Getting the track from your GPS device to the website however can be somewhat of a hassle from time to time. It involves starting a separate application, downloading the track from the GPS device, saving it to a GPX file, and finally uploading the file to the freepilotlog.com website. In an ideal world all of this should be a simple one-step process!

For owners of a Garmin device this simple one-step process has become reality as of today. freepilotlog.com now supports the Garmin Communicator API. The first time you are uploading a track to freepilotlog.com you will be asked to install a plug in. Then simply select a track from a drop down list and click a button to upload that track directly from your connected GPS device to the freepilotlog.com website. It’s that easy.

Currently the Firefox and Internet Explorer browsers are supported on the Windows platform. Other browsers and platforms (MacOSX!) will be supported in the near future. Give it a try and let us know if there are any problems with this new feature. Of course the old way of uploading a track through a GPX file is still supported also.

Have fun and fly safe!

Beginning today freepilotlog.com supports uploading of a GPS track with each logbook entry! With many benefits:

• Uploading a track automatically fills in the logbook entry as much as possible. For example the flight path (airport identifiers), date, flight duration, and number of landings are filled in automatically. No need to type any more!
• Once a track is uploaded it is archived with the logbook entry. It can then simply be exported in KML or GPX format by clicking on the KML or GPX icons.
• Click on the KML icon to see and explore your flight in google earth! Or export it in GPX format to view and edit your flight with pretty much any other geographic (GIS) application.
• This is an opportunity for students and instructors to review and analyze a flight lesson. Check how well your pattern was flown, or how smooth your approaches worked out, or what airports you actually landed at!

In our opinion, when two great technologies for pilots come together, a modern Web 2.0 online logbook on the one hand and the Global Positioning System GPS on the other, they create something new and extremely useful. Please give it a try and let us know what you think (info@freepilotlog.com).

To use this new feature you will need to record your flight using a GPS device. We recommend hand held devices (for example the Garmin 60Csx or any other of Garmin’s aviation units are excellent for this purpose!), but any device that is capable of recording tracks and exporting them to standard GPX file format will do.
There are also some other updates to freepilotlog.com that are worth mentioning:

• freepilotlog.com is now even faster and more responsive than before. We believe the more responsive a web application the more you will enjoy using it.
• There is now a “dual given” field. This feature was requested by many of you and should make the logbook more attractive to flight instructors, too!

Thanks to all of you who are using the logbook every day! Your feedback is appreciated.

Happy flying!

With the recent mention of our websites in the AOPA flight training magazine and the AOPA newsletter we have enjoyed substantially increased traffic on our websites flyagogo.net and freepilotlog.com! This of course is a good thing. Thank you all for visiting and using our services.

With increased traffic we needed to improve our hosting and bandwidth. Our servers are now located in a new, multi-homed, state of the art carrier hotel in downtown San Jose - one of the best connected data centers in the world.

The move transpired mostly without incidents and a downtime of less than one day. We did experience some minor glitches and new account sign ups were not possible for a limited time. We apologize for the inconvenience. We are trying to iron out any remaining issues in the next few days. Please let us know if you experience any problems!

While at it, we also updated the freepilotlog.com website, fixing some minor bugs, and missing features. For example when exporting a logbook to a text file the custom labels are now included - and they can be imported again using the import function (pre-define the labels that you want imported prior to import). There was also an issue with pure simulator time that was not logged correctly under some circumstances.

We wish you happy and safe flying!

• It is now possible to log second-in-command time (SIC) separetely from PIC time. This feature was requested by several people. This can also be used to log time as a safety pilot.
• Pure simulator time was incorrectly logged as SEL time (single engine land). This has been corrected.
• When entering several flights in a row (using the Add&Save button), the default origin of a new flight will automatically be the destination of the last flight. Sometimes the simplest ideas are the best!
• More information is displayed in the “totals” row at the bottom of the log book, including SEL, MEL, SES, MES, and SIC time.
• There is a “6 month” option in the “Filter by currency” box. This comes in handy to check for instrument currency. Note that freepilotlog.com does the currency check automatically for you, if the relevant information has been entered (click on “Settings” at the top of the main page).
• There is now an “in current year” and “in last year” option in the “Filter by currency” box, allowing to select only flights in the given year. This kind of information will come in handy when filling out insurance forms or flying club currency forms etc.
• Hover the mouse pointer over the middle column (the one with the remarks and labels) and a popup with all information for each flight will appear. This should make it easier to locate flights that are not entered correctly.

We are still wide open for suggestions and will fix any bugs that you may find. Drop us a line at info@freepilotlog.com .

http://www.freepilotlog.com

freePilotLog.com is a free online logbook for pilots that perfectly complements your paper logbook:

• Benefit from powerful features such as automatic currency notifications and advanced reporting and printing functions
• Have a complete backup of your paper logbook. Be sure your data is safe: Frequent backups are included!
• No need to install any software or synchronize multiple computers and devices.
• Access your logbook from any computer with Internet access, anytime.
• Get new features, improvements, and bug fixes automatically.

And what makes freepilotlog.com so different?

• A unique WEB 2.0 user interface makes entering and browsing flights fast and easy.
• freePilotLog.com integrates tightly with the online flight planning web site flyagogo.net. Easily get current airport information, graphically display flight plans and much more!
• Import and export data from other logbook software. No risk for you: If you find any better logbook software we will let you go.
• We are listening to you. Let us know if you are missing a feature!
• Best of all: It’s free!

You can go there directly and log in using your flyagogo.net account - no need to create a separate account! Or click on “Try a demo” to play with a demo account. As always please let me know if you have any questions or encounter any problems. Extensive documentation is available at

http://www.freepilotlog.com/help

Everyone who has tried freepilotlog.com so far has found errors in his or her paper logbook while entering the data! It’s a really great tool to keep track of your flying. Please give it a try.

If you like my new website freepilotlog.com please support it by sharing it with all of your friends.

I wish all of you a safe and fun flying year 2007!

Meanwhile - as always - the website has been updated with the very latest data from the FAA: current sectional and terminal area charts, updated airport, navaid, and airspace fixes, updated approach plates and airport diagrams. Some bugs have been fixed as well. Louis for example pointed out that the decoded METARS would somtimes contain a thunderstorm warning on a perfeclty sunny day. Please let me know if you see anything suspicious. Usually I’ll be able to fix the problem as soon as you let me know about it!

The flyagogo.net flying destinations introduced earlier on this website are coming along nicely! Many thanks for the people who have posted their favourite destinations and events. I encourage everyone who is using the website to share your destinations with your flying friends. Help to make this a great resource for finding destinations and learning about aviation events and happenings.

http://www.flyagogo.net/destinations

Submitted destinations will be associated to an airport. Visitors of the flyagogo.net website will see the posting whenever they search for information about this or a nearby airport, or planning a flight to that region. Visitors can also search for destinations within a certain radius around an airport, or by specifying keywords, or by browsing a list of recently added destinations. You can be sure that your posting will be seen!

A little background on this project: There are many websites scattered around the web that mention flying destinations. However I did not find a central platform that would allow pilots to openly and effectively share information about their flying passion. The pages that I found were either available only on a subscription basis, very limited in functionality and scope, censored by web site operators, or very hard to find. The flyagogo.net Flying Destinations are supposed to be different. They put you in charge and allow you to share information with a wide audience of fellow pilots. It works similar to a blog or in other words it is a kind of online diary. It is easy to post formatted text, including pictures to better illustrate a story.

One of the most frequent requests I had received from the users of this website concerned a feature that allows the aviation community to better participate and share information. I hope you like the way the Flying Destinations accomplish this! As always I am very open to suggestions how to improve the website. Special thanks go to Jonathan Hull, who inspired the idea of providing a blog like interface.

Happy flying!

• The flyagogo.net website was featured in AOPA’s flight training magazine! Welcome to anyone who learned about us through the magazine article. I hope you like the website and if you have any feedback please don’t hesitate to send it to info@flyagogo.net.
• All sectional and terminal area charts have been updated on their regular 28 day cycle. You may have noticed that this time the image quality of the charts has improved quite significantly. The image post processing steps have been tuned resulting in better colors and sharper chart images.
• We are currently experiencing intermittent problems with the satellite images. This is due to recent changes that NASA made to its image sources and technical glitches beyond my control. The problems should be resolved early this week (it seems the guys over at NASA are putting in a weekend shift to solve it!). If problems persist I will switch flyagogo.net over to another data source shortly. Sorry for the inconvenience that this may have caused.

Happy flying!

The answer may seem obvious, but a closer look reveals some facts that are not really common knowledge and that may be useful for flight planning! So here is a summary of what you need to know to get the most out of weather satellites:

The weather satellites that provide the highest resolution images for the United States are the GOES satellites. The GOES satellites are in orbit roughly 22 thousand miles away from earth. Since the orbit is geosynchronous the satellites will always look at the same part of the planet. The flyagogo.net high performance server continuously processes the full resolution images from both the GOES west satellite for the western half of the US and the GOES east satellite for the eastern half, both in the visible range with 1km resolution and in the infrared with 4km resolution.

Weather satellites basically measure sunlight reflected by the clouds and surface of the earth. Water absorbs a lot of sunlight - it reflects just a little - so it appears dark. The percent of sunlight reflected by the land or water is called the surface albedo. The albedo of land ranges from about 10-30%, except for snow covered surfaces where the albedo is much higher. The raw satellite images are impressive but they are pretty much useless for flight planning. That’s why flyagogo.net first subtracts an average surface albedo, and then overlays the resulting clouds-only image with a colorful aviation specific map showing airport positions, land and sea boundaries, rivers, and state boundaries.

A cloud’s albedo is generally high, but can vary with its thickness and composition. Thick clouds have high albedos and show up bright in the visible satellite image. Thin cirrus clouds have low albedos and are usually semi-transparent to sunlight. The structure of clouds in the satellite image can tell you a lot about what you will encounter on your flight. The image on the left shows the cumulonimbus clouds of a thunderstorm with cirrus clouds being blown of from the anvil top of the thunderstorm. The wind direction is from the southeast! Note that clouds are only visible during daytime, unlike the infrared images which are available around the clock.

The satellite also measures the temperature of the clouds and the surface of the Earth with an infrared sensor. Clouds are usually colder than the surface (land or water). The temperature of the clouds also indicates how tall they are since temperature is inversely proportional to height in the atmosphere. The colder the cloud the more likely it is to produce rain. The flyagogo website displays warm clouds semi-transparent, the cool clouds whiter, and the very cold clouds bright white and opaque. The raw images are processed continuously to remove the surface temperature and only show the temperature difference between the surface and the atmosphere. The biggest advantage of the infrared image is that it is available 24 hours, even at night time. If you are planning a night cross country you should definitely consult the infrared images. As we all know flying at night is more risky than flying during daytime. Never rely on an infrared image and always make sure to consult a weather briefer before embarking on a flight.

Credits and thanks go to the NWS and NASA for providing some of the information presented here.

Since today flyagogo.net features a 6 day (and night!) weather forecast for all airport locations in the United States. Search for an airport and you will automatically see weather icons, the 12hr probability of precipitation (PoP), and minimum and maximum temperatures in Fahrenheit for each 24h period. Click on the button to see the forecasted weather conditions at night. The data is provided by the National Weather Service.

Also the user interface has been cleaned up a bit. The forecast as well as the temporary flight restrictions are presented in separate windows that can be closed by clicking on the close icon . More usability improvements are coming soon.

I hope you find this new feature useful and give it a try when planning for the next cross country flight. Happy and safe flying!