The first thing to do when opening FlightSpan™ on your EFB is to sync with FlightSpan™ Ops, a necessary step prior to every flight. This will pull in current aircraft information, nav charts, runway charts, NOTAMs, pilot information, customer and account information, and more.
Note that FlightSpan™ will automatically perform a full background sync:
- Every time the app is opened from a closed state
- Every time a new flight is created, and
- Every time a DFR is uploaded at the end of a flight.
If it hasn’t been synced recently, the Sync icon in the upper right will be yellow, and if you are on the DFR tab, the sync time and date at the top will also be yellow.
Tap the Sync icon in the upper right corner, then the Sync button, and FlightSpan™ will sync with FlightSpan™ Ops.
When sync is complete, the Sync screen will reappear with updated dates/times and green checkmarks. If you see any red Xs, or if the sync status indicates something didn’t sync correctly, sync again.
Once you have all green check marks, click Done. The Sync icon will be green, and in the DFR tab, the updated date/time will also be green.
ScratchPad
FlightSpan™ always opens in ScratchPad. ScratchPad is designed to be a place where you can create and explore using flights that will not be flown. It’s a great place to learn FlightSpan™ on your company’s version of FlightSpan™. ScratchPad Mode is displayed and the date is grayed out so you know you aren’t working in a real flight.
When working in a live flight, you can always return to ScratchPad by tapping the ScratchPad button, and then back to the live flight using the Select Flight button as described here.
Note: Flights created in Scratchpad cannot be converted into real flights.
Video Version
