Epic: Mayfly - Aircraft Management & MF700 Documentation Plugin

[engines-wafu]

Overview

Mayfly is a new plugin for managing squadron aircraft using an MF700-inspired documentation system. Pilots sign out aircraft, fly missions, sign back in and report defects. Engineering staff (WCPO) manage defects, deferrals, limitations, and servicing.

Two Modes

• Lite Mode (all aircraft types): Tail numbers, fleet status, sign-out/in workflow, free-text defects/limitations/notes. No DCS persistence integration.
• Full Persistence Mode (F-4E Phantom only, future): Integrates with Heatblur persistence keys for wear/condition tracking. Requires client-side sync (S3 or hook script).

Key Technical Findings

• F-4E persistence is fundamentally client-side - server-only persistence is not possible
• Persistence files stored at Saved Games/DCS_F4E/cache/persistent_ac/ (proprietary binary format)
• No DCS API can access Heatblur component data from the server
• DCSServerBot CAN: track flight hours, detect crashes/landings, manipulate .miz files, set PersistentAircraftKey
• Alpha will be Lite Mode only - 892 NAS continues using Funky's S3 app for key sync

Alpha Scope (This Weekend)

• Mayfly: Plugin scaffold & database schema #86 - Plugin scaffold & database schema
• Mayfly: /mayfly board - Fleet status display #87 - /mayfly board fleet status
• Mayfly: /mayfly check - Individual aircraft status card #88 - /mayfly check aircraft status card
• Mayfly: /mayfly signout & /mayfly signin - Aircraft handover workflow #89 - /mayfly signout / /mayfly signin workflow
• Mayfly: F707 defect reporting & WCPO management #90 - F707 defect reporting & WCPO management
• Mayfly: F703 limitations & F704 deferred faults display #91 - F703 limitations & F704 deferrals
• Mayfly: DCS event integration (crash detection, flight hours) #92 - DCS event integration (crash detection, flight hours)
• Mayfly: Deploy & test alpha on staging server #93 - Deploy & test on staging server

Post-Alpha

• Servicing timers (BF/AF/TR/Primary/Minor/Major)
• F704 time-limited deferrals with auto-expiry
• Flight/maintenance history views
• Fleet analytics & statistics
• Full Persistence Mode (F-4E key sync)
• .miz manipulation (set Quality/Wear per unit)
• GameGUI hook script for invisible client-side key sync

References

• Discord proposal: posted in #general for Mailman's review
• Research: MF700 form series (F703 Limitations, F704 ADFs, F705 FSC, F707 AML)
• Heatblur F-4E persistence docs: https://f4.manuals.heatblur.se/dcs/persistence.html
• Component tree: 1,489 top-level components, 15,473 properties

[engines-wafu]

Alpha implementation complete. All commands implemented and code-reviewed. Database deployed to staging. Issues #86-#92 closed. Remaining: deploy bot to staging and run Discord command tests (#93).

[engines-wafu]

Epic Status Update

Current State

• Alpha deployed on staging, seeded with historical Fleet Air Arm data (9 NAS squadrons, 43 aircraft with authentic Thetford serials).

Issue Tracker

Issue	Description	Status
#86	Scaffold	Closed
#87	Board	Closed
#88	Check	Closed
#89	Signin / Signout	Closed
#90	Limitations	Closed
#91	Defects	Closed
#92	Events	Closed
#93	Deploy & test alpha on staging	In progress — awaiting in-game testing results

Next Steps

1. Complete in-game event testing and E2E signout/signin with linked accounts (Mayfly: Deploy & test alpha on staging server #93).
2. S3 persistence app integration.
3. Beta tester proposal document.

[engines-wafu]

S3 Persistence App Analysis Complete

Analyzed funkyschnitzel/892_persistence - the existing S3 sync tool used by 892 NAS.

Current App

• Two tkinter GUIs (~330 lines Python): pilot tool + admin browser
• Flat S3 bucket (892-persistence-files, eu-north-1) with {tail}_{modex}_{counter}.cache naming
• AWS credentials hardcoded in source, baked into PyInstaller exe
• No pilot identity, no audit trail, no concurrent access handling

Integration Strategy

Phase 1 — Presigned URLs (Quick Win)

• Add boto3 to Mayfly, store AWS config in plugin YAML (IAM role, not hardcoded keys)
• /mayfly signout generates a presigned S3 download URL in the response
• /mayfly signin provides a presigned upload URL
• Eliminates need for pilots to have AWS credentials
• Adds identity and audit trail via existing mayfly_flights table

Phase 2 — DCS GameGUI Hook (Seamless)

• Lua hook in Scripts/Hooks/ on pilot's DCS client
• Auto-downloads persistence file on aircraft spawn via presigned URL
• Auto-uploads on disconnect/despawn
• Invisible to the pilot

Phase 3 — Full Automation

• Auto-detect aircraft assignment from .miz PersistentAircraftKey
• Auto-calculate flight hours from DCS events
• Server-side mission editing for real-time key assignment

Key Technical Note

The bot runs server-side and cannot write to the pilot's filesystem. This "last mile" problem is why Phase 1 uses URLs (pilot clicks a link) and Phase 2 solves it with a client-side hook.

Full analysis: memory/s3-persistence-analysis.md