Electronic Flight Log Books

[Seth]

I've been thinking of switching or at least using an Electric Flight Book application of some sort for a long time and the "Dogfight" section of AOPA magazine highlighted that very topic this month.

 

I think I'll always keep my paper logs for nostalgic purposes, but I am going to transition all my data to an app that syncs with an online source, iphone app, and such.  I want to easily add up the different times that insurance companies request without going back through my logbooks.

 

One suggestion for free is www.myflightbook.com thoughts?

 

So, look a the poll, answer, and than let me know what app you are using, what you suggest and why.

 

Thanks

 

-Seth

[Joe Zuffoletto]

I took a quick look at myflightbook.com and it looks pretty good. I use LogTen Pro for the Mac and iPhone and love it.

[Seth]

I took a quick look at myflightbook.com and it looks pretty good. I use LogTen Pro for the Mac and iPhone and love it.

Does it have a web browser portion to it for when you are on a PC vs a MAC? 

My office is PC, my home computer is PC, my Ipad and Iphone are of course apple.

 

-Seth

[MooneyBob]

I am using MyFlightbook. It is important to set all the parameters you want to keep track of before you start to use it so it is easy to fill the blanks and there are no unnecessary fields to fill.

I use it on my iPads and iPhone. No reason to use the PC or Mac.

I still do my paper logbook too where I like to highlight milestones and important missions.

[Danb]

I'm to cynical, if I ever have an accident and do not survive, my logs,including aircraft, engine etc. are not to be found. If they are ever reviewed even though they are most likely pristine ..those looking are to find fault, blame etc....being a CPA and auditor all my life makes me quite cynical.

[Piloto]

I found the Aera 560 Flight Log very handy. It records automatically your flights without pilot intervention. It list date, flight hours, departure and destination. I think it records up to 50 flights and then start overwriting the oldest one with the latest one. I just copy into the paper log book the numbers every three months. No need to remember the flights.

 

Jose 

[Wakeup]

Jose. I have the 560 as well and I like being able to go back every few weeks and update my log book instead of after every flight. Troy

[Wildhorsesracing]

I use a Google spreadsheet to keep a copy of my logs handy, I use them to add up the #'s to put in my paper logbook.

[Joe Zuffoletto]

Does it have a web browser portion to it for when you are on a PC vs a MAC? 

My office is PC, my home computer is PC, my Ipad and Iphone are of course apple.

 

-Seth

No... you can't use it from a PC.

[DaV8or]

I use Myflightbook.com for all my flights. However, I selected "both" on the poll because I still use my paper log book for sign offs, like BFRs. To my knowledge, the FAA does not recognize any digital signature, or endorsement. If you want to stay legal, you still need to use paper for the sign offs. I just completed my BFR on Sunday and had to dust off the paper log book. I hadn't used it since the last BFR.

[FlyDave]

I use LogTen Pro as well.

The app is fairly easy to use and but takes some getting used to the way Coradine has set it up.

I only have an iPad - no Mac. So I can only use the app on the iPad. For a backup you can email a file that contains all the data you've input. You need to contact Coradine if you want to do a restore as I think they have to modify the file and email it to you before it gets restored.

Also, if you want a PDF of your logbook, again, you are dependent on the Coradine (manufacturer) website to produce it. You email the file to Coradine and (I think) they send you a link to download the PDF.

I don't care for relying on the manufacturer so much. If Coradine goes out of business you don't have the facility to do a restore or print a PDF of your log book (unless you have a mac with their app installed on it). Had I know that I probably wouldn't have gone with LogTen pro. But by the same token, if you go with one of the on-line products you're dependent on them staying in business as well.

Using a spreadsheet or database of sorts could get messy an would not be as feature rich as something like LogTen Pro.

Edit: Just as DaV8or states above, I keep all sign off's on paper log books as well.

[Danb]

As mentioned I'm the cynical type, question is if one used the say myflightbook do you use it for compiling info eg. Like excel, and then merely enter it into your paper logs also do you start from say July 1st and put in all your prior experience as a one line entry then add current and future flight info. to your paper logs also in your experience by using it as a data entry module would my security concerns then be invalid? The idea of using the system makes complete sense along with the increased accuracy that comes from these programs. Any help would be greatly appreciated.......

[1964-M20E]

I'm paper only.  I guess if i was flying regularly scheduled commercial I'd go electronic but flying a few times a month it is easy enough to keep track and if I miss a 30 minute flight no biggie.

 

What do you do for endorsements, new ratings etc with electronic only?  I guess you could have it written and then scan it and attache to the electronic file.

 

Now what I've been wanting to do is scan my paper log for a backup but that is it.

 

But as Mr cynical said above if anything happens sometimes it is better to have things get lost and hard drives crash just ask the IRS.

[Hank]

My logbook is paper; not only must I have it for actual signatures, but I'm also cynical and don't trust the on line apps to stay in business or provide warning for me to retrieve my data before they shut down.

I do keep a many-tabbed spreadsheet that records general flight information: a listing of every airport that I have landed at, with date, hours, runway length, etc; a listing of "firsts," from 1st lesson, solo, first pax, first grass field, first for Class B, C, D, etc; there's a sheet that tracks approaches, night landings and currency for both; another sheet tracks my insurance hours. It is constantly evolving as I want/need to know something. But details are in my (printed and bound) logbook, which won't be harmed by magnets, thunderstorms or the business practices of any company, and can't be hacked.

[Bob_Belville]

I keep up my old Standard Pilot Logbook (I have to cross out the 19__ at the top of the page) and also post to a simple 2 tab Excel workbook to keep up with totals by model, type, etc.

[mike_elliott]

Dan Checkoway, former E model owner and also the guy who did the infamous rv7project.com website (since taken down because of liability reasons), developed this wonderful site for weather. www.weathermeister.com . For the annual admission price, you also got his great electronic logbook. www.logshare.com.

Both are just great.

[DaV8or]

My logbook is paper; not only must I have it for actual signatures, but I'm also cynical and don't trust the on line apps to stay in business or provide warning for me to retrieve my data before they shut down.

I do keep a many-tabbed spreadsheet that records general flight information: a listing of every airport that I have landed at, with date, hours, runway length, etc; a listing of "firsts," from 1st lesson, solo, first pax, first grass field, first for Class B, C, D, etc; there's a sheet that tracks approaches, night landings and currency for both; another sheet tracks my insurance hours. It is constantly evolving as I want/need to know something. But details are in my (printed and bound) logbook, which won't be harmed by magnets, thunderstorms or the business practices of any company, and can't be hacked.

 

Myflightbook.com features downloads to your hard drive in excel or as a csv file. So, you can have copies in case the Chinese blow up the internet, or the guy goes out of business. There is also a provision for printing paper logs too.

[WardHolbrook]

When it comes to a traditional paper vs an eLogbook, I would say that if you only can have one, then you pretty much need to go the paper logbook route. That's the way I went for about 35 years or so. Later, I gave up logging time all together.  I had other ways to prove currency - FlightSafety ProCard for IFR currency and company records for night and landing currencies - but I did keep copies of my aircraft trip sheets just in case. Finally a few years back, I found myself with a bunch of free time and the need to update my resume. For grins, I bought a copy of Logbook Pro and started entering all of my flights from Day 1. It took a couple of years worth of extremely part-time effort but I finally got all 47 years and just under 15,000 hours entered. It was a lot of work, but when I was finished,  I was very glad that I took the time to do it. At least now, with the Logbook Pro iPhone app it's simple to keep the logbook current after each flight and it automatically syncs to the program on my home computer. I appreciate the speed and ease at which you can mine your database for information and print out just about any report or summary is amazing. 

For me, the best part about Logbook Pro is their optional Route Browser add-in. It overlays your flights onto a US or World map or Google Earth. I've attached a copy to show what it looks like. You can break it out pretty much any way you'd like. This view shows all of the domestic US city pairs that I've flown to. I've flown between most of these pairings many times and as I'm approaching the end of my career, it's pretty neat to see what you've accomplished. It's something that I'm glad I took the time to do

 

 

I've got similar maps for the rest of the world.

 

Once a year, I print out the sheets to update my paper logbook and I back up master copies to a thumb drive, an external hard drive as well as the cloud. I'm not worried about losing it. 

 

 

 

. 

[Danb]

Ward that is impressive

[David Mazer]

Ward, very cool.

 

I use Zululog.com but no one else seems to.  Works on PC, Mac, iPhone and Android.  It is convenient and fast.

[FloridaMan]

I've written an iPhone/iPad app that uses my phone's GPS to log my flights. 

[Marauder]

When it comes to a traditional paper vs an eLogbook, I would say that if you only can have one, then you pretty much need to go the paper logbook route. That's the way I went for about 35 years or so. Later, I gave up logging time all together. I had other ways to prove currency - FlightSafety ProCard for IFR currency and company records for night and landing currencies - but I did keep copies of my aircraft trip sheets just in case. Finally a few years back, I found myself with a bunch of free time and the need to update my resume. For grins, I bought a copy of Logbook Pro and started entering all of my flights from Day 1. It took a couple of years worth of extremely part-time effort but I finally got all 47 years and just under 15,000 hours entered. It was a lot of work, but when I was finished, I was very glad that I took the time to do it. At least now, with the Logbook Pro iPhone app it's simple to keep the logbook current after each flight and it automatically syncs to the program on my home computer. I appreciate the speed and ease at which you can mine your database for information and print out just about any report or summary is amazing.

For me, the best part about Logbook Pro is their optional Route Browser add-in. It overlays your flights onto a US or World map or Google Earth. I've attached a copy to show what it looks like. You can break it out pretty much any way you'd like. This view shows all of the domestic US city pairs that I've flown to. I've flown between most of these pairings many times and as I'm approaching the end of my career, it's pretty neat to see what you've accomplished. It's something that I'm glad I took the time to do

I've got similar maps for the rest of the world.

Once a year, I print out the sheets to update my paper logbook and I back up master copies to a thumb drive, an external hard drive as well as the cloud. I'm not worried about losing it.

.

Ward -- looking at this makes me want to reach for a tube of Preparation H. More power to you... You certainly have a better sphincter muscle than I do!

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[midlifeflyer]

I've been happily using MyFlightBook for over a year and love it. The developer is easy to reach and responsive; updates are pretty regular and bugs fixed very quickly. Currency calculations are accurate. If you don't want to try to input you prior 20 years of hours, you can start with your paper totals and go forward from there.  It has a web interface, apps for iOS and Android, and, most important IMO, a downloadable and updatable Excel spreadsheet so you can save your data locally. For a voluntary payment (which I do), the data is uploaded to my Dropbox daily.

 

It's those last two that are the final selling point for me. The biggest issue with any cloud-based provider is, what happens if they go away. If MyFlightBook goes away, due to the downloadable Excel spreadsheet and the Dropbox integration, I have all my data.

[midlifeflyer]

On the poll itself. A year a go I "officially" moved from paper to plastic. I still use my paper logbook, but only for entries that need to be signed by someone else - dual received and endorsements.

[bonal]

i can see where electronic would be nice for commercial but for the 50 to 100 hrs a year that i fly. open the book turn to the page write it down close the book.  i dont know about the rest of you but computers and smart phones have made my life more complicared than ever. I know all the great things that you can do on them but just keeping track of all my passwords requires a computer.