Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry
Electronic Daily Flight Report
A Flutter-based cross-platform app replacing pen-and-paper flight logging for Ontario’s water-bomber pilots — designed for single-handed operation in the cockpit, by day and by night.
About AFFES
Pilots with Aviation, Forest Fire and Emergency Services (AFFES) at Ontario’s Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry (MNRF) handle water-bombing missions, crew transport, and ground operations. AFFES engaged Cantan Group to modernise flight logging and replace the traditional pen-and-paper workflow with a reliable digital record.
The Challenge
Capture a complex, varied flight day in a way pilots will actually use in the cockpit
Pen-and-Paper Legacy
Mid-air events such as water-bombing and ground events such as refuelling had historically been logged by hand — slow, error-prone, and hard to analyse.
Varied Events
Aircraft capabilities, mission types, and event categories varied widely. The app had to model all of them without forcing pilots into awkward workflows.
Cockpit Usability
The app had to be usable day and night, one-handed, with shortcuts for common tasks so pilots could log events without breaking focus.
Our Approach
Strategy-first modelling, Flutter implementation, and pilot-centred experience
Strategy
Collaborative strategy sessions with the MNRF examined prior assumptions about technology and scope. Modelling every event as a descendant of a single event class was the unlock — simplifying the data model cleared the way for the cleanest possible solution.
Technology
Flutter was chosen as a cross-platform foundation so one code base could serve every aircraft type and mission variation AFFES operates.
Experience
Designed for the cockpit: readable in day and night light, intuitive for single-handed operation, with shortcuts for the most common events pilots log.
Iterate
A tight Agile loop — short iterations, narrow feature sets — made the right model visible early and let the product come together smoothly with the MNRF team.
Flutter
Cross-platform code base
Day + Night
Cockpit-ready interface
Single class
Event model at the core
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