It makes sense that the first entry in the beta project log is the announcement that the beta project log is now active.
I’ve been building Blue Deck for about two months now, and I am very close to shipping the program to United Airlines pilot beta testers. I’m targeting a beta launch sometime in August. Very recently—in just the last three or four days—I got the website you’re reading right now up and running.
Blue Deck has come a long way in the last two months. What started as a bare-bones Python database viewer has turned into a functioning program with a beautiful user interface and one of the best and smartest flight importers I’ve seen in any of the previous logbooks I’ve owned.
The general logbook program works wonderfully right now. In fact, I currently use it as my only digital logbook. The United Airlines CCS importer is working beautifully, and it is literally taking me less than a minute to log my flights after every trip.
I’ve still got some big-ticket items to go. While I have the entire United Airlines aircraft database installed, my goal is to use the FAA database and install every N-registered aircraft so Blue Deck will recognize every aircraft you’ve flown that has an N-number.
In the meantime, I’ve got a wonderful matching program that can take just about anything you might have typed into an Excel spreadsheet and figure out what you meant by manufacturer, model, and type.
I’m also in the final stages of refining the export process, keeping my promise to my future users that your data will always be yours, in any format you would like.
I’m also working on the reports section, which is good but, honestly, bare-bones. I’ve got about six reports available right now, with more planned for the future. But I think that, for established United Airlines pilots, there are a lot of reports you simply don’t need anymore. Regardless, it’s on the never-ending list of things to do with Blue Deck.
There is still plenty to finish, test, and refine, but Blue Deck is getting very close to being ready for its first group of United pilot beta testers. I’ll use this project log to share what is changing, what is working, what still needs attention, and when the beta is ready to begin.
For now, I’m back to work.