Thoughts on two years of APDL use and request for update on previous issues

[hokiepilot]

Often times, we spend so much time posting and reposting on this site, when just a few minutes on the telephone would be so helpful. I would put that on your improvement list... some sort of hotline that could be used at certain times. I realize this is tough since you do not have a dedicated call center. Worse yet, it costs money. I realize that this forum is an excellent resource, but we all seem to encounter our unique little dilemmas that this forum cannot fix. Often times, time is of the essence, and we desperately want to get the problem resolved so that we can move on to more important issues that need to be addressed while we are home. I have used the APDL on and off for nearly two years. It is a good concept and has many potentially beneficial features, however; I felt like a participant in a beta test for these past two years. While I am happy to contribute to the improvement of the product, it is frustrating when it is potentially corrupting my flight time data. The issue I have had to ask myself time and again is, "Can I trust this program to track my data?" I haven't always felt confident, and for that reason, have resorted to my old crew log from time to time. When a new update presents itself, I try to go back to using the APDL. The recent PPC update seems to be doing pretty good, although I haven't retested some of my previous problems yet. Perhaps you could provide a specific update. Were the following issues ever corrected:

1. Required rest page... sometimes information from the previous night was not being included in the 24 hour calculation for rest purposes... in other words, a series of flights may have completed around 22:30 on day#1, and a new series began around 11:00am on day#2. Even thought all these flights should be considered in the day#2 required rest calculation, the day#2 info. is the only info. considered, and day#1 times are replaced with "no activity". I think Paul said this was due to flights that end after midnight zulu or domicile time... can't remember exactly. For whatever reason, the times got dumped out of the req. rest calculation. Any update on this error... was it repaired?
2. Syncing with logbook pro... I fly both the Embraer 145 and 135 aircraft. When I enter a/c data into APDL, I enter the N# and then the a/c type, E145 or E135. When I sync to logbook pro, the sync software asks for a default a/c type, to which I provide E145. PROBLEM: When the data is input to logbook pro, all a/c types go in as E145, even if some of my APDL flight entries are E135. Can't the programs delineate between the two based on the N#'s and enter the appropriate a/c type so that I do not have to go back and manually change line entries in logbook pro? The autosync is kinda pointless if I have to go back and manually repair the information.
3. The pay features are a great try at tracking the complex pay issues of the airline environment. Unfortunately, I cannot use them b/c our damn contracts are so full of legalese and complexities, that no program could ever hope to tackle all these issues. Thanks for trying though. The basics are there.

Please provide an update on the above issues, and give some thought to how you might be able to provide some sort of call support to your repetoire. I know I can sum up my problems quickly on the phone, but over the forums and take a very long time to put into words, the nature of my issues. Sometimes that translation is lost in the volume of the message... know what I mean? Thanks for trying, and please keep striving for improvement so that this tool can become a trustworthy and efficient resource.

 

[bennettrd]

I have used APDL and LBP for a little over a year now and I agree on some kind of phone support on a case by case basis at their descretion. Like I have a tread now that will go on for days to get my problem solved, although I may have caused it a simple phone call to fix would help and could allow more time for the guy's to help others.
As for your #2 I ran into the same problem with the EMB also. Try this:
As a default in Single Sync I used ERJ-145. In APDL when I enter the A/C I enter ie. Tail #, ERJ-140 or ERJ-145 or ERJ-135, then pay. In LBP I added an additional A/C EMJ-145 for simulator time. So in LBP look in the analyser it will list EMJ-145 for sim time and then all the ERJ-135, ERJ-140, ERJ-145 totals individually. Hope that helps.

 

[Paul Auman]

Hokiepilot :

Regarding your required rest issue. Make sure you have the latest version of the Pocket PC or Palm PDA software. If you believe there is still a problem with the required rest calculation please create a support ticket and include the APDL-YYYYM.ddd (PPC) or APDL-YYYYMM.pdb(Palm) files and the logbook page you are testing required rest for.

Regarding LBP and multiply A/C types. With the release of V6.1 of SingleSync we now support this feature. Follow these steps.

1) In APDL on the PDA make sure you enter an aircraft n-number not a type on the logpage legs section.

2) In APDL SingleSync set your most commonly flown type under the default type entry on page three

3) Click Finish. For the Palms (Hotsync).

APDL SingleSync will now lookup the N-Number in Logbook Pro. If it finds a match it will use LBP A/C type and autofill settings. If it does not find a match it will use the default A/C type on page three of APDL SingleSync.

 

[Chris Bena]

Regarding LBP recognizing N-numbers... let's say I flew N701SK (CRJ700) for the first time on a trip last week, it will put the default CRJ200 type, right? Now, when I physically go and change N701SK to CRJ700 in LogbookPro, will it remember that from now on?

 

[Neal Culiner]

Chris,

I just sent you an e-mail of some new information I'm inviting you to investigate.

The next version of Logbook Pro will include a direct integrated version of SingleSync, but much improved and more powerful. It will take the incoming N-Number and find the last use of this N-Number and cross-reference the A/C Type. If not found, the default A/C Type specified will be used.

 

[manson]

Man, that sucks.

So, everytime you use a new AC, you have to remember to go to Logbook pro, and change it? We have 274 airplanes.... not to mention, when i fly a c172... or whatever...

Why can't you just do that on APDL?????????

There's room to do that on the screen.. Please tell me you have a better solution.

 

[mitchican]

Man, that sucks.

So, everytime you use a new AC, you have to remember to go to Logbook pro, and change it? We have 274 airplanes.... not to mention, when i fly a c172... or whatever...

Why can't you just do that on APDL?????????

There's room to do that on the screen.. Please tell me you have a better solution.

Hmm... 274 airplanes, who could that be? I've made it really easy for you here, sorry can't help you with a c172....