SATURDAY 9th. JULY 2011.

MAJOR CHANGES TO OPERATIONS.

As of now ( 1st January 2011 ) the Manchester Hub will adopt the new AutoPirep system, which is currently being used by the Australian, New Zealand, Boston and Gatwick Hubs.

By now, you should all have had an e-mail from me how to get the new system and log on to it. The new system automatically fills in and submits your Pirep. Remember that it starts to record your flight details from when you release your parking brakes until you apply your parking brakes at the end of your flight. Beware, if you apply your parking brakes at any other time than when you actually end your flight, a Pirep will be sent, and your flight deemed to be complete. Your total hours will be automatically updated

ALTERATIONS TO THE FLIGHT SCHEDULES AND AIRCRAFT USED.

As a result of the way the new system operates I am having to revise our Flight Schedules. Until this change is finalised fly any route assigned to you, or choose a Flight from any other Hub's Schedule. The same thing applies to aircraft, until I set  up a fleet for the Manchester Hub, please use any other unallocated aircraft commensurate with the route being flown. 

RECRUITMENT.

We still have a very great need of new pilots, experienced or novice. If you haven't much experience - don't let that hold you back, you'll get all the help you need from the Hub personnel. All you need to do is send an e-mail to me at t.stuchbury@ntlworld.com  with a brief note of your level of experience. Being part of a Virtual Airline gives a "sense of purpose" to your flying, rather than just flying aimlessly around.

CHECK FLIGHTS.

Check Flights may be required to be undertaken at random intervals.

HOLIDAYS

Anyone going on holiday, please let me know so that I can record it on the Flight Roster.

TRAINEES

New pilots (as opposed to transferring pilots) will be assigned a temporary number, limited regarding type of aircraft allowed to be flown, and given the rank of Flight Officer, until such time as they have completed 10 hrs flying time. At this point, they will be allocated a permanent Noble Air number. This is to stop us using up our ever dwindling supply of 4 digit numbers on prospective pilots who "Fall by the Wayside". This is a general Noble Air policy, not just one dreamed up by the Manchester Hub. It will be incorporated into the Operations Manual, which is currently being revised.

WANTED

Anyone reading this News Letter who may be interested in flying with Noble Air, please contact the me, the Hub Captain. We need pilots to boost our ranks. Novices welcome, we all have to start somewhere!

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NOBLE AIR (AUSTRALIA)
USER GUIDE
ONLINE PIREP SYSTEM
VER 2.1
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TABLE OF CONTENTS:
TABLE OF CONTENTS: ................................................................................................ 2
What is the PIREP system: .............................................................................................. 3
ACCESSING THE PIREP SYSTEM FOR THE 1ST TIME: ....................................... 3
THE WEBSITE: ......................................................................................................... 3
THE FRONT PAGE: .................................................................................................. 3
THE PILOT ROSTER: ............................................................................................... 4
LOGGING IN: ............................................................................................................ 4
CHANGING MY DETAILS:........................................................................................... 6
CHANGING EMAIL AND VATSIM ID: ................................................................. 6
SETTING UP YOUR FLIGHT ASSIGNMENTS: .................................................... 7
CHANGING MY LOGIN PASSWORD: .................................................................. 7
FLIGHT ASSIGNMENTS:.............................................................................................. 8
VIEWING YOUR ASSIGNMENTS:......................................................................... 8
CHARTER FLIGHTS: .................................................................................................. 10
VIEWING CHARTER JOBS AVAILABLE: .......................................................... 10
AIRCRAFT: .................................................................................................................... 11
FINDING AN AIRCRAFT TO FLY:....................................................................... 11
CHOOSING BY AIRFRAME:................................................................................. 12
CHOOSING BY AIRPORT: .................................................................................... 13
BOOKING AN AIRCRAFT: ................................................................................... 13
AIRCRAFT MAINTENANCE: ............................................................................... 14
PIREPS: ........................................................................................................................... 15
VIEWING LAST 20 PIREPS: .................................................................................. 15
VIEWING MY PIREPS: .......................................................................................... 16
VIEWING PIREP DETAILS: .................................................................................. 16
SUBMITTING A PIREP: ......................................................................................... 17
FS-ECONOMY FLIGHTS: ........................................................................................... 20
FS-ECONOMY PIREPS: ......................................................................................... 20
FUTURE DEVELOPMENT: ........................................................................................ 21
HISTORY: ................................................................................................................ 21
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What is the PIREP system:
The PIREP (Pilot Report) system is an online database that:
• Tracks all Noble Flights
• Provides comprehensive statistical information
• Issues Assignments to Pilots
• Tracks Locations of Noble Aircraft
• Tracks Maintenance schedules of aircraft
• Tracks Pilot Flying Hours and Aircraft Airframe Hours
• Provides Pilots to view both their and others lodged PIREPs
• Provides booking facility to use Noble Aircraft
• Promotes Pilot Ranks on Flying Hours
• Has the Ability to Book/Add Charter Flights
• Has the Ability to Provide Pilots with Desktop Shortcut for Auto Login
ACCESSING THE PIREP SYSTEM FOR THE 1ST TIME:
THE WEBSITE:
http://www.nobleairaus.com/PIREP/index.php
THE FRONT PAGE:
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The front page consists of 3 main elements, the link to the LOGIN, the link to the PILOT
ROSTER and the Flights Summary.
The Flights summary shows ‘Live’ data from the database including TOTAL PIREPS
logged and the amount of Active Pilots, as well as other useful general information.
THE PILOT ROSTER:
The PILOT ROSTER shows information about the PILOT including the NBL number,
Name, Position in NobleAir, Rank, Current Wings, Total Flight Hrs, Last PIREP date (if
the PIREP is within 30 days it is green, if it has been longer than 30 days it is red) and
whether the pilot is currently flying online using a VATSIM banner.
LOGGING IN:
By default, you login is your NBL number eg. NBL9999G including the (G) rating if you
have one, and the password is ‘password’.
Once you have successfully logged in, you should see in the top bar a ‘PILOTS’ menu.
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After you have successfully Logged In the 1st Time, you have the ability to use the Auto-
Login feature directly from your desktop.
From the PILOTS menu, select ‘Auto Login’.
1. To Download the Auto Login File
Check that the details in the boxes are correct
Click the 'Generate Auto Login File' button and select save.
Save the file to a directory on your computer (not the Desktop)
2. Download the Icon to use on the desktop
Right click on the Link and select 'Save target As'
Save the noble.ico file in the same directory as the Auto Login file
3. Create a shortcut on your desktop
Navigate via 'My Computer' to the directory where you
saved the files and Right click on the noble.hta file
select 'send to' and select 'desktop (create shortcut)
4. Change the Icon for your shortcut
On your Desktop, right click the noble.hta shortcut
Select 'Properties' and click the 'change Icon' button
Navigate to the directory where you saved the files
and select 'noble.ico' and click OK.
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To use the Auto-Login, all you need to do is double click on the Icon on your desktop.
CHANGING MY DETAILS:
CHANGING EMAIL AND VATSIM ID:
In the PILOTS menu select ‘ABOUT ME’
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It is suggested here to enter your correct VATSIM ID if you have one, so your online
indicator on the PILOT ROSTER becomes active when you fly online.
You can also change your email address.
SETTING UP YOUR FLIGHT ASSIGNMENTS:
In the ‘About Me’ Section of the PIREP system is where you set the number of assigned
flights you would like to be allocated to you. Flight Assignments are flights taken
directly from our Flight Schedules and are divided into 4 types:
• Cargo Flights
• Regional Flights
• Domestic Flights
• International Flights
Only Regional Flights are available to Pilots with less than 20hours flight time on the
system, and only Regional and Domestic flights are available to pilots with less than
50hrs flight time on the system. Over 50 hours, all flight types become available.
Any time that you change the number of assigned flights for any category, or any of the
above details and submit this form, all your assigned flights will be re-set and re-issued.
Other Details that you may want changed will require you to contact personnel with
access to the MEMBERSHIP database (normally the Hub Captain or Assistant Hub
Captains).
CHANGING MY LOGIN PASSWORD:
On the MY DETAILS page, click the link to change Password.
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FLIGHT ASSIGNMENTS:
Flight assignments are the Scheduled flights taken directly from our Flight Schedules and
are allocated directly to a pilot. Changing the number of Assigned Flights is done
through the ‘About Me’ section of the PIREP system (see page 6).
VIEWING YOUR ASSIGNMENTS:
In the Pilot Menu of the PIREP system, select ‘My Assignments’
If no aircraft has been booked for a particular assignment, it will show in the right hand
column as ‘not assigned’, to book a plane for a particular flight, click on the assignment
number in the left column.
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A drop down box will appear listing all the available aircraft at the departure location,
you will also notice that there is no loading information of the flight. To book an aircraft,
simply click the ‘Book Aircraft’ Button.
As well as the aircraft now being booked for the assignment, all the load information is
calculated as well based on the capacity of the aircraft type chosen.
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CHARTER FLIGHTS:
Charter Flights serve 2 different purposes, they allow the Pilots to complete a Free Flight
from one airport to another using Noble aircraft, and allow specific jobs (not covered in
the schedules) to be set, booked and completed.
VIEWING CHARTER JOBS AVAILABLE:
On the Pilots Menu, Select ‘Charter Flights’
From here you can pick from a list of charter flights available or enter one of your own.
Clicking on ‘View Details’ of a particular flight will provide more information about the
flight and the ability to book a plane at that location.
Once an aircraft has been booked either by you or someone else, viewing the details will
show the following.
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Charter flights can also be Free Flights for when you feel like flying from one airport to
another in a Noble Aircraft without the need of reason or cause. For Free Flight, no
information is required to be entered. It is possible to book an aircraft for Free Flight use
(see Aircraft Booking)
AIRCRAFT:
FINDING AN AIRCRAFT TO FLY:
(THIS IS NOT APPROPRIATE FOR FS-ECONOMY FLIGHTS -
SEE FS-ECONOMY FLIGHTS SECTION OF THIS DOCUMENT)
There are several ways to find aircraft to fly.
Select ‘Fly Aircraft’ from the PILOTS menu.
You will be presented with two(2) lists.
On the Left are all the types of aircraft you are able to fly, and on the right ‘locations’ of
airports that contain aircraft you are able to fly.
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Each Item in the lists is a clickable link.
CHOOSING BY AIRFRAME:
Clicking on an aircraft type will list all the available aircraft of that type and their
locations.
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CHOOSING BY AIRPORT:
Clicking on an Airport from the Right Hand List will display all the aircraft at that
location.
BOOKING AN AIRCRAFT:
Clicking the ‘FLY’ link from either one of these sources will book that aircraft to you.
When an aircraft has been ‘booked’ to you, only you can PIREP that aircraft. Once you
have successfully PIREP a flight using that aircraft, it will be released for other people to
use at it’s new location.
Eg. Book a aircraft in YMML, fly to Sydney and PIREP the flight – the aircraft location
is changed to YSSY and it becomes available for others to book.
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AIRCRAFT MAINTENANCE:
The total PIREP hours of each airframe by all pilots is tracked and displayed on the
aircraft details page (pictured above).
When an airframe becomes due for maintenance, a ‘spanner’ will appear next to the
aircraft hours. Maintenance becomes due when the aircraft has completed 95% of its
scheduled flight time for maintenance.
Scheduled Maintenance is as follows:
• Large Commercial Jets - 500 Hours
• Turboprop – 200 Hours
• GA / small twins - 50 Hours
It is requested of all Noble Australia pilots that when an aircraft is noticed to be in need
of maintenance, please fly the aircraft back to a recognized service centre (details below):
• Large Commercial Jets - YSSY
• Turboprop – YSSY, YMML, YPAD, YBBN, YPPH
• GA / small twins - Any Major Australian Airport
And in the Flight Type of the PIREP (discussed later) Select ‘Ferry Flight’ and in the
comments section – place the words.. RETURNED FOR MAINTENANCE.
Soon after, the aircraft will be placed in maintenance.
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During maintenance this aircraft will not be available to fly until the aircraft has been
returned to the flight line.
When the maintenance is complete, the maintenance clock is reset and the aircraft
becomes available until the next maintenance cycle is complete.
PIREPS:
VIEWING LAST 20 PIREPS:
In the PILOTs menu, selecting VIEW LAST 20 PIREPS will display a summary of the
last PIREPS lodged on the system.(by all pilots)
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VIEWING MY PIREPS:
In the Pilots menu, selecting VIEW MY PIREPS will display a summary of all the
PIREPS submitted by you to the system.
All of the PIREPS from the old database have been imported into the new system.
VIEWING PIREP DETAILS:
Click on a date link on any of the PIREPs displayed in any of the summary screens will
display the PIREP in much greater detail.
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SUBMITTING A PIREP:
(NOT SUITABLE FOR FS-ECONOMY FLIGHTS –
SEE FS-ECONOMY SECTION)
In the Pilots Menu, select ‘Add a PIREP’
The PIREP screen is broken in 2 sections:
Pilot Details:
The Pilot details section is for general information and cannot be edited in this area, to
edit this information see ‘About Me’ on Page 6. Your current Virtual Location is the last
airport for which you filed an Arrival airport for in a Pilot Report.
Flight Information:
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Note: The default type of flight on the PIREP page is a challenge flight. If you select a
different flight type from the drop down menu, different Items appear.
Assignment Flight Type:
Charter Flight Type:
If you PIREP either an Assigned Flight or a non-freeflight charter, all the relevant
information will be filled in for you including the Departure and Arrival airports, the
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aircraft assigned to that flight, the number of people onboard and the freight component
and the comments associated with that flight.
If you PIREP a FreeFlight charter then the information will need to be manually entered.
Choosing to PIREP an assigned flight will populate the dropdown box with all of your
Assigned flights including Flight Number, From-To and Flight Type.
Choosing to PIREP a non-Freeflight Charter will populate the dropdown box with all the
charter flights currently allocated to you.
The required fields for a successfully submitted PIREP are:
• Aircraft Type & Registration
• Departure and Arrival ICAO
• Duration of Flight
• Fuel Used
Once all the information has been entered correctly, the submit button will illuminate.
After submitting the flight you will receive a status screen of your hours details.
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FS-ECONOMY FLIGHTS:
Fs-Economy flights by nature do not require Noble aircraft to participate, nor would it be
appropriate that you should have to book and fly a plane to the location, to pick up the
work. But it is equally important that the Pilots be credited with the flight time. FSEconomy
flights are not required (and not encouraged) to use the aircraft booking
module.
FS-ECONOMY PIREPS:
The selections chosen to PIREP a FS-ECONOMY flight are slightly different.
Still use the ADD PIREP link in the Pilots Menu.
The flight is submitted using the above aircraft and Flight types. This bypasses all the
checks for moving aircraft from location to another and assigning hours to a particular
airframe, but still credits the pilot with the correct hours.
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FUTURE DEVELOPMENT:
Over the next six months, we hope to add
• Auto Charter Flight generation
• Passenger Manifests
• Better Pilot Location Tracking with various levels of involvement
being able to be set by the Pilot from No Affect to Strict Pilot
Locations (where to move you either fly, or take a jump seat)
HISTORY:
It has been six months now since we first implemented this PIREP system into Noble
Australia. Over that time, there have been many changes hence the re-write of this
manual.
Many Systems have been incorporated into this PIREP system.
Starting with our own database and reviewing many freeware PIREP packages, we
developed a unique easily expandable system for Noble Air Australia. The database
access and processing pages have been developed from the ground up to ensure smooth
transition from one section to another and provide complete data integrity throughout the
entire system, while still allowing us to continually add more modules.
Menu system is freeware Source-code ‘PHPDDM’
PIREP Project Manager & Head Programmer: Ed Watson (NBL3668)
PIREP Software Programmer: Bradley Mathie.

"Copyright © 2011"

This Newsletter and all of its contents are provided to enhance the enjoyment of the simulated airline experience, and are the property of Noble Air. No portions of this manual may be copied, transmitted, republished, or reproduced by any means without the express written consent of the Noble Air Board of Directors."