• First, it looks in the body of your message to see if there are any [FLIGHTSTART] ... [FLIGHTEND] sections and it processes them sequentially.
• If there were no errors in processing any logged flights, then it:
  • Sends you a receipt for the logged flights, if requested ([RECEIPT][Y])
  • Processes the subject line as a command.
• However, if there were errors in the processing of your flight, then
  • It will send you an email indicating you of your error.
  • The subject line 'command' will not be processed.

What does this mean in practice? Well, for one, look at the subject line of our examples above. It was "LOG". LOG is not a valid command in our system - this is just a dummy subject line that will be ignored by our system. We recommend putting this since some email systems don't like it if you try to send a message with no subject, but as far as we're concerned it doesn't really matter.

However, let's say you did something like this:

What you are basically telling the system is "Log my flight from Haneda Airport in Tokyo to Beijing Capital airport and send me a summary report of my last 30 days." (As you will learn later, "REPORT 30D" is a command for the last 30 days of reports). If this flight is logged successfully, this is what you'll get. This is a quick way to send one email and get two results, though if you're more cautious you might just send separate emails for these requests. There are pluses and minuses either way. Let's say you sent separate requests in quick succession and there was an error in your input. Well, in that case the 30D report will come, but it will be missing this flight and you might get confused (of course, you will also get an error message email). On the other hand, by sending the report request separately, you are at least guaranteed to get a report, even if it doesn't include this last flight.

What if I try to log multiple flights in one email and only one of them has an error?

Only flights that have errors will be rejected and sent back to you (with an explanation of the error, if the system can in fact deduce it). Flights that have no errors will be logged, but if there were some with errors, then subject line will not be processed.

Will I get a response instantly or within a few minutes?

Often yes, but not always. The system works on a queue basis. If the system is busy because of many complicated requests, it may take some time. The only exception to this is "HELLO" commands, which are processed as soon as possible. You can check system status by issuing a "HELLO" command. This is mostly a "fire and forget" system - send your email and then don't worry about it, though understand that it may take a bit of time to get a response.

Can I make as many requests as I want?

Probably. For most users this won't be an issue, but we do make an upper limit on how many requests we'll handle. This is because, as you might imagine, it would be quite simple for us to overwhelm our server with thousands of requests for complex reports using some automated email-sending system. If you don't do this sort of wacky stuff, you should be just fine. If you start doing too many in a given time period, the system will generally warn you first before it cuts you off, but we can't guarantee this.

The email I sent to log@safelogweb.com bounced.

You probably misspelled it. Check it again. That said, if you're sure something's up, first have a look to make sure you can send email elsewhere to make sure it's not a general problem with your email system. If the problem persists, contact us via our helpdesk.

I want to send emails using non-English characters.

This system is designed around the standard 26-character English character set. If you want to use other characters, there is a nonzero chance that you will get the usual sort of system issues that you've doubtlessly run into in the past with such things. While we do as best as we can, remember that the problem is particularly difficult here since we're dealing with email system that use a billion different encoding schemes. For best results, just stick with the tried and true English letters. Or, just try it and see if it works for you - you never know.

I logged a flight but it didn't show up instantly in my Safelog for PC software. What's going on?

First, remember that your email goes to our server. So, you need to sync your PC software with our server to get the latest data. Second, know that incoming emails go into a queue on our server and are worked on as system load allows. This system load can be a bit intense at times, especially if people are requesting many reports or other analysis features. So, it could be that your email is in the queue.

I'm worried that somebody can log a flight as me by faking my email address.

Really? You must have made some really strange enemy for somebody to dislike you enough to go to all the trouble to do this rather involved mischief. No, really. We've thought about this every which way and have discussed it in our circle of users and we can't really see it being an issue. If it ever is, we'll deal with it then.

I guess you're right, but what about people seeing my flight data?

Remember, when you request reports and other things from this system, Safelog will reply to YOUR email address. So, even if somebody were to go to a heck of a lot of trouble to make an email appear to be coming from you even if it wasn't, they wouldn't get the reply, since it would go to your real email address. And, if somebody gets access to your real email address, well, then you've got larger problems than somebody seeing your logbook. If you for example lost your iPhone or BlackBerry and are concerned that somebody is accessing your email, contact us via our helpdesk and we'll probably recommend that you remove that email address from your account.

I sent you a note when I logged a flight...

No, no you didn't! Anything you send to log@safelogweb.com will be handled by the automated system. Outside of occasional maintenance-related observation, no human will ever see this. If you put something there that the system does not understand, it will simply ignore it and effectively delete it. If you want to contact us, please see our helpdesk.

I can't get something to work...

No problem - contact us via our helpdesk and we'll be happy to help. However, we can help you best if and only if you provides EXAMPLES of what you are trying to do.

Command Reference

• Send commands to the system by typing them in the SUBJECT LINE of your emails to log@safelogweb.com
• ONLY ONE COMMAND per email! If you try to send more than one at a time, either only the first one will be processed or you'll get an error. Please not that something like 'HELP REPORTS' counts as one command.
• We list all the commands in UPPERCASE, but it doesn't really matter if you do the same. Our system will capitalize all subject lines.
• For all reports, you can also specify PDF or HTML at the end. This will cause the report to be delivered to your email in PDF or HTML format, when available. Not all reports are available in all formats, however, those formats may look nicer.

HELP

"HELP" gives you a basic list of the other commands you can use in the system.

The basic system commands are:

• HELLO - tells you about system status and lets you know the relationship between the account that you just sent email from and the Safelog system.
• FORM - returns a flight log form for you to fill out.
• REPORT - returns a report of flight times
• APPROACH - returns a report of IFR (and visual) approaches
• CURRENCY - returns a report of flight time and other status as compared to regulatory requirements or custom currencies set elsewhere in the Safelog system.
• MEDICAL - returns a status report on your medical certificates
• CHECKRIDE - for FAA users, returns a report of how their aeronautical experience compares to FAA minima for various practical tests
• FLIGHTS - returns a list of recent flights logged
• AIRCRAFT - returns a list of your database of aircraft
• TYPES - returns a list of your aircraft types

To find out more about any one of these, issue a HELP command on any of the above. For example, "HELP REPORT" to find out about the available reports.

It is also possible to get help on SOME but by no means all of the fields in the various fields. For example, "HELP TO" for help with the "TO" field in a log form.

HELLO

Hello tells you about system status. This command is better experienced that explained. To experience it, send a blank email to log@safelogweb.com with the subject line of "HELLO". Whatever is returned to you should be self explanatory. If not, please contact us via our helpdesk and try to describe the issue as best as you can.

FORM

FORM causes a blank flight log form to be emailed to you that mimics your logbook settings in Safelog. You fill out the form and email it back to log@safelogweb.com.

Most of the time, you will want to call "FORM" without any arguments, simply as "FORM." However, "FORM" also supports a few options.

• FORM MMDDYYYY
• FORM DDMMYYYY

Send either one of the two above, and your form will come back asking for dates in the requested format. Furthermore, this tells the system that any subsequent emailed log data that you send should be sent in this format.

• FORM EDIT1234

Send something like "FORM EDIT1234" and this tells the system that you want to edit flight 1234. Notice that there is no space between "EDIT" and "1234" - it's simply "EDIT1234". Where do you get this number 1234 from? You get it from doing the FLIGHTS command.

If you try to edit a flight that does not exist or that you don't have access to for whatever reason, you will get an error message.

You should be acutely aware of what you are doing if you try to edit a flight via email. Remember that emails are handled by our system in a queue - usually immediately, but not always.

REPORT

Use the "report" feature to request summary reporting data of your flight times. Remember that any such data will only be current as of whatever has been processed at the server at that point. That means, for example, if you have yet unsynchronized flights on your Safelog PC copy, they will not show up in the reports.

The simplest and perhaps most useful report is provided by simply sending the command report:

• REPORT

This will actually be more than sufficient for a great many things. However, the system is a bit more powerful. The first thing you can do it specify a time period: WHEN SPECIFYING DATES, REMEMBER THAT THE BASE DATE WILL BE THE SYSTEM DATE, WHICH MAY BE DAY OFF YOUR LOCAL DATE DUE TO TIME ZONE ISSUES.

• REPORT ALL - is actually the same as "REPORT." Requests your flight data over all its dates.
• REPORT YTD -since January 1 of the current year, inclusive
• REPORT MTD- since the first of the current month, inclusive.
• REPORT 1Y - in the past 1 year. You can also do 2Y, 3Y, etc.
• REPORT 7M - in the past 7 months.
• REPORT 6CM - in the past 6 CALENDAR months as defined per the FAA 'Calendar Month' system.
• REPORT 28D - in the past 28 days
• REPORT MAR - this or the previous March.  Months can be one of JAN, FEB, MAR, APR, MAY, JUN, JUL, AUG, SEP, OCT, NOV, DEC.
• REPORT JAN2008 - January 1 through 31, 2008. Notice no space between “JAN” and “2008”.
• REPORT 2009 - January 1 through Dec 31, 2009

You can also add the modifiers PDF or HTML to your email to receive your report in PDF or HTML formats. These may be more convenient or easier to read

• REPORT 2004 PDF
• REPORT 6CM HTML

APPROACH

APPROACH (can also be entered as APC or APPROACHES) provides a listing of your recorded approaches. Generally, these will be instrument approaches, but if you have explicitly logged visual approaches, those can be shown too.

The simplest way to do this is to specify simple

• APPROACH

This gets you a list of your approaches by default WITHIN THE LAST 6 CALENDAR MONTHS. We chose this as a default since otherwise providing you with all approaches may be too much while 6 calendar months is a common need for FAA pilots.

You can also explicitly specify the period you are interested in by using the same modifiers that can be used with REPORTs. For example:

• APPROACH 30D
• APPROACH 1Y PDF

Please see the HELP documentation for REPORTs to learn more about this. You can also use the PDF and HTML modifiers as you see above.

FLIGHTS

The FLIGHTS command returns a list of logged flights. Due to the inherent limitations of email, the returned lists will have certain limitations, but in a pinch you can use this feature to find some particular information that you are looking for. Note that the output of this command is not particularly pretty compared to the various print and display features found in the main Safelog products, so we suggest you use those if you can.

• FLIGHTS

returns a list by default of the list of flights in the last 10 days in chronological order. You can also sort this by a date range by using the same date modifiers from the REPORT command. For example:

• FLIGHTS 2009
• FLIGHTS 30D
• FLIGHTS ALL

CURRENCY

This provides a quick view of your currency status. This is only available based on the present time.

• CURRENCY FAA - General FAA currency Status. Mostly useful for FAA pilots only. Also provides medical certificate information, though not as much as the MEDICAL command does. Appends any custom currency information you have in the system.
• CURRENCY 135 - Your flight time with regards to FAA CFR 14 Part 135 Limits. Only useful for FAA pilots
• CURRENCY 121 - Your flight time with regards to FAA CFR 14 Part 121 Limits..Only useful for FAA pilots.
• CURRENCY JAA - Your flight time with regards to certain JAA limits. Also provides medical certificate information though not as much as the MEDICAL command does. Appends any custom currency information you have in the system.
• CURRENCY CUSTOM - Only any custom currency limits you have set in in the system.

MEDICAL

This provides a status report on your medical certificates in the system. You can not update this information via email, but you can view it.

CHECKRIDE

CHECKRIDE provides you with a snapshot of your logged flight time against FAA aeronautical experience requirements for various FAA practical tests. This is ONLY useful if you are logging your flight in an FAA-style logbook.

To request one of these checkride readiness analysis reports, enter the command exactly as written. Note that 'SINGLE' is for single-engined airplanes, 'MULTI' is for multi-engine airplanes, and "HELI' is for helicopters.

• CHECKRIDE RECREATIONAL SINGLE
• CHECKRIDE PRIVATE SINGLE
• CHECKRIDE IFR SINGLE
• CHECKRIDE COMMERCIAL SINGLE
• CHECKRIDE ATP SINGLE
• CHECKRIDE PRIVATE MULTI
• CHECKRIDE IFR MULTI
• CHECKRIDE COMMERCIAL MULTI
• CHECKRIDE ATP MULTI
• CHECKRIDE RECREATIONAL HELI
• CHECKRIDE PRIVATE HELI
• CHECKRIDE IFR HELI
• CHECKRIDE COMMERCIAL HELI
• CHECKRIDE ATP HELI

TYPES

The TYPES command returns a list of the various aircraft types which you have logged flights for.

A typical result is something like this.

AIRCRAFT

The AIRCRAFT command returns a list of the various aircraft registrations that you have flown in, broken down by types which you have logged flights for.

A typical result is something like this.

Expert Tips and Tricks

Here are a few tips and tricks that are for experts. These tricks require experimentation and are not guaranteed.

FLIGHTDATE

FLIGHTDATE. - when entering dates in the system, you can use the words TODAY and YESTERDAY when logging flights. This saves you trying to remember what day it is! For example:

[DATE][TODAY]

Now the question in this international world, is "what is today?" here's where it gets interesting in the world of the Internet. Basically, IF your email system appends a "Date sent" or equivalent field to the emails it sends, we will use that. In many cases, this will be fine. However, in some cases either that is not sent, or it is sent in "GMT Date" format rather than "Local Date". So, for example, if you're in Hawaii, the system might effectively send "Tomorrow's" date instead of today's, and if you're in Japan it might send yesterday's date. Our system will do its best, but we urge you to experiment and monitor things for a while until you are comfortable with how "TODAY" and "YESTERDAY" work on your system. Often, this is tied to things that your Internet Service Provider (ISP) appends to your emails without you knowing.

AIRCRAFT REGISTRATION / TYPE

What we have written elsewhere states that you can only log the aircraft registration and that you must go back in Safelog PC or Safelog Web to fill in that aircraft's details later. This is not entirely true. You can do a few tricks if you're careful.

Let's say you're flying a new aircraft that you have never logged a flight in before. This will be one of two sorts: a type that you have flown before and a type that you have not.

Let's first assume that you have already plenty of time in Cessna 172s but want to log a flight in N172CN which you have just flown for the first time. To do this, you need to know the "short code" as you have defined C172 in your logbook. You can find this out by using the TYPES command. Let's say that in your logbook, the "short name" for a Cessna 172 is C172. You can then log the flight like this:

[AC REGISTRATION] [N172CN:C172]

That is, after the registration you place a COLON and then the short form. If you make a typo and this short form doesn't actually exist in the system, it will be added as "Unknown Manufacturer", leaving you to clean things up manually later.

The other possibility is that your flight was in a type that you've never flown before. Such as, for example, let's say you lucky dog got yourself a flight in N51P, a P-51D Mustang. You can log this as such:

[AC REGISTRATION] [N51P:North American:P-51D]

That is, after the registration, you can add a colon (:) followed by the manufacturer's name followed by another colon followed by the aircraft type. If you do this, it will place these properly. However, you must still later go in and set the aircraft's characteristics manually - for example, telling the system that this is a single-engine, reciprocating, complex, tailwheel, warbird land airplane. If you don't do this, the system will not be able to do intelligent analysis of your time, and you'll be wondering why time is missing here and there.

So - if it sees ONE COLON, it thinks you are entering a type that you already logged. Two colons and it generally acts as if you're entering a new type. That also said, it will try to EXACTLY match up the manufacturer and type that you entered with what you have already in your logbook, you know, just in case you happened to have flown a North American P-51D before but just forgot.