I am surprised email is manually retyped. The least they can do is swipe/copy/paste – even from a PDF.
Also do they actually use that info for anything? Does it go into some database?
For many years the stuff was faxed (only). Did each police force really have people entering the stuff into some national database and, if so, why did each force have its own fax number? And if the database wasn’t national, there could not have been any point in running one!
I know flight plans were for many years mostly faxed to the FBUs, and they had dozens of people re-keying them into the AFTN. But that’s different. There is no “GAR AFTN”.
There is a border force computer system, centrally based, that routes the GAR forms to the correct people – it’s kinda like the GAR AFTN. We enter directly into that database, and it creates the workflows. Faxes end up here too, so must be manually rekeyed. Emails could well be copy/pasted, but there’s still room for human error.
In a nutshell: we pay in order to save the government bodies some work. 
Well… not exactly…
GARs can be submitted electronically for free through AOPA… and this saves the government some work.
So you pay to make the process nicer, smoother, and save data entry. AOPA was scared of holding personal data, and we have taken this on – which involves data protection responsibilities. So you are paying for an electronic store of data which serves as history and to save time with repeat journeys. Aside from being a nicer interface, it doesn’t add a huge amount of value for the once-a-year flying pilot, but they get it free anyway.
So – its entirely optional, but we’ve delivered what people have been asking for, but at a cost.
Just tested it. I have to say, very neat and tidy. Much much better than the AOPA thing. A pity AOPA wasn’t able to come up with something like that in the first place.
One idea: since I am in Ireland right now 
… Would there by any chance to incorporate automatic notification for flights to and from the Republic of Ireland (i.e. whenever a non-customs aerodrome in Ireland is indicated, send the GAR in copy to Irish Customs)?
That’s a good idea – and one we should try and discuss with the authorities in Ireland directly.
We’re looking at much the same idea for the Channel Islands- the idea that they could have a management interface to login and see all relevant GAR forms.
But in the interim, if users can download a full GAR form as say a PDF, that could be sent on to IOM, CI or Ireland airfields you are going to.
Hi Jason,
Downloading as a PDF is a good idea, but not one I can squeeze in before launch. The full GAR is emailed to the user, and this can be printed (as PDF on machines that support it) – or the web page can be printed directly.
Regards,
-Carl.
Things are going nicely, and i’d like to thank everyone for their help testing so far. I’ve handed out 7 bug bounty rewards.
Stats so far are:
There are 49 fully registered users. 7 have yet to validate their email. 45 registered in the last 24H.
Saved are 58 GARs, 62 Pax, 55 Aircraft, 2 Custom Airfields. 43 GARs in the last 24H.
I registered at about 19:00 Saturday, no email received, checked spam.
