Howdy All
This is the Web Guy, (pay no attention to the man behind the curtain). I wanted to send out an email to all the Aviation-Ranch members about cool features on the Aviation-Ranch.com site that you may not be aware of. There are many features we would encourage you to take advantage of. There are quite possibly, things you may not even be aware that the site can do, so let’s dig in!
First, WELCOME to our newest members
Welcome Kylee and Tobi. Feel free to send us a note and let us know if you need any help on the site.
We have an entire Members community filled with all sorts of great categories and forums for members to post in. There are categories for Ranch Recommendations, Ranch News, Maverick Division, Student Lounge, Coming Soon, Ranch events and more. All of these categories are viewable by any guest or visitor. There are also PRIVATE categories for logged in AR Members also. To post a topic in a forum you must be logged in. Your first two topics will need ranch approval before becoming public. After you have had two postings approved you will be able to add more without moderation or approval. There are video tutorials on how to post a topic on the Video Tutorial page but we will talk about that shortly.
We have also set up the Members Community to accept your YouTube video! Just post the “Share link” in your topic and your video will play right there on your post! You can see an example in the Toms Truck Talk forum. Have a look and post a topic!
In our new community forums there is a section simply called 4-sale. This section is for members to post any item (Ballooning Related) that they may have for sale. You are welcome to place an item online for others to view. Please include photos of the item, your contact information, price and any other descriptions or details about your item. If your item is sold just let us know and we will mark it as sold or YOU as a member can delete your post.
When you log in, you will be taken to the “Welcome Back” page. The “Welcome Back” page has a bunch of great information. Who’s Online, Recent Member Postings, Current Weather at the Ranch, Directions map to the Ranch and more. When you log in, this page will help bring you up to date on all the new stuff going on at the ranch. In addition the welcome back page will show you things that have been added since the last time you were logged on.
Once you are logged in you can travel over to the Members tab, in the drop down list you will find a link called Ranch Weather. On the Ranch Weather page you will see not only the weather at the ranch but your weather as well. When you go to the “Ranch Weather” page, it will ask you if Aviation-Ranch can access your location. Click “ALLOW” and the system will access the nearest weather reporting station based on your IP and display the weather were you are! Pretty cool!! There are several other weather links on that page for you to use as well. Have a look!
Student LTA practice questions
We have a mock FAA written test you can take on the Aviation Ranch site as well. Currently the test has more than 60 potential questions. Each time you take the test it will provide you with 20 random questions. Take the test over and you will get more questions. There is also a page where YOU can add more questions to the test! Currently the FAA has 300 questions they can draw from when you take your written. So we could use YOUR help adding more. Here is the link to “Add LTA Test Questions”
The poll barn is a huge set of ballooning questions where you can choose your answer and then see how you compare to other pilots. A great way to find out where the average balloon pilot sets his or her limits. Check it out next time you are online.
The video tutorials page on the site is for members only. Again you must be logged in to see the link. You will find the link to the Video Tutorials page under the Media link on the main menu. The Video Tutorials page contains “HOW TO” videos for doing all sorts of tasks on the site. There are video tutorials on getting the AR Calendar on your phone to watching a pi-bal. There are videos on how to post a topic in the member’s forums. There are Videos on how to use a figure 8, and even how to use an over center buckle. These videos are for member’s only so log in and go to the media tab on the main menu and you will see the “Video Tutorials” link.
If you fly at the ranch there is propane available! When you are finished filling up just go to https://aviation-ranch.com/product/propane/ and plug in the amount you have pumped to the nearest hundredth and the application will calculate the amount you owe. Then simply pay online.
Last item on the list for this “Web Guy” update, is the page for our members called KML Files. If you are flying from or around the ranch please take the time to download our Ranch KML so you are aware of the areas where you are welcome as well as the areas we have been asked to stay clear of. Our goal is to keep our area landowners happy with balloons. If you are flying in the area and find a new area where we are welcome or not preferred please let us know so we can keep this map up to date. We are marking the map with the following colors. Green, Yellow, Orange and RED.
Green: is a good landing area. As always please knock on the door before entering the property.
Yellow is No Launch No Land. They have no problem with you flying over but no entry to the property is allowed.
Orange: This is an area where they have livestock or other sensitive items that require some space. Please fly 500 feet AGL to give them some space.
RED: This is an area where the landowner has requested “EXTRA SPACE” and we would like you to fly a minimum of 750 to 1000’ AGL.
As always please log in to see and download these files! If we have more information about the land owner, (Like name, phone, special instructions) check for an Info pin on the map for information from the landowner.
All for now, Fly well, Have FUN & BE SAFE
Help us build this page.
The structure is a follows. There are Categories (a common area of discussion) and within the categories you will find forums (a specific topic of discussion). Use the form below to tell us what categories and forums you would like to see here on this page.