Contents

AE Analysis

IR Cloud Tops

Pairing Summaries

PBS and Scheduling Tools

Rotation Format Translator

HTML Flash Card creator

Weather Report

MEL Extract from iCrew

ForeFlight KML stuff



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Manual Entry Flight Plan Times iOS shortcut

With the html flight plan going away and extracting data from the Mission+ using ios Shortcuts to analyze Mission+ data prohibited, I have a page that offers some featues from the html flight plan. Due to the need to manually enter the data that I am restricted from accessing from Mission+, it is clunky. However, you may still find it usable for international flights.

This is structured as an iOS shortcut. You can access it from the share menu of Mission+ just like Delta's QuickFlight+ or the previous shortcuts. However, this shortcut does not use Mission+ data. You could actually share from any file. The shortcut is just used as a way to store and access the page for offline use.

The idea is to load the page from a previous flight or even another unrelated file to open the page. Enter the data manually as desired. When the actual flight is available in Mission+, go to the page in Edge to enter the time information instad of using the shortcut.

link to load iOS Shortcut for Manual Entry Flight Plan Times

To use the shortcut, tap on the three vertical dots on a flight in the Flight Manager (list of flights) in Mission+, select "Share", then choose "Manual Entry Flight Plan Times." Note that you could also hold down on any file or e-mail attachment to get the "Share" option since this does not use an Mission+ data.

Delta offers a shortcut, QuickFlight+. It does not display any data, but it does open the various apps. The instructions for how to install and use QuickFlight+ is in the link below.

QuickFlight+ in AeroDocs

Limits on iOS Shortcuts

Delta revised the IT policy on 7/10/2023 and previous shortcuts that extracted Mission+ are not in compliance with this update.

Delta's Information Technology Acceptable Use Policy

10.5. Except as expressly authorized by Delta Information Technology and approved by Delta Information Security, Users must not independently develop, use or distribute any IT applications, software, code or other IT solutions that process Delta information or interface with Delta’s computer systems, network or applications, or which act as alternatives to, or supplement functions provided by, Delta’s internal IT applications. Users must not load any such solutions to any Delta Device. Users must not use and must report any unauthorized IT solutions of which they become aware to Delta Information Security.

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Crew Resources analysis

Other sources of staffing analysis:

While I don't have any immediate plans to discontinue my analysis, there are some other sources.

Delta's Crew Resources and Scheduling page.

Crew Resources and Scheduling -> Advanced Entitlements -> AE Awards -> Supporting Documents.

Delta now creates a projected list in Excel format that is published with the award. This list used to take several weeks to be published and is one of the major gaps that my analysis was created to fill.

DALSEN, www.dalsen.online

Dalsen is an analysis app written by another pilot.

Delta ALPA Pilot Dashboard

Curly Culp's Widget Seniority

AE Analysis for Mar 15, 2024 award (Updated for some errors 3/18/2024 0900)

There are a handful of pilots in the award who were not on the previous seniority olist. I did not go back and add these pilots to the seniority and projected category lists.

PDF version

This version lists each pilot twice -- once for the category that he is entering and once for the category that he is exiting. Thus, it is possible to see the change in a category. This is also available as the "Analysis" tab in the Excel file.

PDF version of the analysis

Excel Version

If you want to interact with the file online, you must do step 1 and then step 2.

1. While you cannot interact with this link online, but you can download the Excel file and use it. You also need to open this link to establish authorization to use the interactive version in step 2.

Read Only version

2. Use this link to interact online with the data. This will not work until you have established authorization by accessing the file with the previous link. I will ignore the request if you click on the button to request access.  If you are denied access, go back to the previous step. This method of access awkward, but it allows access without any changes that you make being propogaged to anybody who subsequently accesses the file.

Interactive version

iPad notes:

To use this on your iPad within Safari (the browser)

1. Tap the highlighted cell to enter your employee number. This just selects the cell.

2. Do a quick double tap to allow entry into the cell. This is a little tricky to get just right. The keyboard will pop up when you have done this correctly.

3. Enter your 6-digit employee number.

To use this within Excel for iOS (the browser)

There is a version of Excel for the iPad. It is a little quirky, but hopefully this will help you if you want to give it a try. You will need Excel for the iPad from the app store link.

In order to interact with Excel on your iPad, you will need to activate it. If you already have one, you can use your Office 365 account. However, you may be able to activate it with your Delta e-mail and sign in if you do not have an Office 365 account or do not want any personal items on your iPad.

When you open the file, there will be a bar at the top that will say that it is Read Only. There is an option to Save a Copy in the right side of the warning. You should be able to interact with the saved copy.

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IR Cloud Tops

Delta has Cloud Tops in the iOS version of the weather viewer. I think this is a big deal that not a lot of pilots know about. This is especially a big deal where there is no radar coverage. I have brief overview:

Using IR Cloud Tops.pdf

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Pairing Summaries. Update 3: 3/7/24 16:00

I made two updates. One was to correct for some layovers being left off the list and one to correct for some incorrect carry-in and in-month credit values.

Link to Pairings Summaries

Note that the above link will require you to sign into Deltanet and the files are not available publicly. While I am flattered by the fact that many people find these useful, I would highly encourage that you learn about the analysis tool in the PBS Web App. More details are available in the PBS Gouge or the YouTube videos produced by the PBS Committee. Both are linked from http://pbshelp.info/delta

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PBS and Scheduling Tools

John Bell's PBS Guide

While not a full PBS manual, I have put together some of the things that I wish more pilots knew about using PBS.

John Bell's guide to PBS       John Bell's guide to PBS for EasyBid Users

FAR 117 calculator in Excel.

This uses a copy and paste of the pairings from iCrew to calculate some of the FAR 117 cumulative parameters. This depends on macros, so you must download the file to a computer and run it in Excel.

Mac: You should get a prompt asking if you want to enable Macros. Enable them.

Windows: Microsoft added a new (and annoying) secuity feature that blocks unsigned macros. Before you use the file, right click on the file and select "properties". Click on the box to unblock the content. Here is a picture: picture

FAR 117 calculator in Excel

Reserve Pay Calculator (updated 3/1/2023 for new PWA):

HTML version of the Reserve Pay Calculator optimized for the iPad. note: This should work on any computer.

Excel version of the Reserve Pay Excel Spreadsheet Use it interactively in your browser or download it for offline use. The download icon is in the bottom right corner of the frame.

Test version (2/21/2024)

I think I may have found a way to look up the absence codes. This is only in Excel for now. However, it should work on the the iPad. You have to double tap in the cell to enter the data on the iPad.

Test Reserve Pay Spreadsheet

Reserve Line Simulator

This is a tool that allows you to switch days from X to R and see how many work days you have used in a row, X day blocks, etc. This was created to help answer e-mails with reserve questions. This may not cover every scenario and is offered on a use at your own risk basis.

PBS reserve line simulator in Excel

Online version of PBS Reserve simulator
iPad notes:
  • If you have Office 365 with Excel on your iPad: Use the normal link. Use the square with an arrow comming out icon near the URL window to send the file to Excel.
  • If you do not have OneDrive or Office 365: Use the "online" link. This should work in Safari. However, selecting cells with pull down menus such as the month can be problematic. I find the trick is to do a double tap, but continue to hold your finger down on the second tap until the menu appears.
  • If you have OneDrive installed, but do not have Office 365: I have not found a good solution other than to find another device or computer.

Rotation Pay Calculator (LCA Block and Minutes Under Extract)

This started as a way for standards pilots to extract the block plus minutes under for each leg. While I developed it a little beyond that point, the analysis just uses information within the rotation and is not sophisticated enough to determine if DBMS is making the calculations correctly.
Rotation Pay Calculator

Leg Extract from iCrew Rotations

This allows you to paste an iCrew rotation and then will extract the basic items such as block time. The initial purpose was to allow line check airman to track their line check time by filtering for "L" legs, but it can be used for total block.
Important note: Excel "thinks" in days. For example, even if Excel shows 72:00, it is "thinking" 3 days. If you want to make any pay calculations based on the totals, multiply by 24.
iCrew Legs Import spreadsheet
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Rotation Format Translator:

Summary:

Pilot version

FA version

I find that civilians such as family members have a hard time reading the rotation. This is a quick way to extract the legs and hotel information into a readable format with local times. You can then e-mail or otherwise share your rotation.

I have some other functions for the pilot version:

Create e-mails from the rotation

Rotation email extract

This allows you to take a rotation or multiple rotations and create a list of the Delta e-mails from the employee numbers. This is designed so that you can e-mail a crew.

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HTML Flash Card Creator

I have an Excel workbook that allows you to create flash cards in an html format. I have an example below of for 330 Memory and Limitations, but you can create flash cards for any aircraft. The Excel file is used to generate an html file that is used for quizing.

Example of the output: 330 html flash cards

Example of the Excel file used to create the 330 example.

The easiest way to use this on your iPad is to use the resulting html file like an html flight plan file:

1. You must download the file and use it in Excel. I have not tried this in the Mac version. You may need to do it in the Windows version.

2. Create the html file using Excel.

3. Email the html file to yourself.

4. Save these to a folder in the files app.

5. Open the file into Microsoft Edge by using share to Edge.

 

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Weather Report

Weather Report based on AviationWeather.gov

Aviationweather.gov Impact Board

I used to have a weather report that I created by extracting data from NOAA's aviationweather.gov site. However, NOAA updated and improved their site which broke my script. Since my report was experimental and for demonstration, I am not sure if I will update it. My favorite part of the aviationweather.gov was the TAFF board. This is now called the Impact Board. You can enter a list of airports and press "Load". Note that when you follow the hyperlink to an individual airport, there is now a switch on the page to show the crosswinds for each runway. Some airports lack the runway data and will return an error, but this is a very nice feature.

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MEL Extract from iCrew

https://www.johnfbell.com/Extract_MEL_from_iCrew.html

There is MEL information in the ship routing page in iCrew. This is available long before the flight plan is available. This page extracts this MEL data to make previewing the MEL information more practical. Note that this is all done internal to the page with JavaScript and no information is sent over the internet.

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ForeFlight KML stuff

KML lat/lon grid for ForeFlight

Clicking on one of the links for the files below will cause Safari to prompt you to download the file to your iPad. After downloading, open the file from the Files app. After opening these files, use the share icon (box with an arrow coming out) to share with ForeFlight. Once imported into ForeFlight, you can use these as an overlay in the map display.

Detailed Lat Lon grid

Lat Lon grid

The basic version is to add a rough lat long grid to the globe view. I have lines of parallel for arctic circle, equator, as well as 30 and 60 degrees. I have longitude lines in 30 degree increments.

The more detailed version gives a 1 degree lat lon grid. This is not for viewing, but to facilitate using the ForeFlight annotation tool to draw things like turbulence reports. I have added thicker lines at 5, 10, and 30 degree increments. You can turn the layer on to draw and then turn it off after you have drawn the area. ForeFlight video tutorial on annotating the map.

The purpose in this project is to give a way of drawing turbulence areas when WiFi is unavailable to populate the Flight Weather Viewer. If you do not have the ForeFlight link from using my page to translate the flight plan, you can still import the route from the official html flight plan. Type in the origin, space, paste the route from the Jepp FD Routing in the Route Extract section, space, type in the destination.

Convert a list of waypoints for import into ForeFlight as a KML.

This is an Excel spreadsheet that allows you to take a list of waypoints and turn them into a kml file that can be imported into ForeFlight.

Airport_Database_to_kml.xlsm