Update on March 13, 2003

The small app described here is long since obsolete. I use a HandBase database for my pilot logbook these days. But the following description may give you some ideas on building your own pilot logbook database. Please don't write me and ask for help in getting this thing working, as I don't use it any more.

This is a simple logbook application for the Palm Pilot, so you don't have to carry your paper logbook with you all the time. Record important flight details in the landing field, then transfer them to your paper logbook later. Details follow.

The main screen, which opens when the application is started, displays basic data for all of your flights. (You will need to select type of glider from the pick-list at the top of the screen before you see any flights). From this screen you can move to the other screens, to enter Site data, Glider data, or Flight data. The first time you use the logbook, to save time, you may want to enter the sites and gliders you normally are involved with.

The Site screen has room for the usual site information:

The Glider screen records basic glider information, including serial number (in case your glider is stolen while you are on a road trip, you can use this to identify it to police).

The Flight screen is where you enter all of the details on your flights. There are 3 screens used to capture all of the data. The first screen records the basic information, such as site, glider, duration:

The second Flight screen adds details on takeoff and landing time, gain and distance flown, and flight notes.

The last Flight screen records the weather information.

Lastly, what application would be complete without an About screen?

Bugs

I prefer to call these quirks. Sometimes, after you enter all of the flight information, and press OK to return to the main screen, you'll see that the flight doesn't show up even after you specify the appropriate glider in the pick list. When you return to the Flight screen, you see that the app has forgotten what type of glider you were flying. Choose it again and press OK. Now it should show up on the main screen.

The program used to create this application is Palm Factory. Since that program is provided as freeware for the time being, there can be guarantee that this app won't suddenly lose all of your data, or cause your Palm Pilot to crash. I haven't found this with my own Palm Pilot, but you may have other applications on your machine that conflict with Mid-Air Log. Or, you may just have bad karma. So, back up before you use Mid-Air Pilot Log, and also frequently after you've installed it. No warranty is expressed nor implied.

Download

First of all you need the application itself. Here it is as "Mid-Air_Log.zip", which contains the app as well as several other utilities. In particular, I've provided sample database files which you can practice loading into Excel for viewing on your PC; also a command-line utility (Pilot-xfer) for uploading your Mid-Air Log data from the Palm Pilot to your PC, should you ever want a hard copy of your flights . You'll need an unzip program to expand the app. Included files are shown below.

Since the Mid-Air Log doesn't yet provide an ability to total up flight time by site, glider, month, year, etc., if you need such ability you may want to consider a commercial database program such as HandDBase, a copy of which is included here along with sample databases for it. You can also get HandDBase at PalmGear. April 28, 2001 update: I've stopped using my own app in favour of using HandBase instead - it comes with a good desktop application and a conduit for transferring your files.

 
 Length  Method   Size  Ratio   Date    Time    CRC-32  Attr  Name 
 ------  ------   ----- -----   ----    ----   -------- ----  ---- 
 
Essential files: 
 
  16184  DeflatN   7967  51%  03-05-99  20:25  85b58def --w-  Mid-air Log.prc <-- the Mid-Air Log application 
   2741  DeflatN   1322  52%  03-05-99  21:28  5c3941c8 --w-  Mid-air Log.txt <-- text file describing the app 
    192  DeflatN    132  32%  02-05-99  13:56  efcbdca5 --w-  SiteDB.pdb <-- sample Site database 
    198  DeflatN    138  31%  02-05-99  13:56  51e0d79c --w-  GlidDB.pdb <-- sample Glider database 
    450  DeflatN    322  29%  02-05-99  13:57  41cafc3e --w-  FltsDB.pdb <-- sample Flight database 
 
Nice-to-have files: 
 
    913  DeflatN    563  39%  12-04-99  23:04  848d5f92 --w-  PF2Excel_readme.txt <-- how to use the Excel macro to import your data into Excel. 
 107008  DeflatN  53729  50%  07-02-99  12:29  e9fe6992 --w-  pilot-xfer.exe <-- a program to upload the data to your PC 
   2036  DeflatN   1075  48%  07-02-99  13:04  64af656a --w-  Pilot-xfer_Readme.txt <-- how to use the Pilot-xfer program 
 
Optional files: 
 
  89063  DeflatN  37320  59%  30-04-99  01:56  d09631eb --w-  HanDBase.prc <-- HandDBase application 
   2956  DeflatN    571  81%  30-04-99  20:27  ce73736f --w-  HGClasses.pdb <-- sample Glider types, for HandDBase app 
   2671  DeflatN    591  78%  30-04-99  20:26  e2fdeb72 --w-  HGGliders.pdb <-- sample Glider database for HandDBase app 
   2677  DeflatN    590  78%  30-04-99  20:26  e63e9bac --w-  HGSites.pdb <-- sample Sites database for HandDBase app 
   2796  DeflatN    636  78%  30-04-99  20:27  13ad64b3 --w-  HGFlights.pdb <-- sample Flights database for HandDBase app 
 ------          ------  ---                                  ------- 
 229885          104956  55%                                       13 files in total 

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