AirCards is our series of aircraft system review software. Basically, it's a series of electronic flashcards that help pilots prepare for checkrides, interviews, type rating courses, and so on. AirCards is available both for PC and PDA to help pilots study as suits them best. AirCards has shown itself to be a valuable tool for many pilots.
We'd like to expand the range of aircraft for which AirCards is available For this, we need your help. We'd like to recruit authors who are capable of producing high quality, interesting content about aircraft that we don't currently have AirCards for.
What does this mean? For most aircraft, this generally means a few hundred questions that deal with systems, limitations, emergency procedures, memory items, operational quirks, and other things that pilots will want to know. If you are capable of writing such a set of questions, we'd turn them into an AirCards title.
How should I create the question set?
This is really up to you. In general, starting with the AFM/RFM/POH is a good idea. However, we are looking for authors who can bring a little experience and insight into the process as well who can go beyond the rote information in the AFM/RFM/POH.
Technically, how should you create it?
We want you to focus on the questions and content, and let us worry about the technical details. Basically, you can create the questions in any format that is comfortable for you (say, MS-Word) and we can work with this. All that we ask is that you break up the questions into chapters. You should give the chapters descriptive names ("Emergency Procedures", "Memory Items", etc.)
Can I include Photos and Images in my questions?
Generally speaking, yes, you can. AirCards can handle this no problem.
I know an aircraft about, but worry about variants (say, the data I know may only apply to the -300FX variant)
We will work with you in classifying your AirCards title as well as we can. We can make the title as specific or wide as the content is good for. For example, we can create a Wonderjet RJ12-300 version or an Wonderjet RJ12 version, as we mutually believe your material is good for. Often, authors will put answers that consider different variants (for example: -300 = 102 knots, -400 = 107 knots).
What about Airline or Company Specific Versions?
Yes, we are happy to do this for you, and in fact we have worked with companies in the past to create airline-specific versions that cater to your operational specifications. We can also discuss not making this publicly available so that the software stays within your company or organization. AirCards has a powerful infrastructure behind it allowing changes to get out to the field automatically and easily - this is a great way of spreading the word and increasing knowledge in your organization.
Is this a full-time job?
Absolutely not. You can write your question set in your free time.
How much will I get paid?
Our authors are paid a fixed percentage of sales. the quality of your work will be a major determining factor in the sales.
Will I get rich from this?
Probably not. AirCards sell consistently but modestly. Still, you can bring in some additional income by sharing your expertise of something that you love!
Why else should I consider doing this?
Being an author is a point of pride in of itself. Additionally, this may be a great resume point for your aviation career that sets you apart from others. We are happy to support your future job bids through reference and similar support.
What does Dauntless provide in this equation?
Here's a sample list:
-
Existing software infrastructure for PC and PDA platforms. Powerful, versatile, proven
-
All sales channel related items
-
Technical support for end-users
-
Advertising
-
Art creation support in terms of polishing up your title for sale
-
A powerful back-end system for interacting with users to address any content issue that may come up
-
etc.
We're an honest, small company.
How many questions should I create?
Really this is up to you, but a good ballpark figure is something like 300-700 questions for something of the complexity of a King Air or Regional Jet. This takes most people a few dozen hours to do.
What aircraft are appropriate?
Generally all but the simplest aircraft are probably appropriate. We cover simpler training aircraft (C172, R22, PA28, etc) in our RideReady series of checkride oral exam prep software, as users are most likely to be studying for such aircraft in preparation for a practical test.
Military Aircraft? Helicopters?
Yes, no problem.
Ok, I'm intrigued.
Great! Please contact us as follows:
First, if you have just some general questions, you can just ask them via the following email address:
If you have no further questions, then we ask you to submit to the above email address a short "AirCards proposal." This email should include the following:
- A clear indication of the aircraft you are interested in
- Some aviation biographical information about you. This can be a CV/resume. It does NOT need to be customized for us ("looking for a first officer position" is fine)
- Your contact details (e-mail, phone, etc).
- A few sample questions so that we can comment and give you feedback
Based on this proposal, we will give you feedback and hopefully come to some understanding. Since items that tend to be put off tend to be put off forever, we will hope that you will be able to do your bank within a month or two after we agree.
Thank you for your interest! We hope that you will find this to be an interesting and rewarding experience.
