Flight Reporting Times
Posted: 11-12-2005 04:12 PM
I'm not sure if this is a widespread issue accross the hubs, but I figured I'd post anyway. If anything it can serve as a refresher to everyone:
When filing your flight reports you should use the appropriate zulu times for the locations you are flying from/to. For example, if you are flying American Airlines flight #1086 from KDFW (Dallas-Ft. Worth) to KJFK (John F. Kennedy Intl, New York) you would see that the timetable lists the departure time as 6:41am and the arrival time as 11:08am. The appropriate times to fill in your flight report would be 1141Z as a departure and 1508 as the arrival. How did I get this? Dallas is located in the Central Time Zone. The zulu time conversion for CST is local time + 5 hrs using the 24 hr clock format. New York is located in the Eastern Time Zone. The zulu time conversion for EST is local time + 4 hrs using the 24 hr clock format. The times displayed in the timetables are always local time and usually in 12hr clock format (i.e. XX:XX am/pm). They are written in this way because they are meant for passengers and it doesn't mean much to them if it is published in zulu time. When filing your flight reports you should use only zulu time. You can use the flight sim zulu time if you've set it to correspond to the published flight times. Another option is to file your flight report using the current vatsim zulu times if you are flying online. You should indicate this in the comments section of your frep. In KORD either one of those two methods are acceptable. Check with your HM if you have questions about filing freps in your particular hub.
Edit: If you use AAVOnline to track and report your flights it takes care of your times automatically. It also makes your HM's life easier in the approval process.
(I'll charge you royalties for the plug later Jeremiah) 
When filing your flight reports you should use the appropriate zulu times for the locations you are flying from/to. For example, if you are flying American Airlines flight #1086 from KDFW (Dallas-Ft. Worth) to KJFK (John F. Kennedy Intl, New York) you would see that the timetable lists the departure time as 6:41am and the arrival time as 11:08am. The appropriate times to fill in your flight report would be 1141Z as a departure and 1508 as the arrival. How did I get this? Dallas is located in the Central Time Zone. The zulu time conversion for CST is local time + 5 hrs using the 24 hr clock format. New York is located in the Eastern Time Zone. The zulu time conversion for EST is local time + 4 hrs using the 24 hr clock format. The times displayed in the timetables are always local time and usually in 12hr clock format (i.e. XX:XX am/pm). They are written in this way because they are meant for passengers and it doesn't mean much to them if it is published in zulu time. When filing your flight reports you should use only zulu time. You can use the flight sim zulu time if you've set it to correspond to the published flight times. Another option is to file your flight report using the current vatsim zulu times if you are flying online. You should indicate this in the comments section of your frep. In KORD either one of those two methods are acceptable. Check with your HM if you have questions about filing freps in your particular hub.
Edit: If you use AAVOnline to track and report your flights it takes care of your times automatically. It also makes your HM's life easier in the approval process.
(I'll charge you royalties for the plug later Jeremiah)