{"id":3817,"date":"2017-05-19T14:00:00","date_gmt":"2017-05-19T14:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.dream.press\/?post_type=customer-spotlight&p=3817"},"modified":"2025-05-06T19:39:52","modified_gmt":"2025-05-06T19:39:52","slug":"customer-builds-plane-scheduling-app","status":"publish","type":"customer-spotlight","link":"https:\/\/news.dream.press\/news\/customer-spotlight\/customer-builds-plane-scheduling-app\/","title":{"rendered":"DreamHost Customer Takes Aviation Application to New Heights"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Aviators tend to be innovators.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maybe it\u2019s the perspective they get when they\u2019re flying thousands of feet in the air or their adventurous\n personalities, but whatever it is, their ability to push boundaries tends to pay off.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For Lars Eriksson, creator of Bookourplane.com<\/a>, his interest in aviation began with model airplanes as a\n five-year-old. A couple of years later he experienced his first plane ride, courtesy of his uncle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt was fantastic,\u201d he recalls. \u201cI still remember it vividly today.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By the time he was 16, Eriksson learned to fly at a local club, and within a few years he received an ultralight\n pilot license.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Eriksson, who grew up in Uppsala, Sweden, knows it\u2019s a little clich\u00e9 to say that his favorite parts of flying are the\n feeling of freedom and the amazing views.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201c<\/strong>It\u2019s a bit like riding a roller coaster sometimes,\u201d he admits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Like other pilots, Eriksson is an innovator, but his product doesn\u2019t help pilots fly better \u2014 it helps them plan\n better. A DreamHost VPS customer<\/a>, Eriksson\n created an aircraft-scheduling website to keep things running smoothly.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Creating a Plane Website<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

What started out as a way to help simplify his life soon took off in a new direction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2003 Eriksson and four other pilot friends went in on an aircraft partnership, an Ikaruc C-22. \u201cI feel it is much\n better to own an airplane with other people since it brings down costs and also cuts down on the work involved,\u201d he\n says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Scheduling the shared plane was the hard part, especially when the weather was good. Eriksson tried to find a booking\n system he and his friends could use and had no luck. So he decided to create his own.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe needed a simple way of scheduling our aircraft online \u2014 and with our mobiles,\u201d he recalled. \u201cAt the time I was\n working as a web developer and decided to build our own \u2018bookings page.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The result: Bookourplane.com<\/a>.\n \u201cSince this was working so well for us I offered the system to other flying clubs here in Sweden,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The site offers a free scheduling application that is used by flying clubs, flight schools, and aircraft\n partnerships. As its popularity took off, Eriksson realized he needed to make it international and completely mobile friendly<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The updated version launched in 2015 and has more than 300 flight clubs \u2014 most of which are in the United States \u2014\n using it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Ups and Downs of Website Ownership<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Like any worthwhile venture, the website has pushed Eriksson out of his comfort zone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt has been a long and somewhat bumpy road,\u201d he says. \u201cI had to learn new things, like building responsive websites\n and improving MySQL, PHP, and JavaScript skills.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And then there is the international aspect.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt has also been a bit tricky with time zones and getting the exact locations of all airfields,\u201d he explains. \u201cIt\n was also challenging to translate everything. I am somewhat stubborn and usually don\u2019t give up. Of course, Google is\n my friend.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Just as Eriksson has upgraded his planes over the years, he is also continually improving Bookourplane.com based on\n user feedback.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe functionality the system has today is based on many requests from my users. It is difficult to image everyone\u2019s\n wishes when you build something. I was the one doing the programming, but most of the smart functions were invented by\n my users,\u201d he says. \u201cI save all requests I get, and if many people request a certain function, I put that in my to-do\n list for future updates.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

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