RampMeet — User Guide

1. Getting started

Sign in three ways — Apple, Google, or email & password (you'll type the password twice to confirm it). Creating an account records your acceptance of the Privacy Policy and Terms, both linked from the sign-in screen and from Profile → Legal.

If you registered with email, a banner asks you to verify your email — check your inbox (there's a Resend button). Verified accounts get a checkmark by their name.

First run asks for your home airport — type a few characters and pick the real airport from the list (typos can't be saved). Setting it anchors your suggestions and adds you to that airport's circle automatically (you can leave anytime). Onboarding also suggests other nearby circles.

Four tabs run along the bottom: Home, Circles, Events, Messages. Your Profile is behind your avatar in the top-right of Home.

2. Your profile & aircraft

Tap your avatar on Home to open Profile. Add a photo (camera or library, with a square crop), set your display name (the only name others see), and your home airport. There's no Save button — changes save automatically.

My Aircraft

Add the aircraft you fly — this powers connecting with other owners of your type. Search the type catalog (e.g. "C172", "Mooney", "RV-7", "R44") and pick yours; optionally add a tail number (shown only to your circles) and a photo. If your exact type isn't listed, you can still save it as a custom (display-only) type — it won't have a type circle yet, so tap "Request this aircraft type" and we'll add it. When it's reviewed you'll see an update on your Profile, and your aircraft connects automatically.

3. Finding & joining circles

A circle is a group of pilots. There are four kinds:

• Airport — everyone based at or flying into one airport.
• Regional — pilots across several nearby airports (an anchor field plus the airports around it).
• Interest group — a shared interest anchored to a home field (e.g. a flying club).
• Aircraft-type — owners of the same make/model, created and suggested automatically from your aircraft (see next section).

On the Circles tab, search an airport identifier (e.g. KTKI) or any word from a circle's name. Tap an airport to join its circle (Join if it exists, Create if you'd start it), or tap a circle in the results. Joining depends on the circle's policy: Open (join instantly), Approval required (tap Request), or Invite only (join via an invite link).

Nearby Circles. Pilots in smaller towns often gather at a larger field 50–100 nm away, so the Circles tab also surfaces joinable circles anchored at airports within 100 nm of your home airport, listed closest first with each one's anchor airport, distance and member count (a regional circle shows its nearest in-range field). Tap See all for the full list, and Join or Request to join right from the row. Circles you've already joined, aircraft-type circles, and invite-only circles are left out — set your home airport first, since this is measured from it.

Once you've joined a few, "My circles" gains a sort/filter control, and Home shows your most-active circles with a "See all" link. Each row carries a small icon for its kind.

4. Aircraft-type circles — connect by what you fly

Add an aircraft to your profile and RampMeet suggests a circle for that type, nationwide (e.g. "Cessna 172 Skyhawk Pilots"). On the Circles tab, look under Suggested for you and tap to join — joining is how other owners of that type can find you too.

Inside an aircraft-type circle:

• Airports in range — a personal map and radius slider around your home airport. Drag it to match how far you actually fly this aircraft; it's saved per aircraft.
• Message pilots in range — a message to this nationwide circle reaches only the pilots based at the airports inside your radius, so it stays local even though the circle is national.

5. Inside a circle

• About — type, airport(s), join policy, member count.
• Message the circle — the circle's group chat (needs at least one other member).
• Members — tap anyone to start a private conversation. The owner and moderators are tagged so you know whom to reach with questions; larger circles get a "Filter members" box.
• Upcoming events — events hosted by this circle, with a "Plan an event" button.
• Past events — the circle's history; a past event keeps its page and photo album.
• Local recommendations & Vendors — trusted businesses at the circle's airport. Every recommendation is a pilot's positive-only endorsement of a specific business (tap Recommend a business; verified email required), shown with a privacy-safe label like "KJYO pilot" — never your name or email. Business owners can list themselves and post one public response per recommendation.

To invite pilots, tap Invite pilots in the Members section: RampMeet prepares a shareable link (with a rich preview) and a QR code, and you can send an invite to someone inside RampMeet. There's also Create flyer — a printable one-page flyer with a branded QR code, made for the FBO bulletin board. A pilot who scans it lands straight in your circle's join flow. Events have flyers too: share an event and choose Create flyer for a version headlined by the event, whose QR leads to the RSVP.

6. Private circles

Some circles review new members. In search, an approval-required circle shows a Request button; via an invite link you'll see a Request to join button. A moderator approves or declines — if approved, the circle appears in My circles and you'll get a notification. Declined is no big deal; you can request again.

7. Running a circle

If you created a circle (or moderate one), a Pending requests section lets you Approve or Decline joiners, and you get a push when someone requests to join. In the Members list, touch and hold a member to make/remove moderator (creator/admins only), remove, or ban. The creator can't be removed.

The ••• menu → Edit circle changes the name, description, join policy, and airports:

• Regional circle — pick an anchor airport, then on the map set a radius and tap the fields to include (with filter/sort and a "Select all in range"); you can also add a field by code outside the radius.
• Interest group — has a single home airport you can change; moving it relocates the circle.

A circle's type is fixed once created. Aircraft-type circles are system-defined and aren't edited.

8. Events & rides

The Events tab shows upcoming events from your circles — fly-ins, fly-outs, tours, currency groups. Tap + (or "Plan an event" in a circle) to create one: title, where to meet, date/time (all-day or spanning days), who-can-see-the-roster, and whether attendees can share invites.

RSVP & rides

Open an event and use Your RSVP: toggle I'm attending; if you need transport toggle I need a ride, or if you have empty seats toggle I have seats and set how many. Either way, enter your departure airport — it's required for ride matching. Your RSVP saves automatically; a ride answer commits once the airport is set.

When a pilot needs a ride from your departure airport to the same event, pilots with seats from that field get a quiet notification. Only seat-holders are ever notified — your "has seats" status is never shown to others, and helping is entirely your call.

The host's event screen (••• menu → Edit event) can change the details, dates, roster visibility, and even the airport, plus toggle a shared photo album and announce the event to the circle chat. Add to Calendar saves it to your device in a tap.

9. Event photos & files

Every event has a Photos album visible to the circle. The host can always add photos; attendees can too once the host enables the shared album. Tap a photo for the full-screen viewer — swipe, pinch to zoom, and save, report, or delete (your own). Group by person (in the album's ⋯ menu) shows each pilot's shots under their name, and the album outlives the event — open a past event any time to look back or add yours. Hosts can also share files (slide decks, briefings, handouts). All photo features are free.

10. Messages

The Messages tab is your private inbox, with two kinds of threads:

• Direct messages — 1:1 chats. Start one by tapping a pilot in a circle's Members list or an event's "Who's going" list.
• Circle group chats — open with "Message the circle." Each message shows its sender's name, and you can Message privately to take a thread 1:1.

All messaging is in-app — you never share your phone or email. Touch and hold any message for options (Copy, Message privately, Report, and Delete on your own). RampMeet invite links in chat render as a rich card that opens the join flow right in the app.

11. Notifications

RampMeet sends a push for a new direct or circle message, a join request for a circle you moderate, and a ride match. Tapping a notification deep-links you to the right place. Allow notifications when prompted.

Tune what you get under Profile → Notifications — enable/disable group-chat push per circle kind (airport, regional, group, aircraft-type) — or mute a single circle/conversation from its chat (the bell). Unread badges appear on the tabs, on Home, and on the app icon.

12. Privacy, blocking, muting & reporting

Privacy is structural, not a settings page: your email is never shown, there's no public profile or member directory, event hosts can keep attendee lists private, and all messaging is in-app. RampMeet doesn't even ask for your phone number.

• Block — touch and hold a member → Block. Their messages are hidden and they can't DM you; it's just for you and isn't announced. Unblock under Profile → Blocked accounts.
• Mute — tap the bell in a chat to stop its notifications (you'll still see messages when you open it).
• Report — a user (hold → Report), a message (hold → Report message), or a photo (flag in the viewer). Reports are private and reviewed by our team.

13. FAQ & troubleshooting

I can't join a circle — it shows Request or a lock. That circle isn't open: tap Request, or open its invite link, and a moderator will let you in.

My ride answer didn't save. RSVP saves automatically, but a ride answer commits only once you set your departure airport (it's required for matching). Add it and it saves.

I'm not getting notifications. Make sure you allowed them (Settings → Notifications → RampMeet) — notifications require being signed in on the device.

My aircraft type isn't in the list. Save it as a custom type and tap "Request this aircraft type"; we'll add it and your aircraft will connect automatically.

How do I leave a circle? Swipe its row in My circles, or open it and use ••• → Leave circle. Rejoin anytime.

How do I delete my account? Profile → Delete Account. It permanently removes your profile, memberships, RSVPs, and photos; circles and events you created remain for their other members.

Is there an Android or web version? RampMeet is available for both iPhone (App Store) and Android (Google Play). There's no web version — RampMeet lives where pilots do, on their phones.

How do I send feedback or report a problem? Tap Profile → Help → Send Feedback. It opens an email to our team with your app version attached — we read every one.