return flight) then the "Add Flight" button should be used to increase the number of line entries in this section. On each line entry the following items are editable and should be set correctly.
- Journey
- This should describe the flight leg: FACT-FACT, FACT-FAFK
- No Charge
- Tick this only in the case of a flight for which the pilot will not be charged, for example a test flight or a ferry flight undertaken on behalf of the Club. You can also use a No Charge entry to correct Tacho or Hobbs entries that differ from those that existed at the time you took possession of the aircraft.
- Tacho / Hobbs
- Complete each of these with the correct readings as at the end of the flight leg. Check the entries provided above the fields, as these should indicate the starting times. Report any discrepancy according to club or flight school procedures.
- PIC / Student
- Check each of these fields and select from the drop-down list. For a student flying dual, the Instructor would be "PIC". If the student were to undertake a solo leg, he would become "PIC" and the "Student" field would be marked "none".
- Refresh
- Once you are satisfied that all the information is correct, selecting "Refresh" will populate the "Invoice Details" section.
- Invoice Details
- Briefing
- The duration of the flight will be incremented by a set amount to cover the Instructor's time for any briefing/debriefing associated with the flight itself. The "Briefing" field is intended to allow for the billing of any full briefing which has been given. Fill in the correct duration.
- Landing (Local)
- A minimum of one landing at the field of origin is included in the flight. If additional landings are undertaken, increment the number appropriately. The cost of a local landing is known and will be calculated automatically.
- Landing(Other)
- If landings have been undertaken at a remote field, both the number of landings and the cost per landing must be filled in.
- Refresh
- Once all fields are completed and checked, select "Refresh" to recalculate the invoice to include all updates.
Click "Print" to produce a printed copy of the invoice. You will be returned to the booking sheet. A link at the top allows you to view the PDF of your invoice. This may be printed or emailed according to your requirements. On the booking sheet, your booking will have changed colour to brown. You should now pay for your flight in accordance with the procedures laid down by your Club or Training Organization.
Book A Flight Online Documentation
--Pamela@bookaflight.co.za 09:33, 13 April 2008 (SAST)