<img height="1" width="1" style="display:none" src="https://www.facebook.com/tr?id=211092899458802&amp;ev=PageView&amp;noscript=1">
Skip to content
English
More support Customer portal Sign in
Contact us
  • There are no suggestions because the search field is empty.

LOTAMS (Local Notices)

FlyFreely allows site managers to generate 'local NOTAMs' to distribute mission critical information to pilots / planners or to all users as required.

The LOTAMs feature provides a convenient platform for administrators to publish notices within their organisation.

This article will cover the following aspects of LOTAM management. Click below to go to the relevant topic.

The LOTAMs List

Create a new LOTAM

Edit a LOTAM

LOTAM  Types

Mission Planning with Active LOTAMs

 

Navigate to LOTAMs

Access the LOTAMs page from sidebar in the Missions dashboard.

The LOTAMs List

This window displays a list of your organisation's LOTAMs. You can view, edit and clone notices from here, as well as create new notices.



  • To view the details of a notice, simply click on it's name in the leftmost column.
  • To clone a notice, use the 'double-box' icon on the far right of the window.

Creating a new LOTAM

Click Create LOTAM.

You will be presented with the form shown below. Fields marked with a red tick are mandatory.

Notes on LOTAM fields

Start / End times:

All notices must have a start time/date. For ongoing notices, leave the end time/date blank.

If an end time/date is selected, the notice will automatically be cleared at that time.

Type:

You can set up various LOTAM types according to your organistion's needs - see below for details. Types can be applied optionally to any LOTAM.

Audience:

  • General - These are organisation-wide notices. Everyone in the organisation will receive a notification.
  • Flight Operations  - These are notices that directly affect flight operations. Notifications will be sent to remote pilots / planners only.

Map Details:

  • This is an optional field that allows you to show specifics relating to the LOTAM (useful for operational notices).
  • The drawing and markup tools function identically to the normal location tools used in mission planning.

Where an active LOTAM has an associated area, the area will be visible on all maps in FlyFreely - including mission planning. This gives planners a direct view of the area while they plan their mission/s.

Requires acknowledgement:

  • When selected, the notifications will appear to users as 'Notice Requiring Acknowledgement'. When users view the notice, they will be able acknowledge that they've read it, and these responses will be visible to administrators.

Links & Attachments:

Any links or attachments included in the LOTAM will be viewable by the selected audience.

Edit LOTAMs

To edit an existing notice, open it and click EDIT in the bottom corner of the window.

Notices can be edited even after publication. For notices where audience acknowledgement is required, you will have the option to either save it with or without voiding current acknowledgements.

  • Save: Useful for making minor changes that don't require re-acknowledgement
  • Save & Void Acknowledgements: Generally used for more consequential edits that require a new acknowledgement (for example - changing operational timing or other details of manner aircraft ops)

LOTAM  Types

LOTAMs can be tagged into 'types', which are user-configurable. To create or edit types, navigate to Organisation Admin > Mission Configuration > LOTAM Types.

LOTAM types are optional.

Types are set at the organisation level, and can be used to 'tag' notices. In the above example we've used a simple Air / Ground / General division, but types can represent any aspect of the notice, as required.

Each type can be colour coded using the optional colour-picker underneath the text fields.

Once one or more types have been added, they'll automatically be available via the 'type' dropdown in the 'Create LOTAM' window described above.

Mission Planning around LOTAMs

When planning a mission in proximity to an active LOTAM, it will be displayed directly on the mission planning screen. Where the notice has been assigned a location - it will be displayed on the mission planning map, as shown below.

To display relevant LOTAM/s, both the location and planned time/duration must be entered. Once this information has been entered, save the mission plan to refresh and display LOTAMs.

In the above example, the LOTAM requires acknowledgement. The planner will not be able to complete this mission plan without acknowledging the notice using the blue 'acknowledge' button.

If the planned flight does not intersect the LOTAM area, acknowledgement won't be required, however the LOTAM area will still be displayed on the mission map.

If the planner requires more information before proceeding with their mission, they can use the contact information provided in the LOTAM to seek clarification. 

Mastodon