Pilots: flight types and billing

What to choose when declaring a flight, and who pays for what once the flight is validated and sent to the ERP.

Flight types

Type	On board	Conditions
Instruction	Student + instructor	Two-seater; the instructor is the second pilot
Solo	The pilot alone	Rated pilot (SPL, or authorised student)
Trial flight (VI)	VI pilot + passenger	Two-seater, VI-rated pilot, trial-flight voucher required
Shared	Two pilots	Two-seater, two rated pilots sharing the flight
Passenger	Pilot + passenger	Two-seater, passenger-rated pilot
First solo	The student alone	The instructor who sends them solo stays on the ground
Supervised	The student alone	Solo flight supervised by an instructor on the ground

On a single-seater, only types without a passenger are offered. A TMG, a plane or a self-launching glider launched "Autonomous" also asks for the engine meter (see Managing flights).

Launch

Method	Launch types (from the club's pricing)
Winch	Winch launch, cable break…
Tow plane	Tow, retrieval tow, ferry, training tow…
Autonomous	Plane flight, test, warm-up… (TMG, plane, self-launching glider)
External	Launched outside the club (no launch machine)

The launch type is picked from a list that comes from the ERP's pricing; each method's first one is preselected (winch launch, tow, plane flight). It sets the price applied to the launch.

What is billed

Each validated flight produces a charge on the pilot's account (visible in the member portal), one line per priced item:

• Airframe: the glider's flight time, at the machine's rate;
• Engine: a TMG's or plane's engine time (in 1/100 h, computed from the meter);
• Launch: the tow (tow plane engine time, at the launch type's rate) or the winch launch (flat fee);
• Hour packs: hours covered by a purchased pack are billed at the pack price, then deducted from it.

Prices depend on the machine and the flight date (pricing versions).

Who pays?

Flight type	By default	Other options
Solo, First solo, Supervised	The pilot	Solo: Billed member = a club account (comment required) or another member
Instruction	The student	Shared billing: 50 % student, 50 % instructor · Billed member = the instructor (or someone else): 100 % to them
Shared	50 % each pilot	Billed member = one of them: 100 % to them
Passenger	The pilot	Billed member = the passenger (if a member) or a club account
Trial flight (VI)	The voucher (club's VI account)	Billed member = a member: billed like a normal flight

The Billed member field is in the form's Billing section (collapsed by default); left empty, the default rule applies.

Club accounts

Some flights aren't paid by a pilot but charged to the club. The Billed member is then one of the configured club accounts:

Account	For
Club flights	Flights for the club (ferries, demonstrations…)
Training flights	Training paid for by the club
Test flights	A machine's test flights
Warm-up time	A plane's engine warm-up (entered from + Warm-up)

For a solo or instruction flight billed to a club account, a comment in the remarks is required.

Training tow

To train a tow pilot, the club can use the Training tow launch type: part of the tow (for example 30 %) is billed to the tow pilot, the rest to the flight's usual payers. The glider's airframe isn't affected.

After validation

1. The duty manager validates the flight: it goes to the ERP.
2. The ERP computes the charge with the rules above and posts it to the pilot's account.
3. The pilot finds the flight and its cost in the member portal (account and logbook).

If billing is wrong, the office corrects the flight in the ERP (payer, type, times) and recomputes the charge.