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Sample pages from the Coflyte app showcasing basic flight information and how to create a flight.
6 • TWIN & TURBINE / June 2021
displayed with an account balance visible to the individual pilot or the account administrator at any time. Coflyt can even facilitate payments through their app using a service called “Stripe.” Note, Stripe charges a 2 percent fee per transaction. If not using Stripe, the administrator can manually edit account balances to reflect direct payments made by users outside of the app.
One negative I have personally run in to is that if you lease time to pilots at different rates than what you charge yourself, or other pilots pay different fixed costs, you cannot assign unique rates per pilot. In this case, the ad- ministrator would have to manually adjust these charges. It may be a rare scenario, but I think it would be a nice feature in the future.
Flying with Coflyt
Once the aircraft and account preferences are set up, owners can begin logging flights. As you would expect, logging your flights in the Coflyt app is straightforward. Origin and beginning hobbs/tach is preloaded from the previous flight. In addition to fields for landing airport and time, there are also fields for tracking fuel and oil either before or after the flight – plus any notes, pictures or documents that you might like to add. As flights are loaded, Coflyt will save all of the data for you or your ownership team to reference at any time in the future.
Any aircraft squawks that may be noted can now be captured, tracked and shared seamlessly between the ownership team. Coflyt smartly categorizes squawks using the Joint Aircraft System/Component (JSAC) code system. This method uses a number-based code for each aircraft component that follows along with the organiza- tion of aircraft maintenance manuals. The severity of the squawk can be tracked so that all parties know not only when the aircraft is downed but when to keep an eye out for intermittent issues that may warrant attention on fu- ture flights. Pictures can also be uploaded to the squawks page to keep a visual log.
Summary
I am about two months into using Coflyt, and as a new aircraft owner and administrator of our co-ownership, a tool like Coflyt is invaluable. I am confident my main- tenance and other recurring trackable items will not go unnoticed and slip my consciousness. At the same time, I have access to scheduling and billing software that ensures all of my expenses are tracked and can be viewed by any member. Now, conversations with the other owners can revolve more around fun flights and trips as opposed to the aircraft’s status or money owed. This peace of mind allows us to spend less time with our heads in the spreadsheets and more time in the clouds.
Jared T. Jacobs is an ATP-rated turbine pilot, instructor and mentor. He currently flies corporate aircraft both single- pilot and as crew for a Fortune 500 company. Jared can be reached at jaredjacobs2@gmail.com.