EXCEL Loadsheet approved by CAA?

[Griffon_PMI]

Hi there,

Im in a small operator where the crews are doing all paperwork, FPL, ATC, mass and Balance, permits.... and till now we was using Excel to produce Loadsheets for all the fleets, DA42, Cheyenne and Beechjet.

After last EASA audit, we were told that EXCEL is not allowed for that. So, we went back to basically.... copy the one in the plane manual and draw lines.

Do they think this is more accurate? :ugh:

Now the CAA is studiying the case to see if they can allow the excel sheets, but they are reaaaally slow with this stuff. (forbidding is easy)

Anyone has experiences with EXCEL sheets and CAA? Anyone uses a house made one and havent any problem with CAA?

Thanks for your feedback.

[G0ULI]

Plenty of electronic flight assistant devices are used on aircraft and I'm pretty certain a lot of them use Excel or similar programs.

Perhaps it is the way you are using the Excel spreadsheet? What safety checks are written in to constrain errors? Is the correct aircraft type displayed? Are the correct formulae inserted for each type of aircraft and suitably protected from being overwritten or altered accidently?

Anyone can write a simple spreadsheet to do load and balance calculations for multiple aircraft. Not everyone can write a speadsheet that protects the user from selecting the wrong aircraft type, errors in data entry or errors in the program itself. You need two or more independent checks (or calculation paths) built into the program to highlight any data entry or calculation errors.

I suspect the CAA are concerned that using a single spreadsheet to cover multiple aircraft introduces too many risks, and not that you can't produce loading sheets electronically. You just can't do it the way you have been doing it up to now because of some identified risk in the procedure they inspected.

[Griffon_PMI]

Well, the thing is that they didnt mention about the consistency of the system or any kind of safety checks... they just said "Excel is not good".

I am sure if we just buy a system from a software provider they will be happy... but that is not the point.
Of course the spreadsheets were protected so you can modify only the fields that are variable. You dont see formulas, and actually, almost everything is built on "dropdown list" kind of: select pax type in this seat: male, female, child. So, you dont even need to introduce a weight. (but it could be override for special passengers or actual weights)

My loadsheets have a color system to show when the limits are exceded or data is not correct....
we have a different spreadsheet for every fleet, and selecting registration it change the BEW and arms of that specific plane...

What do you mean about 2 independent calculation paths?
I would appreciate a lot if you have any reference on regulation or guidance material about what is needed regarding "compliance".

Thanks!

[Bowser99]

You could always talk to Libra Aviation Services. They use the HP DPlan/Libra system and provide it as a service to multiple customers.