source: doc/manual/en/index.html@ 1133:915f7ac6a389

Last change on this file since 1133:915f7ac6a389 was 873:4b541db3659b, checked in by István Váradi <ivaradi@…>, 7 years ago

Updated the documentation
File size: 58.5 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 your ground speed exceeds 50 knots
56 during taxi or after a rejected takeoff (RTO), and then you lift-off in at
57 most 60 second, your flight enters the takeoff stage. The takeoff
58 configuration, however is saved at the time of exceeding 50 knots GS, but
59 will be checked and logged when leaving the ground. If you do not lift-off
60 within 60 seconds of exceeding 50 knots GS, a speed fault will be
61 logged. The same occurs, if your GS decreases to or below 50 knots after
62 having exceeded it earllier. If, however, you check the
63 <i>Rejected takeoff</i> checkbox on the
64 <a href="#takeOffPage"><i>Takeoff</i></a> page, the fault will
65 disappear and your flight will enter the <b>RTO</b> (rejected takeoff)
66 stage.</li>
67 <li><b>climb</b>: When you retract the gears or you reach 3000
68 feet altitude AGL with a positive climb rate after takeoff.</li>
69 <li><b>cruise</b>: When the aircraft's altitude is within 2000
70 feet of the cruise altitude and you are climbing either after takeoff or an
71 aborted approach or landing.</li>
72 <li><b>descent</b>: If the altitude decreases to more than 2000
73 feet below the cruise altitude during cruise.</li>
74 <li><b>landing</b>: If the gears are lowered and the altitude is
75 less than 2000 feet AGL during descent or go-around. Also when you start
76 to descend during a climb and the previous conditions also hold.</li>
77 <li><b>go-around</b>: If you retract the gears during landing.</li>
78 <li><b>taxi after landing</b>: When the aircraft is on the
79 ground and its ground speed is below 25 knots after landing.</li>
80 <li><b>end</b>: If the N<sub>1</sub> of the turbines becomes
81 less than 0.5, or the RPM of the piston engines becomes 0 during
82 the parking brakes are set. This is the final stage.</li>
83 </ol>
84
85 <p>
86 To enhance the simulation, the program can play various
87 <a href="#prefsSounds">sound</a> files
88 during the various stages of your flight, such as the announcements
89 made by the flight attendants. These files are supplied with the
90 application, and they can be played automatically, or when you press
91 a certain hotkey in the flight simulator. You can also organize
92 pre-recorded sound files
93 into <a href="#checklistEditor">checklists</a> for the each aircraft
94 type, and these files can also be played back one-by-one when you
95 repeatedly press a key combination in the simulator. See
96 <a href="#prefsSounds">below</a> for more information on this.
97 </p>
98
99 <p><a name="onlineACARSSystem"/>
100 Malév Virtual have implemented an <i>Online ACARS System</i>, which
101 displays the status of the flights in progress. The data appears on
102 the front page of the <a href="http://virtualairlines.hu">MAVA
103 website</a> and also on a
104 <a href="http://virtualairlines.hu/acars2/show.html">map</a>. This map is
105 also <a href="#acarsTab">displayed</a> by the program.
106 </p>
107
108 <p><a name="onlineGateSystem"/>
109 Malév Virtual have also implemented an <i>Online Gate System</i>
110 which maintains a database of the aircraft in the airline's fleet
111 and their location. An aircraft may be parked at the Budapest
112 Ferihegy Airport, in which case the number of the gate or stand it
113 is located at is recorded in the database. If so, this number is
114 <a href="#connectPage">displayed</a> to you when starting your
115 flight from Ferihegy, and you are recommended to place your aircraft
116 at the indicated gate or stand in the simulator. If your flight
117 begins at Ferihegy and the aircraft is away (usually due to someone
118 else's flight), you can <a href="#gateSelectionPage">select</a>
119 from which gate or stand you start your flight. The database of the
120 Online Gate System can also be <a href="#gatesTab">displayed</a>
121 by using the application.
122 </p>
123
124 <p>
125 These online systems can only be used when flying online.
126 </p>
127
128 <p>
129 The program can automatically update itself. When it starts up, it
130 checks if there is a newer version available. If so, it downloads
131 its files and replaces the program's current files with the new
132 ones. Then the program is restarted so that you can use the new
133 version. Besides acquiring bug fixes, updating is also important,
134 because the program can be extended with new checks or more refined
135 checks, and if you are using too old a version, the PIREP reviewers
136 may refuse your flight.
137 </p>
138
139 <p>
140 The program also includes a built-in <a href="#bugReportWindow">bug
141 reporting</a> facility, which can be used to report any trouble
142 encountered while using it.
143 </p>
144
145 <h3><a name="gui">Graphical User Interface</a></h3>
146
147 <p>
148 The GUI of the application is made up of traditional building blocks
149 (buttons, checkboxes, lists, text entry boxes, etc.) found in other
150 applications as well. Many such controls have informative tooltips
151 that supplement the contents of this User's Guide in helping you
152 using the application. Many controls are also accessible by pressing
153 the <b>Alt</b> plus the underlined letter in the control's label.
154 </p>
155
156 <p>
157 The most often used part of the program is the main window, to be
158 described in detail below. When you minimize or close the window, it
159 disappears by default, but the program continues to run. You can
160 redisplay the window by clicking on the tray icon of the program,
161 which looks like the one on the picture below.
162 </p>
163
164 <div align="center">
165 <table>
166 <tr>
167 <td>
168 <img src="statusIcon1.png" alt="The status icon" hspace="20"/>
169 </td>
170 <td>
171 <img src="statusIcon2.png" alt="The status icon menu" hspace="20"/>
172 </td>
173 </table>
174 </div>
175
176 <p>
177 If you click on the tray icon when the program's window is hidden,
178 the window will be displayed. If you hover the mouse pointer over
179 the icon, the flight stage and the current rating will be
180 displayed. The tray icon has a right-button menu as well with the
181 following items:
182 <ul>
183 <li><b>Show main window</b>: displays or hides the main window.</li>
184 <li><b>Show monitor window</b>: displays or hides the
185 <a href="#monitorWindow">monitor window</a>.</li>
186 <li><b>Quit</b>: quit the application. A confirmation window will
187 be displayed.</li>
188 </ul>
189 </p>
190
191 <p>
192 You can also quit the application by selecting the <b>File/Quit</b>
193 menu item, or by pressing <b>Ctrl+Q</b>.
194 </p>
195
196 <p>
197 If you start the application, when it is already running, the main
198 window of the already running instance will be displayed instead of
199 starting a new instance of the program.
200 </p>
201
202 <p>
203 When the program is first started on your computer, you will be presented
204 with the dialog below:
205 </p>
206 <div align="center">
207 <img src="registrationDialog.png" alt="The registration query dialog"/>
208 </div>
209
210 <p>
211 If you have not registered with MAVA yet, click on <b>Register</b>. The
212 registration process is described <a href="#registration">here</a>.
213 If you have a pilot ID and a password already, click <b>Cancel</b> and
214 continue as below.
215 </p>
216
217 <h2><a name="mainWindow">The Main Window</a></h2>
218
219 <p>
220 The figure below depicts the main window of the application. The top
221 of it contains the usual menu bar, which will be described in more
222 detail later. The content area consists of several tabs the use of
223 which is described below.
224 </p>
225
226 <a name="mainWindowShot"/>
227 <div align="center"><img src="mainWindow.png" alt="The main window"/></div>
228
229 <p>
230 The bottom of the window is a status bar. Its left side contains the
231 icon indicating the status of the connection to the simulator. Since
232 the application continuously monitors the parameters of your
233 aircraft, it needs to communicate with the simulator. The icon's
234 colour indicates the health of this communication channel.
235 </p>
236
237 <p>
238 If it is grey, the program is not connected. This is normal before
239 and after the flight. If it is green, the connection is alive and
240 working properly. If it is red, the connection is broken. In this
241 case a dialog window is displayed. The most likely cause for such a
242 disruption is the crash of the simulator. If this is the case,
243 restart the simulator and try to restore the flight to a state as
244 close to the one before the crash as possible. Then click
245 the <b>Reconnect</b> button, and the program will try to
246 re-establish the connection to the simulator. It preserves all data
247 of your flight, so you can continue where you left off easily.
248 </p>
249
250 <p>
251 If the reason for the failure of the connection is something else,
252 do whatever is needed to be done to restore it. Of course, it is
253 possible that the logger application itself fails, in which case
254 you, unfortunately, have to restart the flight. Do not forget to
255 notify the author if this happens. In this case, try to copy and
256 save the <a href="#debugLog">debug log</a> and send it with your bug
257 report. You can use the <a href="#bugReportWindow">bug
258 reporting</a> facility as well for this purpose.
259 </p>
260
261 <p>
262 If you click the <b>Cancel</b> button in the reconnection dialog,
263 the logger will be reset as if it were stopped and restarted.
264 </p>
265
266 <p>
267 To the right of the connection status icon, you can see the current
268 <a href="#flightStages">stage</a> of the flight, if the monitoring
269 has begun. Otherwise it is a single dash. It is followed by the
270 simulator time, if the program is already connected to the
271 simulator. Then comes the current <a href="#flightRating">flight rating</a>.
272 </p>
273
274 <p>
275 The right of the status bar is normally empty, but if there is some
276 potentially long operation going on (typically communicating with
277 the MAVA servers), information about the operation is displayed
278 here. This is accompanied by the cursor becoming that of signaling
279 a busy state and most parts of the main window becoming
280 unresponsive.
281 </p>
282
283 <h3><a name="tabFlight">The Flight Tab</a></h3>
284
285 <p>
286 The flight tab is the most important tab. It consists of a sequence of
287 pages similar to wizards found in many programs. The first several of
288 these pages guide you through the various steps of the preparations
289 for your flight, while the last pages allow you to enter some
290 information about your flight necessary for its evaluation and to
291 send the PIREP (Pilot's Report) assembled by the program to the MAVA
292 server.
293 </p>
294
295 <p>
296 Each page has a title at the top indicating the purpose of the
297 page. There is a short text below this, which describes what the
298 page contains and/or what is expected from you to do with the page.
299 Below the text you can find the main information and possibly data
300 entry areas for the page. Finally, you can find the button row at
301 the bottom.
302 </p>
303
304 <p>
305 Most of the pages contain two buttons: <b>Next</b> and
306 <b>Previous</b>. These help in navigating between the pages. In most
307 cases you can go back to previously visited pages by using
308 the <b>Previous</b> button, although you cannot edit the contents of
309 some of the pages once finalized by moving to the next page using
310 the <b>Next</b> button. There are a few exceptions though, as
311 detailed below.
312 </p>
313
314 <p>
315 Many of the pages also contain a <b>Cancel flight</b>
316 button. Clicking this button will allow you to cancel the flight and
317 go back to the <a href="#flightSelectionPage">flight selection</a>
318 if you have logged in to the MAVA server, or to the login page, after
319 a confirmation of your intent.
320 </p>
321
322 <h4><a name="loginPage">The <i>Login</i> Page</a></h4>
323
324 <p>
325 The program starts with the Login page (see the
326 <a href="#mainWindowShot">picture</a> above) where you can enter the
327 your pilot's ID and password for the MAVA website. Both data are
328 given to you when joining Malév Virtual. The pilot's ID usually
329 starts with the letter <q>P</q> followed by three digits.
330 </p>
331
332 <p>
333 If you check <b>Remember password</b>, the password will be saved by
334 the program, so you don't have to enter it all the time. Note,
335 however, that the password is saved in a readable form into a
336 configuration file, so use this possibility only if your home
337 directory can be accessed only by people you trust. The pilot's ID
338 is saved anyway.
339 </p>
340
341 <p>
342 If you are about to perform the entrance flight, check
343 <b>Entrance exam</b>. In this case you don't have to (and cannot)
344 enter the password, as that is not needed for the entrance exam.
345 </p>
346
347 <p>
348 The login to the MAVA server, and proceed to the next page, press
349 the <b>Login</b> button.
350 </p>
351
352 <p>
353 If you would like to fly without an Internet connection, use
354 the <b>Fly offline</b> button. This immediately takes you to the
355 next page, without trying to log in to the MAVA server.
356 </p>
357
358 <h4><a name="flightSelectionPage">The <i>Flight selection</i> Page</a></h4>
359
360 <img src="flightSelection.png" alt="The Flight selection page"/>
361
362 <p>
363 This page displays the list of the flight you have booked previously
364 on the MAVA website, if you have <a href="#loginPage">logged in</a>
365 properly. If you chose to fly offline, the list is empty.
366 </p>
367
368 <p>
369 If you have selected a flight, you can also save it by using
370 the <b>Save flight...</b> button. This is useful when planning to fly
371 offline at some later time. When preparing for that flight, you can
372 properly log in to the MAVA server, and acquire the list of your
373 booked flights. Then you can save the flight you wish to perform
374 later offline, on which occasion, you can load the saved flight.
375 </p>
376
377 <p>
378 The briefing for a flight can be printed using the <b>Print briefing...</b>
379 button. The booking can be cancelled by pressing the
380 <b>Delete flight...</b> button. Saving, printing and deleting are also
381 available from the right-button menu as well.
382 </p>
383
384 <p>
385 If you have no booked flights or you do not like the ones booked,
386 you can <a href="#flightBooking">book</a> a new flight if you click
387 on the <b>Book flights...</b> button.
388 </p>
389
390 <p>
391 If you have flights reported but not yet reviewed or rejected,
392 the numbers of them are displayed at the top and the
393 <b>Pending flights...</b> is available
394 to <a href="#pendingFlights">review</a> them.
395 </p>
396
397 <p>
398 You may need to refresh the list of flights. For example, you notice
399 that you have forgotten to book the flight you want to perform. Then
400 you can book the flight on the MAVA website, and press
401 the <b>Refresh flights</b> button to update the list.
402 </p>
403
404 <p>
405 You can also load a flight from a file by pressing the <b>Load
406 flight from file</b> button. This displays a file selection dialog
407 where you select the flight file (usually with a suffix
408 of <code>.vaflight</code>). This is mostly useful when flying
409 offline, or during the entrance exam.
410 </p>
411
412 <p>
413 Select a flight from the list, and press the <b>Next</b> button to
414 proceed with that flight.
415 </p>
416
417 <h4><a name="gateSelectionPage">The <i>LHBP gate selection</i> Page</a></h4>
418
419 <img src="gateSelection.png" alt="The LHBP gate selection page"/>
420
421 <p>
422 This page is displayed after the flight selection page only if your
423 flight starts at the Budapest Ferihegy Airport and the number of the
424 gate or stand at which your aircraft is located cannot be
425 determined.
426 </p>
427
428 <p>
429 Select a number from the list presented, and press <b>Next</b>.
430 </p>
431
432 <h4><a name="connectPage">The <i>Connect to the simulator</i> Page</a></h4>
433
434 <img src="connect.png" alt="The Connect to the simulator page"/>
435
436 <p>
437 This page displays some important information about your flight,
438 such as the type and tail number of the aircraft to use, the
439 departure airport and possibly the gate. You can also select whether you
440 would like to connect to a variant of Microsoft Flight Simulator or
441 X-Plane. The choice is remembered by the program and the selected one will be
442 the default next time. (<i>Support for X-Plane is currently experimental. The
443 logger is used by the author on Linux with good results. Volunteers are
444 wanted to test X-Plane support on Windows.</i>)
445 </p>
446
447 <p>
448 Select the aircraft indicated and park it at the departure airport
449 in the simulator,
450 then press <b>Connect</b> to establish the connection with the
451 simulator. If the connection cannot be established, a dialog will be
452 displayed about it, and you can <b>Try again</b> the connection
453 or <b>Cancel</b> to go back to the flight selection or to the login page.
454 </p>
455
456 <p>
457 Note, that after a successful connection, the monitoring of your
458 flight does not begin immediately, but some data can be queried by
459 the logger at this stage.
460 </p>
461
462 <h4><a name="payloadPage">The <i>Payload</i> Page</a></h4>
463
464 <img src="payload.png" alt="The Payload page"/>
465
466 <p>
467 This page displays the components of the flight's payload and the
468 calculated Zero-Fuel Weight (ZFW). You can modify all input data,
469 but generally it is needed to enter the cargo weight you determined
470 for the flight, if it is different from 0. You can also press the <b>ZFW
471 from FS</b> button, which queries the ZFW from the simulator and
472 displays the retrieved value. If the ZFW calculated from the payload
473 data differs too much from the queried one, the calculated value is
474 displayed in red. This the right time to set up the payload in the
475 simulator. If you forget about it, it will be a NO GO fault.
476 </p>
477
478 <p>
479 If you have finished with this page, press the <b>Next</b>
480 button. At this point, the <a href="#helpTab"><i>Help</i> tab</a>
481 becomes available, which you can use if you have failed to set up
482 the correct payload in the simulator. See a more detailed
483 description of it <a href="#helpTab">below</a>.
484 </p>
485
486 <h4><a name="timePage">The <i>Time</i> Page</a></h4>
487
488 <img src="time.png" alt="The Time page"/>
489
490 <p>
491 This page displays the departure and arrival times of your
492 flight in UTC. Press the <b>Time from FS</b> button to query the
493 current UTC time of the simulator. To be able to simulate the real
494 lighting circumstances of the flight, the simulator's time should match
495 the time of the flight according to the schedule. Therefore you are
496 expected to set the simulator's time properly. It is recommended to
497 set it to about 15 minutes before the departure at this stage so
498 that you have enough time to set up your flight.
499 </p>
500
501 <p>
502 When you have set the time of the simulator properly, press
503 the <b>Next</b> button.
504 </p>
505
506 <h4><a name="routePage">The <i>Route</i> Page</a></h4>
507
508 <img src="route.png" alt="The Route page"/>
509
510 <p>
511 This page displays the flight plan route taken from the booked flight. This
512 can be edited if necessary (e.g. when you will enter some airspace that will
513 require you to change the flight level during flight.) You should also
514 specify the cruise level and the ICAO code of the alternate airport.
515 </p>
516
517 <p>
518 When satisfied with the information on the page, press
519 the <b>Next</b> button to advance. Note, that these data can be
520 edited later as well if you come back to this page.
521 </p>
522
523 <h4><a name="simbriefSetupPage">The <i>SimBrief setup</i> page</a></h4>
524
525 <img src="simbriefSetup.png" alt="The SimBrief setup page"/>
526
527 <p>
528 If using the <a href="http://simbrief.com">SimBrief</a> flight planning
529 service has been enabled in the <a href="#prefsGeneral">Preferences</a>
530 window, this page is displayed following the
531 <a href="#routePage"><i>Route</i></a> page.
532 </p>
533
534 <p>
535 Enter your SimBrief user name and password. The former one is always saved
536 and offered as the default entry, but the latter one only when the checkbox
537 below is checked. Some further data should also be entered.
538 </p>
539
540 <p>
541 Press the <b>Next</b> button to start generating the flight plan. The program
542 then contacts the SimBrief website, sends the data and downloads the
543 result. This can take a relatively long time, during which the lower right
544 corner of the Logger window displays some progress information. If there is
545 some error, a popup window is displayed. If the login attempt is
546 unsuccessful, the user name and/or the password can be entered again, but you
547 can decide to abort using SimBrief.
548 </p>
549
550 <p>
551 If the result is successfully produced, it can be studied on page
552 <a href="#simbriefResultPage"><i>SimBrief flight plan</i></a>. In case of a
553 failure, the flight setup continues with
554 the <a href="#fuelPage"><i>Fuel</i></a> page.
555 </p>
556
557 <h4><a name="simbriefResultPage">The <i>SimBrief flight plan</i> page</a></h4>
558
559 <img src="simbriefResult.png" alt="The SimBrief flight plan page"/>
560
561 <p>
562 This page displays the SimBrief flight plan created. When carefully read and
563 understood, press the button at the bottom to the right to continue. Of
564 course, you can come back to this page later.
565 </p>
566
567 <h4><a name="fuelPage">The <i>Fuel</i> Page</a></h4>
568
569 <img src="fuel.png" alt="The Fuel page"/>
570
571 <p>
572 This page contains a graphical representation of the fuel tanks of
573 your aircraft. The yellowish colour represents the current level of
574 the fuel in the tank, and turquoise slider is the expected level,
575 which is also displayed numerically (in kilograms) below each graph.
576 </p>
577
578 <p>
579 You can enter the requested amount of fuel numerically, or you can
580 set it by the turquoise sliders, though this method is less accurate. The
581 lever can be moved by clicking withinin the fuel tank's representation,
582 and you can drag it if you keep the button pressed. If your mouse
583 has a wheel, that can also be used to modify the expected level. To
584 use the wheel, keep the mouse pointer within the fuel tank's
585 graphic. Each click of the wheel increment or decrements the amount
586 by 10 kilograms. If you hold down the <b>Shift</b> key, the
587 increment will be 100, if you hold down the <b>Ctrl</b> key, the
588 increment will be 1.
589 </p>
590
591 <p>
592 When all tanks have the correct amount of fuel set, press
593 the <b>Next</b> button. This causes the pumping of the fuel to
594 start. The progress is represented by the yellowish fuel bars
595 growing or shrinking (fuel may be pumped out of a tank as
596 well). This is a relatively quick process and should finish within a
597 few seconds.
598 </p>
599
600 <p>
601 When fuel pumping has completed, and the SimBrief service is used, and the
602 generation of the flight plan has been successful, the program jumps to the
603 <a href="#takeoffPage"><i>Takeoff</i></a> page. Otherwise the
604 <a href="#briefingPage"><i>Briefing</i></a> pages come next.
605
606 <h4><a name="briefingPage">The <i>Briefing</i> Pages</a></h4>
607
608 <img src="briefing.png" alt="The Briefing page"/>
609
610 <p>
611 These pages display the NOTAMs and the METAR for the departure and
612 the arrival airports unless we have used SimBrief for flight planning.
613 You can edit the METAR if your network
614 provides a different weather, or you do not fly with real
615 weather. The METAR of the arrival airport will be updated when
616 entering the landing stage, unless you have edited it before. The
617 METARs can be edited during the whole duration of the flight. If you
618 do so, please, comment on it in the <i>Comments</i> section of
619 the <a href="#flightInfoTab"><i>Flight info</i> tab</a>.
620 </p>
621
622 <p>
623 On the second briefing page (that of the arrival airport), confirm
624 that you have read the briefing and are ready to start the flight by
625 clicking the button. This begins the monitoring of your flight with
626 the boarding stage.
627 </p>
628
629 <h4><a name="takeoffPage">The <i>Takeoff</i> Page</a></h4>
630
631 <img src="takeoff.png" alt="The Takeoff page"/>
632
633 <p>
634 This page displays the current METAR of the departure airport. It can be
635 modified if necessary, e.g. when the weather in the simulator is different
636 from it. Below you have to enter the name of the departure runway, the
637 name of the Standard Instrument Departure procedure you follow after
638 takeoff and the takeoff V-speeds. In case of the SID you can select
639 the <i>VECTORS</i> "procedure" if, for some reason, no SID is flown.
640 While you can edit these data anytime, it is recommended to do so before
641 takeoff.
642 <p>
643
644 <p>
645 Note that if you are flying one of the Tupolev or Yak aircraft, the
646 page will look different, as speeds will have to be entered in
647 kilometres per hour.
648 </p>
649
650 <p>
651 For most aircraft in the fleet you should also enter the takeoff
652 derate setting. Its exact format and value depends on the type.
653 </p>
654
655 <p>
656 You can also select here whether you have turned on any anti-ice
657 systems (apart from the pitot heat). However, for most aircraft, the
658 logger can detect the setting, and if anti-icing is turned on, the
659 check box will be checked automatically. If you have checked it
660 yourself, it will not be unchecked by the program (unless it gains
661 self-awareness sometime in the future).
662 </p>
663
664 <p>
665 You can proceed to the next page after takeoff, and if all data has
666 been entered, by pressing the <b>Next</b> button.
667 </p>
668
669 <h4><a name="cruisePage">The <i>Cruise</i> Page</a></h4>
670
671 <img src="cruise.png" alt="The Cruise page"/>
672
673 <p>
674 This page displays your cruise altitude as set in the
675 <a href="#routePage"><i>Route</i> page</a>. If you need to modify your
676 cruise level due to airspace requirements, step climb or any other
677 justified reason, you can set the new level here and then press
678 the <b>Update</b> button.
679 </p>
680
681 <p>
682 If you are preparing for landing, you can press the <b>Next</b>
683 button to go to the next page.
684 </p>
685
686 <h4><a name="landingPage">The <i>Landing</i> Page</a></h4>
687
688 <img src="landing.png" alt="The Landing page"/>
689
690 <p>
691 The upper part of this page displays the METAR of the landing airport, which
692 can be edited, if necessary. Below you have to enter the name of the STAR
693 and/or transition you planned to follow or have followed,
694 the approach type (e.g. <q>ILS</q>, <q>VOR</q>, <q>VISUAL</q>,
695 etc.), the name of the landing runway, and the landing reference speed,
696 V<sub>ref</sub>. In case of the procedures you can select <i>VECTORS</i>
697 from the drop-down list if you have received vectors from ATC.
698 You can enter this data during the flight, or after
699 you have landed, at your discretion. Note, that if you fly one of
700 the Tupolev or Yak aircraft, the speed will have to be entered in km/h.
701 </p>
702
703 <p>
704 This page also contains a checkbox for the anti-ice system, which is
705 handled the same way as the one on
706 the <a href="#takeoffPage">Takeoff page</a>.
707
708 <p>
709 When you have entered all data, press the <b>Next</b> button. It is
710 active only, if the flight has ended.
711 </p>
712
713 <h4><a name="finishPage">The <i>Finish</i> Page</a></h4>
714
715 <img src="finish.png" alt="The Finish page"/>
716
717 <p>
718 This is the final page of the flight wizard. It contains a summary
719 of your flight: the rating, the deptarture, arrival, flight and block times,
720 the distance flown and the amount of fuel burnt. If the departure or the
721 arrival time is too off of the schedule, they are displayed in orange or red
722 depending on the difference. In case of a red colour, comment on the
723 difference in the <a href="#flightInfoTab"><i>Flight info</i> tab</a>.
724 </p>
725
726 <p>
727 You also have to provide a few pieces of information. You have to
728 select the type of the flight from the list provided (scheduled,
729 old-timer, VIP, charter) and whether it was an online flight or
730 not. If you arrive at the Budapest Ferihegy Airport, and are using
731 the Online Gate System, you also need to specify the number of the
732 gate or stand you have parked you aircraft at.
733 </p>
734
735 <p>
736 If all necessary data has been entered, and the program is so
737 <a href="#prefsGeneral">configured<a>, it will automatically save
738 the PIREP.
739 </p>
740
741 <p>
742 With all data entered, you may want it review your flight (i.e. the
743 earlier pages or some of the other tabs), then save or send the
744 PIREP created from it. These can be accomplished by pressing one of
745 the buttons at the bottom. A saved PIREP can be loaded later and
746 sent, if the sending fails for some reason. When a PIREP is sent, it
747 becomes available for review by the designated PIREP reviewers of
748 Malév Virtual.
749 </p>
750
751 <p>
752 You can also start a new flight using the <b>New flight</b>
753 button. If you have not saved or sent the PIREP yet, you will be asked
754 to confirm your intention. When starting a new flight you are taken
755 to the <a href="#flightSelectionPage">flight selection page</a>, if
756 you have logged in to the MAVA server, or to
757 the <a href="#loginPage">login page</a>, if your flight has been an
758 offline flight.
759 </p>
760
761 <h3><a name="flightInfoTab">The Flight info Tab</a></h3>
762
763 <img src="flightInfoTab.png" alt="The Flight info tab"/>
764
765 <p>
766 This tab allows one to enter some additional information about the
767 flight, if necessary.
768 </p>
769
770 <p>
771 The <i>Comments</i> text area should contain any general information
772 that you would like the PIREP reviewer to know about. For example,
773 why you changed the METAR, why you lowered the gears accidentally
774 (i.e. pressed the wrong key on the keyboard), etc.
775 </p>
776
777 <p>
778 The <i>Faults, observations</i> area contains the faults logged with a small
779 field below each of them. The PIREP cannot be sent until an explanation has
780 been provided in these fields for each fault. The thick frame around the area
781 appears as long as there is at least one unexplained fault. A warning is also
782 presented in the upper part of the <a href="#finishPage"<i>Finish</i></a>
783 page, if something is missing from here.
784 </p>
785
786 <p>
787 In the <i>Delay codes</i> table you can mark one or more reasons why
788 the flight was delayed, if it was. This table is available only if you
789 have already selected the flight, since its contents depend on the
790 type of the aircraft being flown.
791 </p>
792
793 <h3><a name="helpTab">The Help Tab</a></h3>
794
795 <img src="helpTab.png" alt="The Help tab"/>
796
797 <p>
798 This tab provides some help for calculating and setting the payload
799 weight of the aircraft. It can be used once the
800 <a href="#payloadPage"><i>Payload</i></a>
801 (i.e. the cargo weight) is finalized. To use this tab, check
802 the <b>Using help</b> checkbox. It causes the page to become
803 sensitive and filled with data. Note, that the fact of using the
804 help is <a href="#logTab">logged</a>, so the PIREP reviewers will
805 know about it.
806 </p>
807
808 <p>
809 The most important information is after the <i>Payload:</i> label,
810 which is the payload weight of the aircraft. This value should be
811 set in the simulator as the airplane's payload weight. By pressing
812 the <b>Simulator data</b> button, the data coming from the simulator
813 can be queried and displayed. If the data is out of the tolerances,
814 it is displayed in red, otherwise in green.
815 </p>
816
817 <p>
818 The gross weight is also displayed with some maximum weights of the
819 aircraft, so it can be checked or estimated if you will remain within
820 those maximums during the flight.
821 </p>
822
823 <h3><a name="logTab">The Log Tab</a></h3>
824
825 <img src="logTab.png" alt="The Log tab"/>
826
827 <p>
828 This is the main log of your flight that will be analyzed by the
829 PIREP reviewers. Its contents is generated automatically by the
830 program, and most lines are prefixed by the simulator times the
831 information in the given line belongs to.
832 </p>
833
834 <p>
835 While the log's contents is mainly useful for PIREP reviewers, it
836 can come handy when things start to happen very fast, and you have
837 no time check each fault message passing by (if you have enabled
838 such messages at all). Later, when things calm down, you can check
839 the log to see what happened exactly, so that you know why so many
840 fault points have been awarded. For example, you may even decide to
841 abort the flight, if you think some of the faults are too
842 embarrassing :) For quick identification, the lines containing the
843 fault messages are highlighted.
844 </p>
845
846 <h3><a name="gatesTab">The Gates Tab</a></h3>
847
848 <img src="gatesTab.png" alt="The Gates tab"/>
849
850 <p>
851 This tab displays information retrieved from
852 the MAVA <a href="#onlineGateSystem">Online Gate System</a>.
853 If the program needs to retrieve data, this tab's contents
854 are refreshed automatically, but you can also refresh them manually
855 anytime using the <b>Refresh data</b> button.
856 </p>
857
858 <p>
859 The left side of the tab contains the fleet information. The tail
860 number of each aircraft is listed with the plane's status, as known
861 by the Online Gate System. The two major statuses are <i>LHBP-nn</i>
862 and <i>AWAY</i>. The former indicates that the aircraft is parked at
863 the Budapest Ferihegy Airport at gate or stand <i>nn</i>, while the
864 latter one denotes that the airplane is parked at another
865 airport. Another possible status is <i>PARKED</i>, which means that
866 the airplane is parked somewhere at the Ferihegy Airport, but we
867 (or at least the Gate System) don't know where. It may happen that
868 several aircraft are parked at the same gate or stand at
869 Ferihegy. In this case the tail numbers and the statuses of those
870 airplanes are displayed in red.
871 </p>
872
873 <p>
874 The right side contains the list of the numbers of the gates and
875 parking positions. A number is black if no aircraft is positioned at
876 the corresponding gate or stand, and it is orange, if the location
877 is occupied.
878 </p>
879
880 <h3><a name="acarsTab">The ACARS tab</a></h3>
881
882 <img src="acarsTab.png" alt="The ACARS tab"/>
883
884 <p>
885 This tab displays the MAVA ACARS system, which is a map with aircraft symbols
886 representing the flights in progress with icons denoting the departure and
887 landing airports. Clicking on an airplane displays information on the
888 corresponding flight.
889 </p>
890
891 <p>
892 The map is actually displayed by a web browser integrated into the
893 program. Therefore you can, for example, zoom in or out the map using the
894 mouse wheel and perform other operations known in case of browsers.
895 </p>
896
897 <h3><a name="debugLog">The Debug log</a></h3>
898
899 <img src="debugLogTab.png" alt="The Debug log tab"/>
900
901 <p>
902 This tab is not visible by default, but can be displayed by
903 selecting <b>View/Show debug log</b> or by
904 pressing <b>Ctrl+D</b>. It is another kind of log, which is mainly
905 useful for debugging. If you experience some problem with the
906 program, please, include the contents of this log with your bug
907 report. It can help a lot with finding a solution to the problem.
908 </p>
909
910 <h2><a name="flightBooking">Booking flights</a></h2>
911
912 <div align="center">
913 <img src="flightBooking.png" alt="The flight booking window"/>
914 </div>
915
916 <p>
917 This window can be displayed either by clicking the <b>Book flights...</b>
918 button on the <a href="#flightSelectionPage">flight selection page</a>
919 of the wizard, by selecting the <b>Tools/Book flights...</b> menu item or
920 by pressing <b>Ctrl+O</b>.
921 </p>
922
923 <p>
924 At the top, you can select the date of your flight. By default, all flights
925 available on the selected day are listed, including regular, scheduled
926 flights and VIP flights. The checkboxes at the top can be used to restrict
927 the type of the flights to be displayed.
928 </p>
929
930 <p>
931 In the frame below you can select the aircraft type(s) for which to list the
932 flights. Only those types are available for which you are rated. By default
933 all such types are enabled.
934 </p>
935
936 <p>
937 If you select a flight from the list, the <b>Book</b> button at the bottom is
938 highlighted. By clicking it or by double clicking on the flight, you can
939 initiate booking it. For regular flights the following dialog box is
940 displayed:
941 </p>
942
943 <div align="center">
944 <img src="flightBookingRegular.png"
945 alt="The flight booking window for regular flights"/>
946 </div>
947
948 <p>
949 As regular flights are actually two flights, one outbound, one inbound, some
950 data for both are displayed. You can also select which aircraft you would
951 like to fly with from the fleet, though one is randomly offered as a default.
952 </p>
953
954 <p>
955 The dialog for VIP flights is slightly different:
956 </p>
957
958 <div align="center">
959 <img src="flightBookingVIP.png"
960 alt="The flight booking window for VIP flights"/>
961 </div>
962
963 <p>
964 VIP flights are considered one-way flights, even if there is a series of
965 them. They also have an intended date on which to fly them, but the dialog
966 allows you to select the actual date. As for regular flights, you can
967 also select the plane to use.
968 </p>
969
970 <p>
971 When you confirm the booking by pressing the <b>Book</b> button, the new
972 flight(s) appear in the flight list and can be flown.
973 </p>
974
975 <h2><a name="pendingFlights">Pending flights</a></h2>
976
977 <div align="center">
978 <img src="pendingFlights.png" alt="Pending flights"/>
979 </div>
980
981 <p>
982 This window contains two lists. The top one contains the flights you have
983 performed and reported, but have not yet been reviewed. If you select a
984 flight from this list, you can edit the corresponding PIREP using the
985 <b>Edit...</b> button. The PIREP editor dialog is similar to the
986 <a href="#pirepViewer">PIREP viewer dialog</a>, but you can modify certain
987 data. If the modifications are ready, click the <b>Save</b> to store
988 your changes in the server.
989 </p>
990
991 <p>
992 To perform a flight again, press the <b>Refly</b>, to delete it,
993 press <b>Delete</b>. These buttons are also available when you select more
994 than one flights, in which case, the operation will affect all selected
995 flights.
996 <p>
997
998 <p>
999 The list at the bottom consists of the flights that have been reviewed and
1000 rejected by the reviewer. The <b>View...</b> button displays the
1001 <a href="#pirepViewer">PIREP Viewer</a> for the flight, with a new
1002 tab <i>Message</i>, containing the reviewer's message, if any.
1003 </p>
1004
1005 <p>
1006 The <b>Refly</b> and <b>Delete</b> buttons work here too.
1007 </p>
1008
1009 <h2><a name="acceptedFlights">Accepted fligts</a></h2>
1010
1011 <p>
1012 By selecting the <b>Tools/Accepted flights...</b> menu item, you can
1013 display a list of the flights you have performed and have been accepted:
1014 </p>
1015
1016 <div align="center">
1017 <img src="acceptedFlights.png" alt="Accepted flights"/>
1018 </div>
1019
1020 <p>
1021 Selecting a flight and clicking <b>View</b> displays the
1022 <a href="#pirepViewer">PIREP Viewer</a> dialog for the given flight with the
1023 <i>Message</i> tab optionally containing the reviewer's message.
1024 </p>
1025
1026 <h2><a name="loadingPIREPs">Loading PIREPs</a></h2>
1027
1028 <p>
1029 Saved PIREPs can be loaded and sent by the program. This can
1030 become necessary, for example, if you cannot send a PIREP due to
1031 some network problem right after your flight, or when you
1032 deliberately performed a flight without connecting to the Internet.
1033 </p>
1034
1035 <p>
1036 To load a PIREP select the <b>File/Load PIREP...</b> menu option or
1037 press the <b>Ctrl+L</b> key. A file selection dialog appears, from
1038 which you can select the PIREP to load. If you select a valid PIREP
1039 file, it will be loaded and a new window will be displayed with the
1040 most important data of your flight. By clicking <b>Send
1041 PIREP...</b>, the PIREP will be sent (or at least an attempt will be
1042 made at sending it). A dialog window will be displayed about the
1043 results of the attempt.
1044 </p>
1045
1046 <div align="center">
1047 <img src="pirepLoaded.png" alt="The loaded PIREP window"/>
1048 </div>
1049
1050 <p>
1051 You may also want to view a saved PIREP, for example, if it is a
1052 PIREP about an entrance exam flight. To do so, click the <b>View
1053 PIREP...</b> button. This displays the PIREP viewer window, which
1054 groups the data into three tabs. The <i>Data</i> tab contains the
1055 itemized data of the flight. The <i>Comments & defects</i> tab
1056 displays the comments and or flight defects entered by the
1057 user. The <i>Log</i> tab contains the flight log.
1058 </p>
1059
1060 <a name="pirepViewer"><div align="center">
1061 <img src="pirepViewer.png" alt="The PIREP Viewer"/>
1062 </div></a>
1063
1064 <h2><a name="checklistEditor">Editing checklists</a></h2>
1065
1066 <img src="checklistEditor.png" alt="The Checklist Editor"/>
1067
1068 <p>
1069 The checklists are lists of audio files. When checklist playback is
1070 enabled (see the <a href="#prefsSounds">description</a> of
1071 the <i>Preferences</i> window below), and there is a checklist for
1072 the type of the aircraft used for the flight, the files constituting
1073 the checklist can be played one-by-one by pressing the checklist
1074 hotkey repeatedly.
1075 </p>
1076
1077 <p>
1078 The checklist editor window allows for editing the checklists. It
1079 can be displayed by selecting <b>Tools/Checklist Editor...</b> or
1080 pressing <b>Ctrl+C</b>. The top of the window contains an aircraft
1081 type selector.
1082 </p>
1083
1084 <p>
1085 The files making up the checklist for the currently selected aircraft
1086 are displayed on the right. You can move a file up or down by
1087 dragging it with the mouse. You can also select one or more files
1088 from the list. Then you can remove them with the <b>Remove</b>
1089 button, or move them up or down by pressing <b>Move up</b>
1090 and <b>Move down</b>.
1091 </p>
1092
1093 <p>
1094 To add new files to the checklist, select them in the file selector
1095 on the left, and press <b>Add to checklist</b>. The file(s) will be
1096 appended to the end of the checklist.
1097 </p>
1098
1099 <p>
1100 Note, that any changes you make are effective only if you press
1101 the <b>OK</b> button when having finished the modifications. If the
1102 flight has already started, no changes made to the corresponding
1103 checklist have any effect during the flight (i.e. you will still use
1104 the old checklist, or no checklist if there was none).
1105 </p>
1106
1107 <h2><a name="calloutsEditor">Editing approach callouts</a></h2>
1108
1109 <img src="calloutsEditor.png" alt="The Approach callouts Editor"/>
1110
1111 <p>
1112 The approach callouts are audio files specific to aircraft types, that are
1113 played back during approach when passing certain altitudes. The
1114 approach callouts editor window allows editing the list of these
1115 callout files for each aircraft. The window can be displayed by
1116 selecting <b>Tools/Approach Callouts Editor...</b> or by pressing
1117 <b>Ctrl+E</b>.
1118 </p>
1119
1120 <p>
1121 The top part of the window displays the selector of the aircraft
1122 type. Below it, you can find two buttons on the left, and the list
1123 of the callouts with the altitudes they belong to on the right. The
1124 list displays only the filename portion, but the if you hover the
1125 cursor above an item, the full path will be displayed. The list is
1126 always sorted according to the altitude, but you change the order
1127 from descending to ascending.
1128 </p>
1129
1130 <p>
1131 The <b>Add new callout</b> button shows a file selection dialog
1132 window. After selecting a file, it will be added to a list with some
1133 altitude, which can be edited immediately. If the name of the file
1134 contains a number that is possible as an altitude, that will be used
1135 as the altitude given to the file, otherwise some meaningful default
1136 is selected based on the lowest or highest altitude.
1137 There can be no two files with the same altitude. If you set an
1138 altitude, which is already present in the list, a dialog box will be
1139 displayed, and you can choose to replace the old file or to continue
1140 editing. To edit an altitude already in the list, select that row,
1141 and click on the altitude again.
1142 </p>
1143
1144 <p>
1145 If you select one or more items in the list, the <b>Remove</b>
1146 button becomes available, and pressing it will remove the selected items.
1147 </p>
1148
1149 <p>
1150 Note, that any changes you make are effective only if you press
1151 the <b>OK</b> button when having finished the modifications. If the
1152 flight has already started, no changes made to the corresponding
1153 list of callouts have any effect during the flight.
1154 </p>
1155
1156 <h2><a name="prefs">The Preferences Window</a></h2>
1157
1158 </p>
1159 The Preferences window can be displayed by
1160 selecting <b>Tools/Preferences</b> or by
1161 pressing <b>Ctrl+P</b>. Here you can set options that you usually
1162 don't have to change for every flight. This window consists of
1163 tabs grouping the options logically.
1164 </p>
1165
1166 <h3><a name="prefsGeneral">The <i>General</i> Tab<a></h3>
1167
1168 <img src="prefsGeneral.png" alt="The General Tab of Preferences"/>
1169
1170 <p>
1171 These are some general settings for various parts of the
1172 program. The <i>GUI</i> frame contains options regarding the
1173 behaviour of the graphical user interface. The <i>Language</i> combo
1174 box can be used to select what language the program should
1175 use. Currently English and Hungarian are supported. The value
1176 of <i>system default</i> means that the operating system's default
1177 language is used if it is one of the supported ones or English
1178 otherwise. Note, that the program must be restarted for the change
1179 to take effect if you modify this setting. If the <b>Hide main window
1180 when minimized</b> checkbox is checked, and you minimize the window,
1181 it will actually disappear completely (i.e. not appear among the
1182 other minimized windows). You can make it appear by using the tray
1183 icon. If the <b>Quit when the window close button is clicked</b>
1184 checkbox is checked, the program will quit, after you have confirmed
1185 it. Otherwise it will just disappear, and you can use the tray icon
1186 to display it again.
1187 </p>
1188
1189 <p>
1190 The <i>MAVA Online Systems</i> frame contains settings related to
1191 the online systems of MAVA, the <a href="#onlineGateSystem">gate</a>
1192 and the <a href="#onlineACARSSystem">ACARS</a> systems mentioned
1193 above. It is recommended to enable these for normal operations.
1194 </p>
1195
1196 <p>
1197 The <i>Simulator</i> frame contains settings for how the program
1198 interacts with the simulator. Most options are self-explanatory, but
1199 the ones related to smoothing require some discussion. Flight
1200 Simulator is known to produce wind speed changes that are not
1201 entirely realistic and can result in the simulated aircraft
1202 experiencing some very high indicated airspeeds, which in turn can
1203 also cause the autopilot to suddenly increase the climb rate to
1204 counter the high speeds or other erratic behaviour. Since these
1205 phenomena are difficult to protect oneself against without buying
1206 extra products, like FSUIPC, the logger provides the possibility to
1207 average the IAS and/or the VS over a few seconds so that spikes in
1208 these values are smoothed. The <b>Enable the smoothing of IAS/VS
1209 over N sec.</b> options allow controlling this feature. The number
1210 of seconds may need experimenting with, but note that every change
1211 for which you press the <b>OK</b> button is taken into account
1212 immediately.
1213 </p>
1214
1215 <p>
1216 If the <b>Use SimBrief</b> checkbox is checked, the program will try to
1217 <a href="#simbriefSetupPage">create</a> a flight plan using the SimBrief
1218 service during the flight preparation.
1219 </p>
1220
1221 <p>
1222 If the <b>Save PIREP automatically</b> check box is checked, and you
1223 have finished your flight and entered all required data, the PIREP
1224 will be saved automatically into the directory given above.
1225 </p>
1226
1227 <h3><a name="prefsMessages">The <i>Messages</i> Tab</a></h3>
1228
1229 <img src="prefsMessages.png" alt="The Messages Tab of Preferences"/>
1230
1231 <p>
1232 The program can display messages about certain events in the
1233 simulator and/or it can play a warning sound when those events
1234 occur. The tab allows configuring this.
1235 <p>
1236
1237 <p>
1238 The categories of the message are listed on the left. These are the
1239 following:
1240 </p>
1241
1242 <ul>
1243 <li><b>Logger Error Messages</b>: error messages about the
1244 internal working of the logger.</li>
1245 <li><b>Information Messages</b>: informational messages about,
1246 e.g., the flight stage, the end of an audio checklist, etc.</li>
1247 <li><b>In-flight Stage Message</b>: messages about the flight stage for those stage when the plane is not on the ground</li>
1248 <li><b>Fault Messages</b>: messages about the non-NO GO faults the program detects.</li>
1249 <li><b>NO GO Fault Messages</b>: messages about the NO GO faults the program detects</li>
1250 <li><b>Gate System Messages</b>: messages related to the
1251 <a href="#onlineGateSystem">Online Gate System</a>. For example,
1252 when you have landed at Ferihegy, it can display the list of the
1253 available gates so that you can choose where to park, if there is
1254 no ATC available.</li>
1255 <li><b>Environment Messages</b>: other messages, e.g. the welcome
1256 message when the flight has ended.</li>
1257 <li><b>Help Messages</b>: help messages, e.g. warning about
1258 entering the V-speeds into the Takeoff page before takeoff.</li>
1259 <li><b>Visibility Messages</b>: messages about the visibility
1260 during descent and landing.</li>
1261 </ul>
1262
1263 <p>
1264 There are two checkboxes associated with each messages category. If the
1265 left one (<i>Displayed in FS</i>) is checked, the messages of the
1266 category will be displayed in the simulator. If the right one
1267 (<i>Sound alert</i>) is checked, and a message of the given category
1268 is about to be displayed, a warning sound will be played. It is
1269 mainly intended to accompany the text messages, but the two options
1270 can be controlled separately, so you can select the sound alert, but
1271 not the displaying of the messages. This may be useful if you don't
1272 want these messages to clutter up the windscreen of your aircraft,
1273 but still get some notification that some problem occurred.
1274 </p>
1275
1276 <h3><a name="prefsSounds">The <i>Sounds</i> Tab</a></h3>
1277
1278 <img src="prefsSounds.png" alt="The Sounds Tab of Preferences"/>
1279
1280 <p>
1281 This tab controls how the sounds are played by the application.
1282 </p>
1283
1284 <p>
1285 The top part is for the background sounds. These are pre-recorded
1286 sound files that are played when certain conditions hold during the
1287 flight. Typical examples are the various announcements the flight
1288 attendants make during the flight. The <b>Enable background
1289 sounds</b> checkbox controls whether such sounds are enabled at
1290 all. If the <b>Pilot controls sounds</b> checkbox is enabled, the
1291 pilot should start the playback of these sound files by pressing a
1292 hotkey in the simulator. Note, that you should still be in the right
1293 flight stage (and sometimes fulfill other conditions) to be able to
1294 play the sound files. Also, one file can be played only once. If you
1295 enable this option, the hotkey to press in the simulator can be
1296 selected below. You can choose one of the alphanumeric keys (0-9,
1297 A-Z) optionally combined with one or both of the <i>Ctrl</i>
1298 and <i>Shift</i> modifiers. If this checkbox is not checked, the
1299 sound files will be played automatically.
1300 </p>
1301
1302 <p>
1303 If the <b>Enable approach callouts</b> checkbox is
1304 checked, and you have also <a href="#calloutsEditor">set up</a>
1305 approach callouts for the aircraft being used, you will hear those
1306 callouts during approach.
1307 </p>
1308
1309 <p>
1310 If the <b>Enable speedbrake sound at touchdown</b> checkbox is
1311 checked, you will hear a distinctive sound when the spoilers deploy
1312 automatically after touchdown.
1313 </p>
1314
1315 <p>
1316 The lower part, named <i>Checklists</i> contains some settings
1317 related to the audio checklists belonging to the aircraft. They are
1318 available only if the <b>Enable aircraft-specific checklist</b>
1319 checkbox is selected. In this case another hotkey should be
1320 specified. If you press this hotkey, the next file from the
1321 checklist will be played.
1322 </p>
1323
1324 <h3><a name="prefsAdvanced">The <i>Advanced</i> Tab</a></h3>
1325
1326 <img src="prefsAdvanced.png" alt="The Advanced Tab of Preferences"/>
1327
1328 <p>
1329 This tab contains some settings that you normally should not
1330 change. Currently, these settings are related to the automatic
1331 update. If the <b>Update the program automatically</b> checkbox is
1332 not checked, the automatic update at program start-up will be
1333 omitted. The <i>Update URL</i> text entry field contains the URL
1334 from which to download the updates. Occasionally the developers of
1335 the application may tell you to change this something else, e.g. to
1336 test some development version. Or it may need to be changed due to
1337 organizational reasons, such as moving to a new server, etc.
1338 </p>
1339
1340 <h2><a name="bugReportWindow">The Bug Report Window</a></h2>
1341
1342 <img src="bugreport.png" alt="The Bug Report Window"/>
1343
1344 <p>
1345 The bug reporting window can be used to report any non-fatal bugs
1346 that occur during using the program. Bugs can be reported to
1347 appropriate topic in the MAVA forum, via e-mail or tickets created
1348 by hand on the project's website. However, utilizing this window not
1349 only creates the ticket, it also includes automatically the texts of
1350 the log and the debug log, making the life of the developers
1351 easier. Of course, it might happen that the program crashes in a way
1352 which makes this window inaccessible or to work incorrectly, in
1353 which case you must resort to the other possibilities.
1354 </p>
1355
1356 <p>
1357 The bug report window can be displayed by selecting <b>Tools/Report
1358 bug</b> or by pressing <b>Ctrl+B</b>. The summary must be entered
1359 and it should be a short, one-sentence description or title of the
1360 problem. The <i>Description</i> part is not mandatory, but if you
1361 can think of any useful additional information, you might give it
1362 here. As the program automatically appends the log and the debug to
1363 the description, you should not copy them here. You can also give
1364 your e-mail address to receive automatic notifications of the status
1365 of your bug report, but consider that your e-mail address will then
1366 appear on the project's website in the bug report.
1367 </p>
1368
1369 <p>
1370 By pressing <i>Send...</i>, you can create the bug report. If it is
1371 successful, you will receive a message telling so and including the
1372 ticket's ID that you may refer to later.
1373 </p>
1374
1375 <h2><a name="monitorWindow">The Monitor Window</a></h2>
1376
1377 <img src="monitorWindow.png" alt="The Monitor Window"/>
1378
1379 <p>
1380 The monitor window can be used when debugging the program. You can
1381 display it by selecting <b>View/Show monitor window</b> or by
1382 pressing <b>Ctrl+M</b>. It displays the various parameters from the
1383 aircraft as read from the flight simulator. During flight, it is
1384 updated once per second. If something is not detected properly by
1385 the logger, this window can be used to determine if the problem is
1386 in interpreting and translating the data read from the simulator, or
1387 when the translated data is being evaluated by other parts of the
1388 program.
1389 </p>
1390
1391 <h2><a name="registration">Registration</a></h2>
1392
1393 <img src="registration.png" alt="The Registration page"/>
1394
1395 <p>
1396 When you choose to register, the <i>Registraton</i> page is displayed. Enter
1397 the data requested. The data items in italics (phone number and nationality)
1398 are not mandatory. One of VATSIM or an IVAO ID are mandatory, so register
1399 with one of these on-line networks first. The password should be at least 5
1400 characters long. It is recommended to use one that consists of a mix of
1401 upper- and lower-case letters, numbers and possibly special characters.
1402 </p>
1403
1404 <p>
1405 When all necessary data has been entered, click <b>Register</b>. Your data
1406 will be recored in the MAVA database, and if all goes well, a dialog is
1407 displayed containing your <i>Pilot ID</i>, which is in the
1408 format <i>Pnnn</i>, where <i>nnn</i> is a 3-digit number (e.g. <i>P210</i>).
1409 Note it down for further reference along with your password. These data can
1410 be used to log in to the MAVA website, forums and education centre.
1411 </p>
1412
1413 <p>
1414 When you click <b>OK</b> in the dialog, you will be taken to the <i>Student</i>
1415 page:
1416 </p>
1417
1418 <img src="student.png" alt="The Student page"/>
1419
1420 <p>
1421 This page displays the status of you entry exam and check flight and you can
1422 also initiate these from here.
1423 </p>
1424
1425 <p>
1426 The entry exam is an online theoretical exam, taken in the
1427 <a href="http://mavasystems.hu/moodle">MAVA Education Centre</a>. Clicking
1428 the <b>Take the entry exam</b> button takes you to the login page, where you
1429 should enter your pilot ID and password to get access to the exam. If you
1430 have successfully completed the test the status in the <i>Student</i> page
1431 will update. However, this might take a few minutes until the website will
1432 update itself and the logger will also notice it.
1433 </p>
1434
1435 <p>
1436 The check flight is a simple flight, during which you take off from the
1437 Budapest Ferihegy Airport (LHBP), fly a SID, fly to the entry point of an
1438 approach transition, fly the transition and land. (If you are not familiar
1439 with these ideas, please, learn about them as you will need to know them
1440 perform your regular flights for MAVA.) You can select the type of the
1441 aircraft you wish to fly (currently the Boeing 737NG family and the Bomardier
1442 Dash-8 Q400 are available), and then click on <b>Perform the check
1443 flight</b>. You will be then <a href="#tabFlight">taken through</a> the steps
1444 of the flight almost as in case of a regular flight starting with the
1445 <a href="#connectPage"><i>Connect</i></a> page.
1446 </p>
1447
1448 <p>
1449 Your flight is successful, if you commit no NO-GO mistakes, otherwise you
1450 need to try it again. In both cases you can save the PIREP into a file and
1451 send it to your mentor at MAVA for further advice.
1452 </p>
1453
1454 <p>
1455 If you start the program later, it will check your rank. If it is STU
1456 (student), you will always be taken to this page. If you have passed both the
1457 entry exam and the check flight, your rank will become FO (First Officer) and
1458 which case you select flights via the MAVA website and fly them with the
1459 logger. In this case, you will be taken to
1460 the <a href="#flightSelectionPage">Flight selection</a> page after a
1461 successful login.
1462 </p>
1463
1464</html>
Note: See TracBrowser for help on using the repository browser.