Logbook Installation

Introduction

The Pilot Logbook System is an electronic logbook that can be used to record everything - and more - that you would normally record in your paper log book but has the added advantage of being able to sort, summarize, subtotal, etc. the information recorded. It can also synchronize the data between this desktop version and the Android version ("JCSTLogbook" in the Google Play Store).

Installation

The installation depends on the operating system on the PC on which it will be installed. Download the appropriate version of the installation program

installation for Windows
installation for Linux
installation for Mac

If you have Java 18 installed the installation will give you a choice of installing the version that uses the resident Java; if not the installation program will install a version with Java embedded in it.

To determine what version of Java (if any) is installed open a command window/cmd prompt and type:

java -version

and press Enter.

If java is installed the response will included something like:

"java version "18.0.1.1" 2022-04-22" or "openjdk version "18.0.1" 2021-04-20" depending on the version and the platform. If the version starts with "18.0" that's Java 18 and can be used to run the Logbook System. Otherwise the installation program will install the version that does not require any Java to be installed on your PC.

When the file is downloaded, unzip it into its own directory. On Windows open the File Manager, navigate to the directory to which the zip file was downloaded, right click on the file and choose Extract All.... On Linux open the File Manager, navigate to the directory to which the zip file was downloaded, right click on the file and choose Extract To... or move the file to where you want to install the app and then right click on the file and choose Extract Here.

To run the installation program, on Windows open a cmd window and navigate to the directory where the .zip file was extracted. Enter install.bat to launch the installation program.
On Linux or Mac open a terminal window, navigate to the the directory where the .zip file was extracted and enter ./install.sh.

Once the installation program starts, you can press the F1 key for Help. Note that sometimes on Windows you need to press Ctrl & F1 and on Mac press fn & F1.

Using the System

The installation program will put a shortcut on your desktop. Launch the Logbook System by double clicking on the shortcut.

When the system is first started an End User License Agreement is displayed. This must be accepted before the system will proceed.

Once the system is running press the F1 key for Help. Note that sometimes on Windows you need to press Ctrl & F1 and on Mac press fn & F1. You can use this on-line help as soon as the EULA has been accepted and the main Pilot Logbook System screen is displayed. With the system installed & running there are 4 options to get started:

Create a new, empty database.
Import the data from a previous version of the Logbook System.
Import Aircraft types, aircraft, airports and flights from Excel spreadsheets.
Open an existing database that has already been created with this app.

These are detailed in the Help page.

Also please peruse the Help page about backing up the system, a link to this page is at the bottom of the Help page for the main Pilot Logbook System screen.

Note that the screens can be moved and resized and the system will remember the sizes and locations of each.

Note that a right click on the icon in the upper left of the Pilot Logbook System screen will display the About Logbook frame.

Recent Updates

2.0a1 June 16, 2020 This version is a complete re-write of the original Logbook System released in 2011. The GUI interface, originally written using Swing, has been rewritten using JavaFX. It is designed to using the modularity of Java in versions of Java later than Java 8 although it is not yet a modular application as it uses external jar files that are not (yet) modular.
2.1a11 August 9, 2021 Lists of aircraft, aircraft types and airports can now be sorted with a drag & drop. System updates are now faster.
2.2b2 Nov 29, 2021 to call correct methods for including TypeSummary data
2.2 January 25, 2022 Fix issues with 1st pilot/2nd pilot/Dual for multis
2.3 February 10, 2022 Added selecting flights by dragging the mouse in the Flight List. Suppress spurious password error when selecting a database with a password.
2.31 February 21, 2021 Finally got the background and text colour working for the (html) Remarks column.
2.4 March 4, 2022 To allow attaching files (photos, pdfs, etc.) to individual flights.
2.41 March 7, 2022 To correct error in flight totals when using hh:mm format for times
2.42 March 17, 2022 Add drag & drop files onto the adding files form for a Flight
2.43 March 31, 2022 Open Pilot help when focus is on Pilot Config; minor enhancements to the Help pages
2.44 June 20, 2022 Change background image for the About to a .png (.jpg won't load in Ubuntu 22.04!)
3.00 June 21, 2022 Update all components to Java 18
3.01 June 23, 2022 Revert to Java 16 (Linking with 18 produces code that crashes)
3.10 June 24, 2022 Fix a bug in the creating a new database
3.20 August 24, 2022 Add a basic search capability to search flights.
3.30 September 21, 2022 Fix a bug in wholeword search, implement F3 (next) & Shift F3 (previous) to move to next/previous selected Flight in the Flight List.
3.31 December 6, 2022 To accommodate entering a fraction of an hour without a leading zero, i.e. allow starting the entry with a decimal point. Revise calculation of weight & balance for fuel.
3.32 April 4, 2023 To allow entry & maintenance of V speeds; the V_SO is used in the aircraft Weight & Balance screen to compute a V_REF shown in the tooltip for any given fuel level (weight)

Android Version

The Android version of the Logbook System is essentially the same system running on Android. While each system runs quite happily on its own the two can be used together by "synchronizing" the desktop system with the system on the Android device. For example, if you have started to use the PC system available here and subsequently start to use the Android based system on your phone or tablet you can populate the empty database on the Android device by syncing it with the PC system. Conversely if you take your phone with you on a trip and leave your PC system at home you can keep your logbook up to date on your phone as you travel. When you return home you can bring your PC system up to date by syncing it with the phone. You can actually do this while on the road but it's a tad more involved. This is explained in the on-line help for this system.

The Android version of the system has been re-written as well and is available on the Google Play Store as JCST Logbook.

Privacy Policy

The privacy policy applies to this application and to the Android app JCST Logbook.

Legal Stuff

The Logbook System is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or (at your option) any later version.

The Logbook System is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU General Public License for more details.

You will be required to accept the terms of the license before you can use the system.

A copy of the GNU General Public License is here. Alternatively see http://www.gnu.org/licenses/#GPL.

The source code for the desktop system is available on request by contacting the developer at the e-mail address as found in the on-line help when the system is installed.

Prepared: June 16, 2020

Modified: April 5, 2023