Logbook Question

[complexintentions]

I'm surprised no one has suggested investing in a good electronic logbook program. I use LogTen Pro http://coradine.com, yeah it's not free - the pilot's favourite price - but it does everything but make you coffee. And there are others I'm sure, or roll your own in Excel if that's your thing. The point is, the advantages of a digital book can be a huge timesaver.

It has print templates for every major regulatory authority, so you enter the data once and then print it out any which way you want. ie you can print a Transport Canada logbook, FAA, CAA, Jepp, etc.As well, you're not limited to the columns in a paper logbook so you can log any type or number of "extra" categories you want, and then choose exactly which columns you wish to print. You can even add pictures if you're so inclined. (Logging landings isn't really specific to any country, it's just for recency requirements, especially in longhaul flying where the landings can be rare.)

As far as I'm concerned having the data electronically but easily made into hard copy is the way to go. Best of both worlds. Of course, the more detailed and thorough the entries are, the most useful the electronic aspects are (for filtering out specific types of time), so starting at the beginning of your career is really best, not several thousand hours in...

[trey kule]

First of all.....

CS is trying to rip you off! The bastard.. Dont send him the $1000!!!!!

Send me only $500 and I will see you get accepted in 29 years..Or your money back.*1
*1. The above offer does not include taxes, if any, surcharges and other fees.
The total due is $1299 and acceptance does not constitue a guarantee of the honoring of the offer

For what it is worth, If you plan to fly overseas you might want to keep more detailed records as you will find some countries have rather onerous logbook requirements compared to Canada...I have run into problems a couple of times.. They respect log books much more than we do in Canada. One "exaggerated" entry can cost you your license..permanently.

Now complex.."Free" the pilots favorite price! How unfair.. Pilots want good quality expensive stuff...they just done want to pay for it at all..Stealing is fine.. Ever try to keep a copy of the latest aviation magazine sitting in the lobby?

I am not a big fan of electronic logbooks..OK I guess if you are the type that likes to break things down 712 different ways, but generally they are overkill. I hate it when I ask to have a look at some 250 hour pilot's logbook and get presented with a stack of papers thicker than a New York telephone directory.

[Colonel Sanders]

Pilots want good quality expensive stuff

that's why all of my pens are from hotels

[complexintentions]

HA! Yeah the habits from the starvation days, die hard...that's why I threw the line in about the favourite price, never met a pilot who didn't like a deal! (Myself included!) But that's why if a cheap, I mean thrifty, individual like myself is recommending something even WITH the Gucci price, ya know it has to be saving you in some other way. In this case - time. I tap a few buttons on the iPhone at the end of a flight, and it's done. If I had to go back to to my laboured, childish scrawl as a method of logging, it just wouldn't happen at all.

And agreed the capabilities of the electronic books are overkill, but you only have to use (and PRINT) the ones you want. If someone's printing you the phonebook, they just ain't using it right. The templates are exactly like a TC book, a FAA book, a classic Jepp...

As far as breaking down things 712 ways, that's the thing - ever SEEN some of those contract job applications?! I'd rather just set a filter than sit there for hours leafing through the pages with a calculator. Done both. Ugh.

But yeah, whatever means the original poster uses, for gawd's sake be honest, accurate and tidy. That's really the main thing anyone looking at it will care about.

[PilotDAR]

A few year back, getting a CPL became a good idea. Though I had Jepp log books for the first few thousand of my hours, I had not pilot logged the most recent 20 years of flying at all. I summarized the logbooks at the top of an Excel spreadsheet I created, and went from there. By borrowing back a whole bunch of journey logs from cooperative owners, I was able to reconstruct a fairly decent pilot log, albeit hundreds of hours short of reality. I printed and presented the Excel log with my CPL paperwork, and it was readily accepted.

[Beefitarian]

I never thought of this because I just write "Self" for solo entries like I was shown but.

Do you write your own name in your log book?

[MrWings]

Do you write your own name in your log book?

Only once to show ownership. Then I just write Self. After a day of abuse, I Freudianly write Serf.

I don't like to write my own name because it contains more letters than Self. Also, because it is my log book, writing my own name makes it into the third person and that makes MrWings angry.

[tractor747]

Under what rules does your pilot log book fall under? Is it Transport Canada? is it the department of justice? trying to figure out if you get caught putting in false entries and you get caught who can get the pilot in trouble? Can your present company fire you if they want if they find out the pilot falsefied their log book years before getting hired but used that false time to get a higher licence towards their ATPL.

No it isn't me, just wondered to hear what other pros out there have heard .

747

[Krimson]

Sounds like you have something planned

[AirFrame]

I write "Lord Flashheart".

[MIQ]

Sorry to bring up a somewhat old thread, I just want to make sure, that I got the facts straight. I'm flying in Canada, have a canadian licence, and my logbook also meets the canadian requirements. Lately I've been doing some flying in the states (I also hold a FAA PPL) but I went together with an instructor. So here, under FAA, because I'm holding a licence, I could log that as PIC BUT because all my regular flying is done in Canada I should enter it as Dual in my logbook because IF TC would look into the matter, they would not be happy with me logging PIC time while flying with an instructor, correct?
Just trying to make sure I'm doing the correct thing. I would rather log PIC but I looks like I can't/shouldn't.

[TeePeeCreeper]

Sorry to bring up a somewhat old thread, I just want to make sure, that I got the facts straight. I'm flying in Canada, have a canadian licence, and my logbook also meets the canadian requirements. Lately I've been doing some flying in the states (I also hold a FAA PPL) but I went together with an instructor. So here, under FAA, because I'm holding a licence, I could log that as PIC BUT because all my regular flying is done in Canada I should enter it as Dual in my logbook because IF TC would look into the matter, they would not be happy with me logging PIC time while flying with an instructor, correct?
Just trying to make sure I'm doing the correct thing. I would rather log PIC but I looks like I can't/shouldn't.

Log it as you wish.
When the time comes where you need to send your log book into TC for an ATPL deduct those entries from the appropriate column in the application form.

Sounds simple? Yeah it is.... The surprising part is that TC never even batted an eye lash at my application and that's exactly what I did. In fact the person who reviewed my log noticed the fact that I had done so purposely and thanked me for making her job far easier!

All the best,
TPC

[complexintentions]

This is really where the electronic logbooks shine. You could make another column called "FAA PIC" or whatever you want, and put your US time you mention in that column, when training in Canada you would put it in the regular Dual column. Then when submitting a logbook to either TC or FAA, just toggle the columns you want/don't want to display and print using the appropriate template.

Essentially, the same thing as TeePeeCreeper's very good advice, except the work is done for you as you go - no extracting the data later combing the pages with a calculator. Of course you could do the same thing with a paper book, but they usually don't have enough blank columns and are messy when you make a mistake.

I just hate doing tedious work later when a couple minutes at the time eliminates that. One may think they'll never need to submit their hours to an authority other than their home country but you never know, especially in this age of global labour.

[Colonel Sanders]

Not counting time logged outside Canada
at all, towards your ATPL seems a bit ridiculous
to me.

You flew an airplane. It counts towards
your total time. Sure, it might not count
towards your PIC (according to TC, not the
FAA) but at the very least, I would log it
as dual and count it towards the Canadian
ATPL 1500TT.

You flew the airplane, right? You received
dual instruction, correct? Then why the Hell
can't you log it and count it as such?

Do recall that under the IPL, TC will honour
this funky PIC time, logged by an FAA ATP
holder, who wants to obtain a Canadian ATPL.

[boogs82]

This is really where the electronic logbooks shine. You could make another column called "FAA PIC" or whatever you want, and put your US time you mention in that column, when training in Canada you would put it in the regular Dual column. Then when submitting a logbook to either TC or FAA, just toggle the columns you want/don't want to display and print using the appropriate template.

Essentially, the same thing as TeePeeCreeper's very good advice, except the work is done for you as you go - no extracting the data later combing the pages with a calculator. Of course you could do the same thing with a paper book, but they usually don't have enough blank columns and are messy when you make a mistake.

I just hate doing tedious work later when a couple minutes at the time eliminates that. One may think they'll never need to submit their hours to an authority other than their home country but you never know, especially in this age of global labour.

What electronic logbook would you recommend?

[MIQ]

Thanks guys, that's basically what I thought. To keep it simple, I'll just log it as dual, it's not too many hours anyway. Just would have been nice to log it as PIC. Needless to say, I prefer the FAA way over TC...

[Colonel Sanders]

Log it as dual to keep TC happy. That
way, you can count it towards your ATPL
without any confusion, down the road.

Free advice: if you log PIC when you are
the sole occupant of the aircraft, you're
golden.

[fpsbc]

Sorry for bringing this topic up again. Just purchased a Jepp logbook and noticed that their are no names for the PIC and Co-Pilot. Was wondering if we legally require the names? The CARs say you just need to tell who the PIC during the flight was but does that include showing your name or just writing in hours under PIC? Or do I have to write in the remarks section who flew. Thanks again for the insight.

[Flypilot]

I kept a paper and excel log till shortly after my ATPL, then stopped with the paper log. Can anyone tell me if this is a problem? I was recently checked out on a new type and after the flight the guy wanted to sign me off in my logbook. I hadn't thought of that scenario when I stopped with the paper log so wondering if anyone can tell me what is the appropriate thing to do?

[Max from CH]

Hi,

I’m a swiss a freelance helicopter pilot and flight instructor. If still someone is interested in a “free” pilot logbook, I’m using the ROTAIR FlightLog (www.flightmanagement.ch) and I’m very happy with it. It offers as many custom fields as I need and it’s very easy to use. And the best for me is that when I write reviews in the Appstore it’s free !