Assume that we have the following aircraft and we wish to create a compliance database for the aircraft:

First, we need to create a blank database for the database.

• Click on the files tab.
• Click on the Create button to the right of the Display Window.

You should now see the new database with the name "*** new ***" highlighted in blue and with the "Open Folder" icon indicating that the database is open.

It is now a good idea to save the database.  This allows us to assign the tail number and to specify the destination location for the database file.

• Press the Save or Save As Button.
• Enter the Tail Number in the Tail Number edit box.
• By default, the save location will be the local computer.  If you would rather save it on the AeroFlight Server, select the AeroFlight Server instead.
• Press the OK Button to save the file.

Next, we need to fill in the general information screen for the database.

Except for the tail number field, which is also used as the name of the database file, the other fields are not particularly important and are present primarily for reports.

• Click on the General Information tab heading
• Enter whatever you wish in the Description field.
• The tail number should already have been defined as a result of saving the database in the previous step.
• Enter the number of engines for the aircraft.
• Select the aircraft type.

If you wish, you may save the results of this step by pressing the Save button in the lower right corner.

Next, we need to define the Airframe information.

The

• Enter the name of the airframe manufacturer in whatever form you desire.
• Enter the model number as you wish.
• Enter the serial number
• Enter any comments you may have.
• To add a record for the Model Search, press the Add button on the bottom of the screen.

Note that the information in the Model Search box is used when actually searching for airworthiness directives.

It may seem a little odd to be able to entire multiple models in the Model Search box.   However, for many models, more than one model may be applicable to the same airframe.  For example, a Boeing 707-300 may require an entry for "All Models", an entry for "707 Series", and an entry for "707-300 Series".  This allows you to select all that apply.

When you press the Add Button in the Airframe screen, the Internet/CD Compliance software will display an Add Airframe dialog.

• Select either Large Aircraft or Small Aircraft.  A list of manufacturers for that selection will appear in the first of the two list boxes.
• In the first list box, select the manufacturer of the aircraft.  For this example, we select DeHavilland Aircraft Co & Boeing of Canada.  To make it easier to find the manufacturer, you can type the first character of the manufacturer name and the list will be shown starting with that character.
• When you select the manufacturer, a list of model numbers for that manufacturer will be displayed in the bottom list box.  Select the model you need.
• When finished, press the OK button at the bottom.

• Now, we are back to the Airframe screen.  If you need to add more than one model, press the Add button and add each model.
• Once all the models are added, go ahead and press the Save button to save the data so far.

Next, we need to add the engines to the database.

• For each button, click the Add button at the bottom of the screen.  This will bring up the Add Engine dialog box to define each engine.
• When finished adding engines, save the database.

Note that if you double click on the engine entry in the list box, the information is expanded to show the manufacturer, model, serial number, and description.  If you double click on any of those items, you will get a display you can use to modify the information.

• Click the manufacturer drop down list box and select the manufacturer of your engine.
• Select the model of the engine from the model drop down list box.
• Enter the engine number.  This is mainly used just to keep the engines in order.
• Enter the serial number of the engine
• Enger your desired description for the engine.
• When finished, press the OK button.

Note that after defining one engine, the manufacturer and model for any additional engines is automatically set to the value used for the first engine.

Note that if you want to edit the engine (double click on the engine in the list box and then double click on the information about the engine), this screen will be displayed.   This also allows you to change the spelling of the engine manufacturer and model if you wish. 

If the aircraft is propeller driven, click on the Propellers tab and define the information for the propellers in the exact same manner as you did for the engines.   The procedures for adding propeller information and modifying that information are idential to those for adding engine information and modifying engine information.

Adding appliances works in the same way as well, except that there are two buttons for adding appliances.  The first button is used to add appliances by Manufacturer and the second is used to add appliances by component.

Finally, we are at the AD screen.  Since we have just creating the database, no airworthiness directives have yet been associated with the aircraft yet.  Because of this, you may notice that when you double click on any line in the list box, it changes colors between black and blue.  Until the airworthiness directives have been loaded, that is not significant.

To load the airworthiness directives, just press the AD Check button in the bottom row.   The software will go through each item in the list box and check for associated airworthiness directives.  The first time, it will load all the current airworthiness directives for each item.  Later, when a new airworthiness directive is issued, it loads the new airworthiness directive for each item. 

To make it clear where new airworthiness directives have been loaded, the color of the airframe, engine, propeller, or appliance that the new airworthiness directive applies will be red instead of black or blue.

Notice that all the lines should be colored red after pressing the AD Check button.   If you double click on an item now, it expands to show all the airworthiness directives that apply to that item.  For example, in the above picture, both propellers have been expanded and you can see that each item has its own set of airworthiness directives.

The AD number and the description should be quite evident.  Between the two, there is a dash '-' that indicates that no compliance records have been added to the airworthiness directives.  When there are compliance records, the dash will be replaced with the number of compliance records that apply.

Double clicking on an expanded main item will remove the airworthiness directives from the display.  If you double click onthe airworthiness directive, you will see a detail screen for that airworthiness directive.  For example, double clicking on either line for AD number 1996-18-14 in the above screen results in the following screen.

You can edit the informationon the AD by pressing the Edit AD button.

If the AD does not apply to this particular situation, you can check the Does Not Apply box in the top row.  The record for the AD will then be grayed out in the main AD screen.

The recurring field is currently not used by the software, but may be in the future.   In general, if it is not recurring, you should probably either enter the word "NO" or leave it blank.

To add a compliance record, press the Add button in the AD detail screen.

Of the three tabs on the screen, the first is clearly the most important.  The second tab displays any previous compliance records for the AD and the third tab displays the airworthiness directive information.

The Next Compliance Date and Hours is currently unused, but there are thoughts of using that information to warn the user if either has passed without a new compliance record being added.

When finished, press OK to return to the AD Detail screen.

The new compliance record now appears in the list box to the right.  If you double click on the line, a dialog box is displayed with the compliance information so you can make corrections, if necessary, to the information in the record.  When done, press the OK button to return to the main AD screen.

As you can see, there is now one compliance record for AD number 1996-18-14 for propeller #1.  Also note that AD number 1986-05-12 for propeller #1 has been grayed out.  This is a result of checking the Does Not Apply box for the airworthiness directive.

When done adding compliance records, press the Save button to save the database.