The flight operations support area plays a crucial role in the organization and execution of air operations. This area comprises various functions and tasks that ensure the smooth running of flight operations. From planning to technical debriefing, the responsibility of this area extends to various key functions. As a former member of the first fighter squadron of the Tactical Air Force Wing 71 "Richthofen" in Wittmund, I would like to explain SAP's support of flight operations scenarios in more detail below.
A central instrument in this context is the flight itself, which serves as a special type of maintenance order. This flight reflects the logistical characteristics such as dates, crew and other requirements of a planned flight in the real world. This enables precise planning and implementation of flight operations.
The rough planning of flights is the responsibility of mission control. Here, users are responsible for planning and executing flights, ensuring that the planned flights meet the requirements and schedules. Aspects such as the crew, the availability of aircraft and the fulfillment of the target equipment status are of great importance.
The setup status plays a key role in describing the technical structure, load status and equipment of a technical object, such as a weapon system. A comparison between the actual configuration status and the target configuration status in flight makes it possible to initiate processes for equipping or modifying the technical object. The configuration is mapped in the system in the form of a configuration code and a characteristic evaluation and helps to ensure operational capability.
The technical status and operational status are crucial pieces of information for tracking and ensuring the technical condition of an aircraft from a maintenance perspective and its operational readiness from an operational control perspective.
The status board provides a comprehensive overview of the current technical situation affecting the operation of the aircraft. This includes not only the aircraft itself, but also the required auxiliary materials and other mission-relevant equipment.
In the flight operations support area, an aircraft is mapped as master equipment, which contains master data and relationships that are relevant for notification and order processing. This master equipment is used as a reference object in flights and messages and can either be assigned to the highest functional location or be at the top of an equipment hierarchy.
Flight planning and monitoring is carried out using the flight overview, which displays all flights in a specific period in tabular form. This allows flight operations to be coordinated in an orderly and timely manner. The "Controlled take-off" application offers the option of selecting specific aircraft with their maintenance measures and displaying the data in tabular or graphical form.
Finally, the "Aircraft Accident" application is crucial for comprehensively documenting aircraft accidents and recording all relevant aircraft data. This information is essential for determining the causes of accidents and ensuring the safety of air operations.
Overall, support for flight operations is a key factor in the successful conduct of air operations, whether during routine flights, missions or exercises. The efficient use of IT systems and data management tools enables flights to be carried out safely and efficiently, from planning to technical debriefing, ensuring the operational readiness and safety of aircraft.
