source: doc/manual/en/index.html@ 660:6676cb122553

Last change on this file since 660:6676cb122553 was 493:3e43541298fb, checked in by István Váradi <ivaradi@…>, 12 years ago

Added the documentation of the bug reporting facility (re #190)
File size: 46.0 KB
Line 
1<html>
2<head>
3 <title>MAVA Logger X User's Manual</title>
4 <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />
5</head>
6<body>
7 <div align="center"><h1>MAVA Logger X User's Manual</h1></div>
8
9 <h2><a name="overview">Overview</a></h2>
10
11 <p>
12 MAVA Logger X is an application that monitors the execution of a
13 Malév Virtual flight, and collects data that can be sent to
14 the <a href="http://virtualairlines.hu">MAVA website</a> for further
15 evaluation. This manual describes how to use this program. To be
16 able to use all features of the program, you need to have a working
17 Internet connection, even if you don't fly on-line on VATSIM or
18 IVAO. However, it is possible to perform a flight completely offline
19 as well.
20 </p>
21
22 <p><a name="flightRating"/>
23 While monitoring your flight, the program continuously checks if your
24 airplane's configuration is always within the parameters prescribed
25 by the airline's operating procedures. For example, you have to turn
26 on or off the various lights of your aircraft according to rules,
27 you cannot exceed certain weight or speed limits, and so on. Any
28 deviation from the expected parameters, also known as a fault, can
29 result in points subtracted from the initial 100 points (or
30 percentage). The result is your <i>flight rating</i>. Some
31 deviations are so serious, that they are deemed <i>NO GO</i> faults
32 and result in the rejection of your flight.
33 </p>
34
35 <p>
36 Besides the faults the program also monitors many other parameters,
37 which are recorded in a textual <a href="#logTab"><i>log</i></a>.
38 This log is sent as a part of your PIREP
39 (<b>PI</b>lot's <b>REP</b>ort), and will be analyzed, and possibly
40 commented on by more experienced pilots of Malév Virtual. This way
41 you can perfect the way you execute your flights.
42 </p>
43
44 <p><a name="flightStages"/>
45 The application breaks up your flight into
46 several <i>stage</i>s. The advancement from one stage to another is
47 detected automatically. These stages and the conditions under which
48 they are entered are as follows:
49 <ol>
50 <li><b>boarding</b>: This is the initial stage when you start the
51 flight.</li>
52 <li><b>push-back and taxi</b>: If you release the parking brakes
53 or your ground speed becomes 5 knots or greater during the
54 boarding stage, your flight enters this stage.</li>
55 <li><b>takeoff</b>: If you turn on the strobe lights
56 during taxi or after a rejected takeoff (RTO). If your plane's
57 strobe lights cannot be detected properly, switching the transponder
58 to mode C causes the program to enter into this stage. If your plane has
59 no strobe lights, the program will track your status after
60 exceeding 50 knots during the <i>taxi</i> stage, and if you lift
61 off within less than 40 seconds, it will be considered a takeoff.</li>
62 <li><b>climb</b>: When you retract the gears or you reach 3000
63 feet altitude AGL with a positive climb rate after takeoff.</li>
64 <li><b>RTO</b>: If you switch off both the landing and the
65 strobe lights, and your speed is reduced below 50 knots while on
66 the ground during takeoff.</li>
67 <li><b>cruise</b>: When the aircraft's altitude is within 2000
68 feet of the cruise altitude and you are climbing.</li>
69 <li><b>descent</b>: If the altitude decreases to more than 2000
70 feet below the cruise altitude during cruise.</li>
71 <li><b>landing</b>: If the gears are lowered and the altitude is
72 less than 2000 feet AGL during descent or go-around.</li>
73 <li><b>go-around</b>: If you retract the gears during landing.</li>
74 <li><b>taxi after landing</b>: When the aircraft is in the
75 ground and its ground speed is below 50 knots after landing.</li>
76 <li><b>end</b>: If the N<sub>1</sub> of the turbines becomes
77 less than 0.5, or the RPM of the piston engines becomes 0 during
78 parking. This is the final stage.</li>
79 </ol>
80
81 <p>
82 To enhance the simulation, the program can play various
83 <a href="#prefsSounds">sound</a> files
84 during the various stages of your flight, such as the announcements
85 made by the flight attendants. These files are supplied with the
86 application, and they can be played automatically, or when you press
87 a certain hotkey in the flight simulator. You can also organize
88 pre-recorded sound files
89 into <a href="#checklistEditor">checklists</a> for the each aircraft
90 type, and these files can also be played back one-by-one when you
91 repeatedly press a key combination in the simulator. See
92 <a href="#prefsSounds">below</a> for more information on this.
93 </p>
94
95 <p><a name="onlineACARSSystem"/>
96 Malév Virtual have implemented an <i>Online ACARS System</i>, which
97 displays the status of the flights in progress. The data appears on
98 the front page of the <a href="http://virtualairlines.hu">MAVA
99 website</a> and also on a
100 <a href="http://virtualairlines.hu/acars2/show.html">map</a>.
101 </p>
102
103 <p><a name="onlineGateSystem"/>
104 Malév Virtual have also implemented an <i>Online Gate System</i>
105 which maintains a database of the aircraft in the airline's fleet
106 and their location. An aircraft may be parked at the Budapest
107 Ferihegy Airport, in which case the number of the gate or stand it
108 is located at is recorded in the database. If so, this number is
109 <a href="#connectPage">displayed</a> to you when starting your
110 flight from Ferihegy, and you are recommended to place your aircraft
111 at the indicated gate or stand in the simulator. If your flight
112 begins at Ferihegy and the aircraft is away (usually due to someone
113 else's flight), you can <a href="#gateSelectionPage">select</a>
114 from which gate or stand you start your flight. The database of the
115 Online Gate System can also be <a href="#gatesTab">displayed</a>
116 by using the application.
117 </p>
118
119 <p>
120 These online systems can only be used when flying online.
121 </p>
122
123 <p>
124 The program can automatically update itself. When it starts up, it
125 checks if there is a newer version available. If so, it downloads
126 its files and replaces the program's current files with the new
127 ones. Then the program is restarted so that you can use the new
128 version. Besides acquiring bug fixes, updating is also important,
129 because the program can be extended with new checks or more refined
130 checks, and if you are using too old a version, the PIREP reviewers
131 may refuse your flight.
132 </p>
133
134 <p>
135 The program also includes a built-in <a href="#bugReportWindow">bug
136 reporting</a> facility, which can be used to report any trouble
137 encountered while using it.
138 </p>
139
140 <h3><a name="gui">Graphical User Interface</a></h3>
141
142 <p>
143 The GUI of the application is made up of traditional building blocks
144 (buttons, checkboxes, lists, text entry boxes, etc.) found in other
145 applications as well. Many such controls have informative tooltips
146 that supplement the contents of this User's Guide in helping you
147 using the application. Many controls are also accessible by pressing
148 the <b>Alt</b> plus the underlined letter in the control's label.
149 </p>
150
151 <p>
152 The most often used part of the program is the main window, to be
153 described in detail below. When you minimize or close the window, it
154 disappears by default, but the program continues to run. You can
155 redisplay the window by clicking on the tray icon of the program,
156 which looks like the one on the picture below.
157 </p>
158
159 <div align="center">
160 <table>
161 <tr>
162 <td>
163 <img src="statusIcon1.png" alt="The status icon" hspace="20"/>
164 </td>
165 <td>
166 <img src="statusIcon2.png" alt="The status icon menu" hspace="20"/>
167 </td>
168 </table>
169 </div>
170
171 <p>
172 If you click on the tray icon when the program's window is hidden,
173 the window will be displayed. If you hover the mouse pointer over
174 the icon, the flight stage and the current rating will be
175 displayed. The tray icon has a right-button menu as well with the
176 following items:
177 <ul>
178 <li><b>Show main window</b>: displays or hides the main window.</li>
179 <li><b>Show monitor window</b>: displays or hides the
180 <a href="#monitorWindow">monitor window</a>.</li>
181 <li><b>Quit</b>: quit the application. A confirmation window will
182 be displayed.</li>
183 </ul>
184 </p>
185
186 <p>
187 You can also quit the application by selecting the <b>File/Quit</b>
188 menu item, or by pressing <b>Ctrl+Q</b>.
189 </p>
190
191 <p>
192 If you start the application, when it is already running, the main
193 window of the already running instance will be displayed instead of
194 starting a new instance of the program.
195 </p>
196
197 <h2><a name="mainWindow">The Main Window</a></h2>
198
199 <p>
200 The figure below depicts the main window of the application. The top
201 of it contains the usual menu bar, which will be described in more
202 detail later. The content area consists of several tabs the use of
203 which is described below.
204 </p>
205
206 <a name="mainWindowShot"/>
207 <div align="center"><img src="mainWindow.png" alt="The main window"/></div>
208
209 <p>
210 The bottom of the window is a status bar. Its left side contains the
211 icon indicating the status of the connection to the simulator. Since
212 the application continuously monitors the parameters of your
213 aircraft, it needs to communicate with the simulator. The icon's
214 colour indicates the health of this communication channel.
215 </p>
216
217 <p>
218 If it is grey, the program is not connected. This is normal before
219 and after the flight. If it is green, the connection is alive and
220 working properly. If it is red, the connection is broken. In this
221 case a dialog window is displayed. The most likely cause for such a
222 disruption is the crash of the simulator. If this is the case,
223 restart the simulator and try to restore the flight to a state as
224 close to the one before the crash as possible. Then click
225 the <b>Reconnect</b> button, and the program will try to
226 re-establish the connection to the simulator. It preserves all data
227 of your flight, so you can continue where you left off easily.
228 </p>
229
230 <p>
231 If the reason for the failure of the connection is something else,
232 do whatever is needed to be done to restore it. Of course, it is
233 possible that the logger application itself fails, in which case
234 you, unfortunately, have to restart the flight. Do not forget to
235 notify the author if this happens. In this case, try to copy and
236 save the <a href="#debugLog">debug log</a> and send it with your bug
237 report.
238 </p>
239
240 <p>
241 If you click the <b>Cancel</b> button in the reconnection dialog,
242 the logger will be reset as if it were stopped and restarted.
243 </p>
244
245 <p>
246 To the right of the connection status icon, you can see the current
247 <a href="#flightStages">stage</a> of the flight, if the monitoring
248 has begun. Otherwise it is a single dash. It is followed by the
249 simulator time, if the program is already connected to the
250 simulator. Then comes the current <a href="#flightRating">flight rating</a>.
251 </p>
252
253 <p>
254 The right of the status bar is normally empty, but if there is some
255 potentially long operation going on (typically communicating with
256 the MAVA servers), information about the operation is displayed
257 here. This is accompanied by the cursor becoming that of signaling
258 a busy state and most parts of the main window becoming
259 unresponsive.
260 </p>
261
262 <h3><a name="tabFlight">The Flight Tab</a></h3>
263
264 <p>
265 The flight tab is the most important tab. It consists of a sequence of
266 pages similar to wizards found in many programs. The first several of
267 these pages guide you through the various steps of the preparations
268 for your flight, while the last pages allow you to enter some
269 information about your flight necessary for its evaluation and to
270 send the PIREP (Pilot's Report) assembled by the program to the MAVA
271 server.
272 </p>
273
274 <p>
275 Each page has a title at the top indicating the purpose of the
276 page. There is a short text below this, which describes what the
277 page contains and/or what is expected from you to do with the page.
278 Below the text you can find the main information and possibly data
279 entry areas for the page. Finally, you can find the button row at
280 the bottom.
281 </p>
282
283 <p>
284 Most of the pages contain two buttons: <b>Next</b> and
285 <b>Previous</b>. These help in navigating between the pages. In most
286 cases you can go back to previously visited pages by using
287 the <b>Previous</b> button, although you cannot edit the contents of
288 some of the pages once finalized by moving to the next page using
289 the <b>Next</b> button. There are a few exceptions though, as
290 detailed below.
291 </p>
292
293 <p>
294 Many of the pages also contain a <b>Cancel flight</b>
295 button. Clicking this button will allow you to cancel the flight and
296 go back to the <a href="#flightSelectionPage">flight selection</a>
297 if you have logged in to the MAVA server, or to the login page, after
298 a confirmation of your intent.
299 </p>
300
301 <h4><a name="loginPage">The <i>Login</i> Page</a></h4>
302
303 <p>
304 The program starts with the Login page (see the
305 <a href="#mainWindowShot">picture</a> above) where you can enter the
306 your pilot's ID and password for the MAVA website. Both data are
307 given to you when joining Malév Virtual. The pilot's ID usually
308 starts with the letter <q>P</q> followed by three digits.
309 </p>
310
311 <p>
312 If you check <b>Remember password</b>, the password will be saved by
313 the program, so you don't have to enter it all the time. Note,
314 however, that the password is saved in a readable form into a
315 configuration file, so use this possibility only if your home
316 directory can be accessed only by people you trust. The pilot's ID
317 is saved anyway.
318 </p>
319
320 <p>
321 If you are about to perform the entrance flight, check
322 <b>Entrance exam</b>. In this case you don't have to (and cannot)
323 enter the password, as that is not needed for the entrance exam.
324 </p>
325
326 <p>
327 The login to the MAVA server, and proceed to the next page, press
328 the <b>Login</b> button.
329 </p>
330
331 <p>
332 If you would like to fly without an Internet connection, use
333 the <b>Fly offline</b> button. This immediately takes you to the
334 next page, without trying to log in to the MAVA server.
335 </p>
336
337 <h4><a name="flightSelectionPage">The <i>Flight selection</i> Page</a></h4>
338
339 <img src="flightSelection.png" alt="The Flight selection page"/>
340
341 <p>
342 This page displays the list of the flight you have booked previously
343 on the MAVA website, if you have <a href="#loginPage">logged in</a>
344 properly. If you chose to fly offline, the list is empty.
345 </p>
346
347 <p>
348 If you have selected a flight, you can also save it by using
349 the <b>Save flight</b> button. This is useful when planning to fly
350 offline at some later time. When preparing for that flight, you can
351 properly log in to the MAVA server, and acquire the list of your
352 booked flights. Then you can save the flight you wish to perform
353 later offline, on which occasion, you can load the saved flight.
354 </p>
355
356 <p>
357 You may need to refresh the list of flights. For example, you notice
358 that you have forgotten to book the flight you want to perform. Then
359 you can book the flight on the MAVA website, and press
360 the <b>Refresh flights</b> button to update the list.
361 </p>
362
363 <p>
364 You can also load a flight from a file by pressing the <b>Load
365 flight from file</b> button. This displays a file selection dialog
366 where you select the flight file (usually with a suffix
367 of <code>.vaflight</code>). This is mostly useful when flying
368 offline, or during the entrance exam.
369 </p>
370
371 <p>
372 Select a flight from the list, and press the <b>Next</b> button to
373 proceed with that flight.
374 </p>
375
376 <h4><a name="gateSelectionPage">The <i>LHBP gate selection</i> Page</a></h4>
377
378 <img src="gateSelection.png" alt="The LHBP gate selection page"/>
379
380 <p>
381 This page is displayed after the flight selection page only if your
382 flight starts at the Budapest Ferihegy Airport and the number of the
383 gate or stand at which your aircraft is located cannot be
384 determined.
385 </p>
386
387 <p>
388 Select a number from the list presented, and press <b>Next</b>.
389 </p>
390
391 <h4><a name="connectPage">The <i>Connect to the simulator</i> Page</a></h4>
392
393 <img src="connect.png" alt="The Connect to the simulator page"/>
394
395 <p>
396 This page displays some important information about your flight,
397 such as the type and tail number of the aircraft to use, the
398 departure airport and possibly the gate.
399 </p>
400
401 <p>
402 Select the aircraft indicated and park it at the departure airport
403 in the simulator,
404 then press <b>Connect</b> to establish the connection with the
405 simulator. If the connection cannot be established, a dialog will be
406 displayed about it, and you can <b>Try again</b> the connection
407 or <b>Cancel</b> to go back to the flight selection or to the login page.
408 </p>
409
410 <p>
411 Note, that after a successful connection, the monitoring of your
412 flight does not begin immediately, but some data can be queried by
413 the logger at this stage.
414 </p>
415
416 <h4><a name="payloadPage">The <i>Payload</i> Page</a></h4>
417
418 <img src="payload.png" alt="The Payload page"/>
419
420 <p>
421 This page displays the components of the flight's payload and the
422 calculated Zero-Fuel Weight (ZFW). You can modify all input data,
423 but generally it is needed to enter the cargo weight you determined
424 for the flight, if it is different from 0. You can also press the <b>ZFW
425 from FS</b> button, which queries the ZFW from the simulator and
426 displays the retrieved value. If the ZFW calculated from the payload
427 data differs too much from the queried one, the calculated value is
428 displayed in red. This the right time to set up the payload in the
429 simulator. If you forget about it, it will be a NO GO fault.
430 </p>
431
432 <p>
433 If you have finished with this page, press the <b>Next</b>
434 button. At this point, the <a href="#helpTab"><i>Help</i> tab</a>
435 becomes available, which you can use if you have failed to set up
436 the correct payload in the simulator. See a more detailed
437 description of it <a href="#helpTab">below</a>.
438 </p>
439
440 <h4><a name="timePage">The <i>Time</i> Page</a></h4>
441
442 <img src="time.png" alt="The Time page"/>
443
444 <p>
445 This page displays the departure and arrival times of your
446 flight in UTC. Press the <b>Time from FS</b> button to query the
447 current UTC time of the simulator. To be able to simulate the real
448 lighting circumstances of the flight, the simulator's time should match
449 the time of the flight according to the schedule. Therefore you are
450 expected to set the simulator's time properly. It is recommended to
451 set it to about 15 minutes before the departure at this stage so
452 that you have enough time to set up your flight.
453 </p>
454
455 <p>
456 When you have set the time of the simulator properly, press
457 the <b>Next</b> button.
458 </p>
459
460 <h4><a name="fuelPage">The <i>Fuel</i> Page</a></h4>
461
462 <img src="fuel.png" alt="The Fuel page"/>
463
464 <p>
465 This page contains a graphical representation of the fuel tanks of
466 your aircraft. The yellowish colour represents the current level of
467 the fuel in the tank, and turquoise slider is the expected level,
468 which is also displayed numerically (in kilograms) below each graph.
469 </p>
470
471 <p>
472 You can enter the requested amount of fuel numerically, or you can
473 set it by the turquoise sliders, though this method is less accurate. The
474 lever can be moved by clicking withinin the fuel tank's representation,
475 and you can drag it if you keep the button pressed. If your mouse
476 has a wheel, that can also be used to modify the expected level. To
477 use the wheel, keep the mouse pointer within the fuel tank's
478 graphic. Each click of the wheel increment or decrements the amount
479 by 10 kilograms. If you hold down the <b>Shift</b> key, the
480 increment will be 100, if you hold down the <b>Ctrl</b> key, the
481 increment will be 1.
482 </p>
483
484 <p>
485 When all tanks have the correct amount of fuel set, press
486 the <b>Next</b> button. This causes the pumping of the fuel to
487 start. The progress is represented by the yellowish fuel bars
488 growing or shrinking (fuel may be pumped out of a tank as
489 well). This is a relatively quick process and should finish within a
490 few seconds.
491 </p>
492
493 <h4><a name="routePage">The <i>Route</i> Page</a></h4>
494
495 <img src="route.png" alt="The Route page"/>
496
497 <p>
498 This page displays the cruise level and the flight plan route. The
499 cruise level starts out at FL240, but the route comes from the
500 booked flight. Set the cruise level to the one you have calculated
501 with, and modify the flight plan if needed. For example, if you will
502 enter some airspace that will require you to change the flight
503 level, you should add that here.
504 </p>
505
506 <p>
507 When satisfied with the information on the page, press
508 the <b>Next</b> button to advance. Note, that these data can be
509 edited later as well if you come back to this page.
510 </p>
511
512 <h4><a name="briefingPage">The <i>Briefing</i> Pages</a></h4>
513
514 <img src="briefing.png" alt="The Briefing page"/>
515
516 <p>
517 These pages display the NOTAMs and the METAR for the departure and
518 the arrival airports. You can edit the METAR if your network
519 provides a different weather, or you do not fly with real
520 weather. The METAR of the arrival airport will be updated when
521 entering the landing stage, unless you have edited it before. The
522 METARs can be edited during the whole duration of the flight. If you
523 do so, please, comment on it in the <i>Comments</i> section of
524 the <a href="#flightInfoTab"><i>Flight info</i> tab</a>.
525 </p>
526
527 <p>
528 On the second briefing page (that of the arrival airport), confirm
529 that you have read the briefing and are ready to start the flight by
530 clicking the button. This begins the monitoring of your flight with
531 the boarding stage.
532 </p>
533
534 <h4><a name="takeoffPage">The <i>Takeoff</i> Page</a></h4>
535
536 <img src="takeoff.png" alt="The Takeoff page"/>
537
538 <p>
539 On this page you have to enter the name of the departure runway, the
540 name of the Standard Instrument Departure procedure you follow after
541 takeoff and the takeoff V-speeds. While you can edit these data
542 anytime, it is recommended to do so before takeoff.
543 <p>
544
545 <p>
546 Note that if you are flying one of the Tupolev or Yak aircraft, the
547 page will look different, as speeds will have to be entered in
548 kilometres per hour.
549 </p>
550
551 <p>
552 For most aircraft in the fleet you should also enter the takeoff
553 derate setting. Its exact format and value depends on the type.
554 </p>
555
556 <p>
557 You can also select here whether you have turned on any anti-ice
558 systems (apart from the pitot heat). However, for most aircraft, the
559 logger can detect the setting, and if anti-icing is turned on, the
560 check box will be checked automatically. If you have checked it
561 yourself, it will not be unchecked by the program (unless it gains
562 self-awareness sometime in the future).
563 </p>
564
565 <p>
566 You can proceed to the next page after takeoff, and if all data has
567 been entered, by pressing the <b>Next</b> button.
568 </p>
569
570 <h4><a name="cruisePage">The <i>Cruise</i> Page</a></h4>
571
572 <img src="cruise.png" alt="The Cruise page"/>
573
574 <p>
575 This page displays your cruise altitude as set on the
576 <a href="#routePage">Route page</a>. If you need to modify your
577 cruise level due to airspace requirements, step climb or any other
578 justified reason, you can set the new level here and then press
579 the <b>Update</b> button when you have reached the specified level.
580 </p>
581
582 <p>
583 If you are preparing for landing, you can press the <b>Next</b>
584 button to go to the next page.
585 </p>
586
587 <h4><a name="landingPage">The <i>Landing</i> Page</a></h4>
588
589 <img src="landing.png" alt="The Landing page"/>
590
591 <p>
592 On this page you have to enter the name of the STAR and/or
593 transition you planned to follow (even if you get a different one,
594 or simply vectors from ATC, in which case add a
595 <a href="#flightInfoTab">comment</a> about it),
596 the approach type (e.g. <q>ILS</q>, <q>VOR</q>, <q>VISUAL</q>,
597 etc.), the name of the landing runway, and the landing reference speed,
598 V<sub>ref</sub>. You can enter this data during the flight, or after
599 you have landed, at your discretion. Note, that if you fly one of
600 the Tupolev or Yak aircraft, the speed will have to be entered in km/h.
601 </p>
602
603 <p>
604 This page also contains a checkbox for the anti-ice system, which is
605 handled the same way as the one on
606 the <a href="#takeoffPage">Takeoff page</a>.
607
608 <p>
609 When you have entered all data, press the <b>Next</b> button. It is
610 active only, if the flight has ended.
611 </p>
612
613 <h4><a name="finishPage">The <i>Finish</i> Page</a></h4>
614
615 <img src="finish.png" alt="The Finish page"/>
616
617 <p>
618 This is the final page of the flight wizard. It contains a summary
619 of your flight: the rating, the flight and block times, the distance
620 flown and the amount of fuel burnt.
621 </p>
622
623 <p>
624 You also have to provide a few pieces of information. You have to
625 select the type of the flight from the list provided (scheduled,
626 old-timer, VIP, charter) and whether it was an online flight or
627 not. If you arrive at the Budapest Ferihegy Airport, and are using
628 the Online Gate System, you also need to specify the number of the
629 gate or stand you have parked you aircraft at.
630 </p>
631
632 <p>
633 If all necessary data has been entered, and the program is so
634 <a href="#prefsGeneral">configured<a>, it will automatically save
635 the PIREP.
636 </p>
637
638 <p>
639 With all data entered, you may want it review your flight (i.e. the
640 earlier pages or some of the other tabs), then save or send the
641 PIREP created from it. These can be accomplished by pressing one of
642 the buttons at the bottom. A saved PIREP can be loaded later and
643 sent, if the sending fails for some reason. When a PIREP is sent, it
644 becomes available for review by the designated PIREP reviewers of
645 Malév Virtual.
646 </p>
647
648 <p>
649 You can also start a new flight using the <b>New flight</b>
650 button. If you have not saved or sent the PIREP, you will be asked
651 to confirm your intention. When starting a new flight you are taken
652 to the <a href="#flightSelectionPage">flight selection page</a>, if
653 you have logged in to the MAVA server, or to
654 the <a href="#loginPage">login page</a>, if your flight has been an
655 offline flight.
656 </p>
657
658 <h3><a name="flightInfoTab">The Flight info Tab</a></h3>
659
660 <img src="flightInfoTab.png" alt="The Flight info tab"/>
661
662 <p>
663 This tab allows one to enter some additional information about the
664 flight, if necessary.
665 </p>
666
667 <p>
668 The <i>Comments</i> text area should contain any general information
669 that you would like the PIREP reviewer to know about. For example,
670 why you changed the METAR, why you lowered the gears accidentally
671 (i.e. pressed the wrong key on the keyboard), etc.
672 </p>
673
674 <p>
675 The <i>Flight defects</i> text area should contain information about
676 any problems you encountered with the plane during the flight. For
677 example an engine stopped and why (if known), that flaps could not
678 be extended or retracted, etc.
679 </p>
680
681 <p>
682 In the <i>Delay codes</i> table you can mark one or more reasons why
683 the flight was delayed, if it was. This table is available only if you
684 have already selected the flight, since its contents depend on the
685 type of the aircraft being flown.
686 </p>
687
688 <h3><a name="helpTab">The Help Tab</a></h3>
689
690 <img src="helpTab.png" alt="The Help tab"/>
691
692 <p>
693 This tab provides some help for calculating and setting the payload
694 weight of the aircraft. It can be used once the
695 <a href="#payloadPage"><i>Payload</i></a>
696 (i.e. the cargo weight) is finalized. To use this tab, check
697 the <b>Using help</b> checkbox. It causes the page to become
698 sensitive and filled with data. Note, that the fact of using the
699 help is <a href="#logTab">logged</a>, so the PIREP reviewers will
700 know about it.
701 </p>
702
703 <p>
704 The most important information is after the <i>Payload:</i> label,
705 which is the payload weight of the aircraft. This value should be
706 set in the simulator as the airplane's payload weight. By pressing
707 the <b>Simulator data</b> button, the data coming from the simulator
708 can be queried and displayed. If the data is out of the tolerances,
709 it is displayed in red, otherwise in green.
710 </p>
711
712 <p>
713 The gross weight is also displayed with some maximum weights of the
714 aircraft, so it can be checked or estimated if you will remain within
715 those maximums during the flight.
716 </p>
717
718 <h3><a name="logTab">The Log Tab</a></h3>
719
720 <img src="logTab.png" alt="The Log tab"/>
721
722 <p>
723 This is the main log of your flight that will be analyzed by the
724 PIREP reviewers. Its contents is generated automatically by the
725 program, and most lines are prefixed by the simulator times the
726 information in the given line belongs to.
727 </p>
728
729 <p>
730 While the log's contents is mainly useful for PIREP reviewers, it
731 can come handy when things start to happen very fast, and you have
732 no time check each fault message passing by (if you have enabled
733 such messages at all). Later, when things calm down, you can check
734 the log to see what happened exactly, so that you know why so many
735 fault points have been awarded. For example, you may even decide to
736 abort the flight, if you think some of the faults are too
737 embarrassing :) For quick identification, the lines containing the
738 fault messages are highlighted.
739 </p>
740
741 <h3><a name="gatesTab">The Gates Tab</a></h3>
742
743 <img src="gatesTab.png" alt="The Gates tab"/>
744
745 <p>
746 This tab displays information retrieved from
747 the MAVA <a href="#onlineGateSystem">Online Gate System</a>.
748 If the program needs to retrieve data, this tab's contents
749 are refreshed automatically, but you can also refresh them manually
750 anytime using the <b>Refresh data</b> button.
751 </p>
752
753 <p>
754 The left side of the tab contains the fleet information. The tail
755 number of each aircraft is listed with the plane's status, as known
756 by the Online Gate System. The two major statuses are <i>LHBP-nn</i>
757 and <i>AWAY</i>. The former indicates that the aircraft is parked at
758 the Budapest Ferihegy Airport at gate or stand <i>nn</i>, while the
759 latter one denotes that the airplane is parked at another
760 airport. Another possible status is <i>PARKED</i>, which means that
761 the airplane is parked somewhere at the Ferihegy Airport, but we
762 (or at least the Gate System) don't know where. It may happen that
763 several aircraft are parked at the same gate or stand at
764 Ferihegy. In this case the tail numbers and the statuses of those
765 airplanes are displayed in red.
766 </p>
767
768 <p>
769 The right side contains the list of the numbers of the gates and
770 parking positions. A number is black if no aircraft is positioned at
771 the corresponding gate or stand, and it is orange, if the location
772 is occupied.
773 </p>
774
775 <h3><a name="debugLog">The Debug log</a></h3>
776
777 <img src="debugLogTab.png" alt="The Debug log tab"/>
778
779 <p>
780 This tab is not visible by default, but can be displayed by
781 selecting <b>View/Show debug log</b> or by
782 pressing <b>Ctrl+D</b>. It is another kind of log, which is mainly
783 useful for debugging. If you experience some problem with the
784 program, please, include the contents of this log with your bug
785 report. It can help a lot with finding a solution to the problem.
786 </p>
787
788 <h2><a name="loadingPIREPs">Loading PIREPs</a></h2>
789
790 <p>
791 Saved PIREPs can be loaded and sent by the program. This can
792 become necessary, for example, if you cannot send a PIREP due to
793 some network problem right after your flight, or when you
794 deliberately performed a flight without connecting to the Internet.
795 </p>
796
797 <p>
798 To load a PIREP select the <b>File/Load PIREP...</b> menu option or
799 press the <b>Ctrl+L</b> key. A file selection dialog appears, from
800 which you can select the PIREP to load. If you select a valid PIREP
801 file, it will be loaded and a new window will be displayed with the
802 most important data of your flight. By clicking <b>Send
803 PIREP...</b>, the PIREP will be sent (or at least an attempt will be
804 made at sending it). A dialog window will be displayed about the
805 results of the attempt.
806 </p>
807
808 <div align="center">
809 <img src="pirepLoaded.png" alt="The loaded PIREP window"/>
810 </div>
811
812 <p>
813 You may also want to view a saved PIREP, for example, if it is a
814 PIREP about an entrance exam flight. To do so, click the <b>View
815 PIREP...</b> button. This displays the PIREP viewer window, which
816 groups the data into three tabs. The <i>Data</i> tab contains the
817 itemized data of the flight. The <i>Comments & defects</i> tab
818 displays the comments and or flight defects entered by the
819 user. The <i>Log</i> tab contains the flight log.
820 </p>
821
822 <div align="center">
823 <img src="pirepViewer.png" alt="The PIREP Viewer"/>
824 </div>
825
826 <h2><a name="checklistEditor">Editing checklists</a></h2>
827
828 <img src="checklistEditor.png" alt="The Checklist Editor"/>
829
830 <p>
831 The checklists are lists of audio files. When checklist playback is
832 enabled (see the <a href="#prefsSounds">description</a> of
833 the <i>Preferences</i> window below), and there is a checklist for
834 the type of the aircraft used for the flight, the files constituting
835 the checklist can be played one-by-one by pressing the checklist
836 hotkey repeatedly.
837 </p>
838
839 <p>
840 The checklist editor window allows for editing the checklists. It
841 can be displayed by selecting <b>Tools/Checklist Editor...</b> or
842 pressing <b>Ctrl+C</b>. The top of the window contains an aircraft
843 type selector.
844 </p>
845
846 <p>
847 The files making up the checklist for the currently selected aircraft
848 are displayed on the right. You can move a file up or down by
849 dragging it with the mouse. You can also select one or more files
850 from the list. Then you can remove them with the <b>Remove</b>
851 button, or move them up or down by pressing <b>Move up</b>
852 and <b>Move down</b>.
853 </p>
854
855 <p>
856 To add new files to the checklist, select them in the file selector
857 on the left, and press <b>Add to checklist</b>. The file(s) will be
858 appended to the end of the checklist.
859 </p>
860
861 <p>
862 Note, that any changes you make are effective only if you press
863 the <b>OK</b> button when having finished the modifications. If the
864 flight has already started, no changes made to the corresponding
865 checklist have any effect during the flight (i.e. you will still use
866 the old checklist, or no checklist if there was none).
867 </p>
868
869 <h2><a name="calloutsEditor">Editing approach callouts</a></h2>
870
871 <img src="calloutsEditor.png" alt="The Approach callouts Editor"/>
872
873 <p>
874 The approach callouts are audio files specific to aircraft types, that are
875 played back during approach when passing certain altitudes. The
876 approach callouts editor window allows editing the list of these
877 callout files for each aircraft. The window can be displayed by
878 selecting <b>Tools/Approach Callouts Editor...</b> or by pressing
879 <b>Ctrl+E</b>.
880 </p>
881
882 <p>
883 The top part of the window displays the selector of the aircraft
884 type. Below it, you can find two buttons on the left, and the list
885 of the callouts with the altitudes they belong to on the right. The
886 list displays only the filename portion, but the if you hover the
887 cursor above an item, the full path will be displayed. The list is
888 always sorted according to the altitude, but you change the order
889 from descending to ascending.
890 </p>
891
892 <p>
893 The <b>Add new callout</b> button shows a file selection dialog
894 window. After selecting a file, it will be added to a list with some
895 altitude, which can be edited immediately. If the name of the file
896 contains a number that is possible as an altitude, that will be used
897 as the altitude given to the file, otherwise some meaningful default
898 is selected based on the lowest or highest altitude.
899 There can be no two files with the same altitude. If you set an
900 altitude, which is already present in the list, a dialog box will be
901 displayed, and you can choose to replace the old file or to continue
902 editing. To edit an altitude already in the list, select that row,
903 and click on the altitude again.
904 </p>
905
906 <p>
907 If you select one or more items in the list, the <b>Remove</b>
908 button becomes available, and pressing it will remove the selected items.
909 </p>
910
911 <p>
912 Note, that any changes you make are effective only if you press
913 the <b>OK</b> button when having finished the modifications. If the
914 flight has already started, no changes made to the corresponding
915 list of callouts have any effect during the flight.
916 </p>
917
918 <h2><a name="prefs">The Preferences Window</a></h2>
919
920 </p>
921 The Preferences window can be displayed by
922 selecting <b>Tools/Preferences</b> or by
923 pressing <b>Ctrl+P</b>. Here you can set options that you usually
924 don't have to change for every flight. This window consists of
925 tabs grouping the options logically.
926 </p>
927
928 <h3><a name="prefsGeneral">The <i>General</i> Tab<a></h3>
929
930 <img src="prefsGeneral.png" alt="The General Tab of Preferences"/>
931
932 <p>
933 These are some general settings for various parts of the
934 program. The <i>GUI</i> frame contains options regarding the
935 behaviour of the graphical user interface. The <i>Language</i> combo
936 box can be used to selected what language the program should
937 use. Currently English and Hungarian are supported. The value
938 of <i>system default</i> means that the operating system's default
939 language is used if it is one of the supported ones or English
940 otherwise. Note, that the program must be restarted for the change
941 to take effect if you modify this setting. If the <b>Hide main window
942 when minimized</b> checkbox is checked, and you minimize the window,
943 it will actually disappear completely (i.e. not appear among the
944 other minimized windows). You can make it appear by using the tray
945 icon. If the <b>Quit when the window close button is clicked</b>
946 checkbox is checked, the program will quit, after you have confirmed
947 it. Otherwise it will just disappear, and you can use the tray icon
948 to display it again.
949 </p>
950
951 <p>
952 The <i>MAVA Online Systems</i> frame contains settings related to
953 the online systems of MAVA, the <a href="#onlineGateSystem">gate</a>
954 and the <a href="#onlineACARSSystem">ACARS</a> systems mentioned
955 above. It is recommended to enable these for normal operations.
956 </p>
957
958 <p>
959 The <i>Simulator</i> frame contains settings for how the program
960 interacts with the simulator. Most options are self-explanatory, but
961 the ones related to smoothing requires some discussion. Flight
962 Simulator is known to produce wind speed changes that are not
963 entirely realistic and can result in the simulated aircraft
964 experiencing some very high indicated airspeeds, which in turn can
965 also cause the autopilot to suddenly increase the climb rate to
966 counter the high speeds or other erratic behaviour. Since these
967 phenomena are difficult to protect oneself against without buying
968 extra products, like FSUIPC, the logger provides the possibility to
969 average the IAS and/or the VS over a few seconds so that spikes in
970 these values are smoothed. The <b>Enable the smoothing of IAS/VS
971 over N sec.</b> options allow controlling this feature. The number
972 of seconds may need experimenting with, but note that every change
973 for which you press the <b>OK</b> button is taken into account
974 immediately.
975 </p>
976
977 <p>
978 If the <b>Save PIREP automatically</b> check box is checked, and you
979 have finished your flight and entered all required data, the PIREP
980 will be saved automatically into the directory given above.
981 </p>
982
983 <h3><a name="prefsMessages">The <i>Messages</i> Tab</a></h3>
984
985 <img src="prefsMessages.png" alt="The Messages Tab of Preferences"/>
986
987 <p>
988 The program can display messages about certain events in the
989 simulator and/or it can play a warning sound when those events
990 occur. The tab allows configuring this.
991 <p>
992
993 <p>
994 The categories of the message are listed on the left. These are the
995 following:
996 </p>
997
998 <ul>
999 <li><b>Logger Error Messages</b>: error messages about the
1000 internal working of the logger.</li>
1001 <li><b>Information Messages</b>: informational messages about,
1002 e.g., the flight stage, the end of an audio checklist, etc.</li>
1003 <li><b>In-flight Stage Message</b>: messages about the flight stage for those stage when the plane is not on the ground</li>
1004 <li><b>Fault Messages</b>: messages about the non-NO GO faults the program detects.</li>
1005 <li><b>NO GO Fault Messages</b>: messages about the NO GO faults the program detects</li>
1006 <li><b>Gate System Messages</b>: messages related to the
1007 <a href="#onlineGateSystem">Online Gate System</a>. For example,
1008 when you have landed at Ferihegy, it can display the list of the
1009 available gates so that you can choose where to park, if there is
1010 no ATC available.</li>
1011 <li><b>Environment Messages</b>: other messages, e.g. the welcome
1012 message when the flight has ended.</li>
1013 <li><b>Help Messages</b>: help messages, e.g. warning about
1014 entering the V-speeds into the Takeoff page before takeoff.</li>
1015 <li><b>Visibility Messages</b>: messages about the visibility
1016 during descent and landing.</li>
1017 </ul>
1018
1019 <p>
1020 There are two checkboxes associated with each messages category. If the
1021 left one (<i>Displayed in FS</i>) is checked, the messages of the
1022 category will be displayed in the simulator. If the right one
1023 (<i>Sound alert</i>) is checked, and a message of the given category
1024 is about to be displayed, a warning sound will be played. It is
1025 mainly intended to accompany the text messages, but the two options
1026 can be controlled separately, so you can select the sound alert, but
1027 not the displaying of the messages. This may be useful if you don't
1028 want these messages to clutter up the windscreen of your aircraft,
1029 but still get some notification that some problem occurred.
1030 </p>
1031
1032 <h3><a name="prefsSounds">The <i>Sounds</i> Tab</a></h3>
1033
1034 <img src="prefsSounds.png" alt="The Sounds Tab of Preferences"/>
1035
1036 <p>
1037 This tab controls how the sounds are played by the application.
1038 </p>
1039
1040 <p>
1041 The top part is for the background sounds. These are pre-recorded
1042 sound files that are played when certain conditions hold during the
1043 flight. Typical examples are the various announcements the flight
1044 attendants make during the flight. The <b>Enable background
1045 sounds</b> checkbox controls whether such sounds are enabled at
1046 all. If the <b>Pilot controls sounds</b> checkbox is enabled, the
1047 pilot should start the playback of these sound files by pressing a
1048 hotkey in the simulator. Note, that you should still be in the right
1049 flight stage (and sometimes fulfill other conditions) to be able to
1050 play the sound files. Also, one file can be played only once. If you
1051 enable this option, the hotkey to press in the simulator can be
1052 selected below. You can choose one of the alphanumeric keys (0-9,
1053 A-Z) optionally combined with one or both of the <i>Ctrl</i>
1054 and <i>Shift</i> modifiers. If this checkbox is not checked, the
1055 sound files will be played automatically.
1056 </p>
1057
1058 <p>
1059 If the <b>Enable approach callouts</b> checkbox is
1060 checked, and you have also <a href="#calloutsEditor">set up</a>
1061 approach callouts for the aircraft being used, you will hear those
1062 callouts during approach.
1063 </p>
1064
1065 <p>
1066 If the <b>Enable speedbrake sound at touchdown</b> checkbox is
1067 checked, you will hear a distinctive sound when the spoilers deploy
1068 automatically after touchdown.
1069 </p>
1070
1071 <p>
1072 The lower part, named <i>Checklists</i> contains some settings
1073 related to the audio checklists belonging to the aircraft. They are
1074 available only if the <b>Enable aircraft-specific checklist</b>
1075 checkbox is selected. In this case another hotkey should be
1076 specified. If you press this hotkey, the next file from the
1077 checklist will be played.
1078 </p>
1079
1080 <h3><a name="prefsAdvanced">The <i>Advanced</i> Tab</a></h3>
1081
1082 <img src="prefsAdvanced.png" alt="The Advanced Tab of Preferences"/>
1083
1084 <p>
1085 This tab contains some settings that you normally should not
1086 change. Currently, these settings are related to the automatic
1087 update. If the <b>Update the program automatically</b> checkbox is
1088 not checked, the automatic update at program start-up will be
1089 omitted. The <i>Update URL</i> text entry field contains the URL
1090 from which to download the updates. Occasionally the developers of
1091 the application may tell you to change this something else, e.g. to
1092 test some development version. Or it may need to be changed due to
1093 organizational reasons, such as moving to a new server, etc.
1094 </p>
1095
1096 <h2><a name="bugReportWindow">The Bug Report Window</a></h2>
1097
1098 <img src="bugreport.png" alt="The Bug Report Window"/>
1099
1100 <p>
1101 The bug reporting window can be used to report any non-fatal bugs
1102 that occur during using the program. Bugs can be reported to
1103 appropriate topic in the MAVA forum, via e-mail or tickets created
1104 by hand on the project's website. However, utilizing this window not
1105 only creates the ticket, it also includes automatically the texts of
1106 the log and the debug log, making the life of the developers
1107 easier. Of course, it might happen that the program crashes in a way
1108 which makes this window inaccessible or to work incorrectly, in
1109 which case you must resort to the other possibilities.
1110 </p>
1111
1112 <p>
1113 The bug report window can be displayed by selecting <b>Tools/Report
1114 bug</b> or by pressing <b>Ctrl+B</b>. The summary must be entered
1115 and it should be a short, one-sentence description or title of the
1116 problem. The <i>Description</i> part is not mandatory, but if you
1117 can think of any useful additional information, you might give it
1118 here. As the program automatically appends the log and the debug to
1119 the description, you should not copy them here. You can also give
1120 your e-mail address to receive automatic notifications of the status
1121 of your bug report, but consider that your e-mail address will then
1122 appear on the project's website in the bug report.
1123 </p>
1124
1125 <p>
1126 By pressing <i>Send...</i>, you can create the bug report. If it is
1127 successful, you will receive a message telling so and including the
1128 ticket's ID that you may refer to later.
1129 </p>
1130
1131 <h2><a name="monitorWindow">The Monitor Window</a></h2>
1132
1133 <img src="monitorWindow.png" alt="The Monitor Window"/>
1134
1135 <p>
1136 The monitor window can be used when debugging the program. You can
1137 display it by selecting <b>View/Show monitor window</b> or by
1138 pressing <b>Ctrl+M</b>. It displays the various parameters from the
1139 aircraft as read from the flight simulator. During flight, it is
1140 updated once per second. If something is not detected properly by
1141 the logger, this window can be used to determine if the problem is
1142 in interpreting and translating the data read from the simulator, or
1143 when the translated data is being evaluated by other parts of the
1144 program.
1145 </p>
1146
1147</html>
Note: See TracBrowser for help on using the repository browser.