Hey, I flied the first ever electronic one. I completely believe in it so long as you make it compatible with the airfields who have been the main resistance to the electronic system. Faxing them is a pain.
And the existing apps are fine given they are free. But if you want to charge you need high quality apps.
There have been rumours that the Border Force (or whatever they are now called) will eventually refuse to accept the faxed or emailed versions of the GAR.
That, I am sure, will be about as successful as AFPEX has been with non UK based pilots 
Currently, I email the GAR, and that allows one to re-use old versions (in .doc format), with copy/paste as required. I then print Page 1 to PDF and email that to the NCU@ address.
The only problem with that is that can’t be used for the Plod (UK slang for Police) notification (IOM, CI or N & S Ireland, the hotbeds of terrorism) which, practically, needs either (a) fax (which mostly doesn’t work because somebody in the Plod Office has not been putting paper in for the last 5 years) or (b) the online GAR that uses that slightly odd Silverlight app which I did finally manage to get working but which doesn’t allow any passenger data storage/management.
What is clearly badly needed is a process where you can store everybody’s details and just quickly compose a custom GAR from a database of people who flew with you before. This is a MAJOR HASSLE for bizjet pilots whose client phones up at 10pm saying the wife wants to do a spot of shopping in Cannes tomorrow morning…
And it needs to be a straight HTML website (maybe with a little bit of javascript) not some client app.
I believe my copy email will be compatible with the airfields – if not, i’ll tweak it until it is. There is a limit to what they can legally demand, and UKBF don’t want them holding personal data- so hopefully this is the answer.
I’ve put a lot of work into the site, and feedback suggests it’s seen as high quality. It halves the submission time (or better) so that’s an added value for sure. The existing free apps are under serious threat, and will be withdrawn in a matter of months. It’s been unfair asking one guy (John Murray) to pay for these out of his own pocket.
In reply to Peter – we’ve delivered exactly what you request – straight HTML, cross platform including mobile, lightweight and efficient. Stores data for efficient re-use. I wish the border force had paid us money to develop it, but they haven’t – so we have to charge.
There is a limit to what they can legally demand, and UKBF don’t want them holding personal data- so hopefully this is the answer.
I know but they are the stumbling block right now. If anything stops your business it will be them. Remember if I am the user and choose to give personal data to the airfields then that is surely my problem.
I would allow people to customise what is sent or allow a saved PDF version that can subsequently be emailed.
Yes, it’s true – it’s entirely your choice what you share, i think it’s a simple equation for individual pilots making that decision.
The system emails you a confirmation IN FULL without any detail removed – you can easily forward that on to whoever you like. That’s probably the best solution for now. I can definitely add a custom choice for a user of what to include in the copy email but i’d prefer to try and find a standard common ground for now.
It is as always. Where there is a (free) formality to do and the process is clunky, someone will step in, make things smoother and make a business out of it.
The possibility to submit a GAR “for free” will not go away. The authorities cannot force users to use a third party product to complete a formality required by themselves.
BTW, when I need to send a GAR to the police, I normally call them and ask for their email address nowadays. But yes, that’s a bit complicated, too.
Yes, that’s absolutely how we see it. I suspect the future looks like this:
OnlineGAR – the premium commercial option
AOPA – the free silverlight version
MOBILES – John’s mobile apps will end being free in 6 months or so.
EMAIL – probably will stay for a while, but it’s still manually rekeyed.
FAX – probably be dropped at some point
Carl
When you say that Mobiles will be dropped in 6 months, would that also mean iPads using a web browser?
I like the idea of integration with SkyDemon. Presumably this will be priced using the same the flight plan credit scheme rather than using a parallel account?
When I say mobiles will be dropped, i’m referring to the “GAR” apps downloaded from apple and google app stores. They’re currently completely free to use.
iPads/iPhones/etc – they’ll all work just fine with OnlineGAR.com website, whether directly or through any of our “integration” partners – i suspect within a few months we’ll have all popular navigation apps integrating with us – i answered some enquiries just this evening from a big one.
I’m afraid I can’t comment on pricing for any integration partners until after launch – negotiations are ongoing.
