Electronic pilot logbooks

[BaldEagle]

Evening all,

I’ve decided it’s way past time to maintain an electronic logbook and want to copy everything from my paper logbooks into something.  I still plan on maintaining my paper logbook, at least initially.  This is mainly to mitigate the impact of losing my original logbooks, but it will help categorizing totals for insurance purposes, etc.  What are you all using?  I use ForeFlight in the cockpit, but don’t want to be tied to it.

[toto]

I use MyFlightBook.  It's completely free, and has a web app in addition to native mobile apps for iOS and Android.

https://myflightbook.com/logbook/Default.aspx

I use this primarily as a flight log, but I also use it to track maintenance intervals, medical dates, biannual IFR recerts, etc.

[Schllc]

Im pretty sure that the logbook in ForeFlight is not contingent upon a membership.
I started with a paper log and when I switched to ForeFlight it and had too many entries to do in one sitting so I used photos which are stored in ForeFlight and entered in a few at a time until I had it all. 
I do  not use the auto log feature, because it really drains the battery and doesn’t always start and stop the way I would prefer . 
I can’t imagine trying to look through paper logs to find things after several hundred hours or a few years of entires but it’s really easy to find in ForeFlight. 
you can instantly find specific entries, trips to specific locations etc, it’s very easy to query. 

If you have endorsements or signed log entries in paper, you should probably keep the paper entries for backup, but any new entries can signed the same way a paper one is, or if you forget can be done via email. 
It’s really convenient and I would highly recommend.  

[GeeBee]

I use SafeLog. Has great reports, great currency tracking and auto produces an IACRA. Back when I flew professionally it was excellent at FAR 117 tracking. I have all my data since day one in it. I keep paper logs now only for back up for endorsements such as Biennials and IPCs.

The best part is SafeLog keeps data on a local machine and in the cloud. I have 6 different machines and tablets, I can enter a flight on any one of them, have 6 different flights on 6 different machines and when I synch, they all synch up to one contiguous record.

 

[Tahir K]

I use MyFlightBook.  It's completely free, and has a web app in addition to native mobile apps for iOS and Android.
https://myflightbook.com/logbook/Default.aspx
I use this primarily as a flight log, but I also use it to track maintenance intervals, medical dates, biannual IFR recerts, etc.

I second this.

[FloridaMan]

For what it’s worth, I wrote a web page that converts JPI engine monitor dumps into logbooks. 

[carusoam]

7 minutes ago, FloridaMan said:

For what it’s worth, I wrote a web page that converts JPI engine monitor dumps into logbooks. 

FM,

You may want to share that web page again... 

A fully connected JPI logs tremendous data including the usual flight log stuff...

I use WingX still to gather flight experience until logged elsewhere...

I also use CloudAhoy to gather flight experience until logged elsewhere... CA is really good regarding collecting all of the experiences of the flight...

I no longer use my portable Garmin device, that did an OK job of gathering flight experience until getting logged elsewhere...

 

Adding a search function, and being able to find dates of next things due would be great...

PP thoughts only, not a CFI...

Best regards,

-a-

[Ragsf15e]

Surprised im the only one, but I created an excel spreadsheet.  Very searchable, easy, import pictures of endorsements onto a special tab, etc. I print the new pages every few months so there’s a hard copy as well as back it up online.

[RLCarter]

I wrote a program in VB6 10 yrs ago Home Screen shows currency (30, 60 and 90 day) for VFR, IFR and night, haven’t updated it in over a year. Stopped entering times because I was working on the program for a few more printable reports, time to get back on that project and get some entries transferred 

[toto]

I have no connection whatsoever to MyFlightBook, but one more plug for that application...

MyFlightBook can input/output to/from Excel, and maintains currency info. I get a weekly email from MFB showing any upcoming intervals or currency expirations. 

The nicest thing about it is that I can log my flight from my phone while waiting for the hangar door to close, and it's done.

Calculating hours for insurance renewal is absolutely trivial, takes about three minutes. And MFB will automatically back up your data to your own cloud storage provider (Dropbox or Drive or whatever) so you've got a copy of it even if MFB were to go away. 

Basically it's zero cost for a ton of value. 

[Skates97]

I'll add another plug for Myflightbook. You can also have instructors e-sign the entries. 

[RobertGary1]

Seems too daunting a task to me. I’ve got 4 full books with a large variety of aircraft. I assume I’d be lookjng at weeks of manual entry 

[toto]

Just now, RobertGary1 said:

Seems too daunting a task to me. I’ve got 4 full books with a large variety of aircraft. I assume I’d be lookjng at weeks of manual entry 

Yeah the trick is to start with a "carry forward" line that just has all previous totals to date. Then you start adding flights moving forward, and you can backfill the old stuff whenever you have time. 

[cwaters]

On 4/23/2021 at 11:26 PM, Ragsf15e said:

Surprised im the only one, but I created an excel spreadsheet.  Very searchable, easy, import pictures of endorsements onto a special tab, etc. I print the new pages every few months so there’s a hard copy as well as back it up online.

I created one for myself also, but I also keep a hard copy and ForeFlight log. Its a bit excessive but as I'm still gaining certificates it just made sense to still maintain the hard copy and FF was so simple it was more of a why not. But my excel sheet is the heart of my log and has sometimes 3-5x the amount of comments about a flight.

 

I use it to plan out maint. and upgrades, I don't import pictures or endorsements but I do have a tab for just listing my dates for things like medical.

[N201MKTurbo]

I wrote my own logbook program back in 92 using Borland Delphi. I used it until about 3 years ago. It was getting hard to maintain. I was able to transfer all the data to ForeFlight and use it for all logging. You can export (and import) your Foreflight logbook data at any time using their webpage.

[midlifeflyer]

I've used an eLog in DOS as backup for a long time. I now use MyFlightBook as my sole logbook, with one exception - signatures by CFIs who still feel uncomfortable with eLogs.

[toto]

41 minutes ago, midlifeflyer said:

I've used an eLog in DOS as backup for a long time. I now use MyFlightBook as my sole logbook, with one exception - signatures by CFIs who still feel uncomfortable with eLogs.

Any significant signatures (e.g., a flight review), I snap a picture with my phone and attach to the flight in MyFlightBook.  The process works pretty well once I figure out where the upload thing is.

[gsxrpilot]

I've used several different digital log books over the last few years. I don't think I've put anything in a paper log book in the last 10 years or so.  Every log book I've used has some sort of export to .csv feature. So I regularly export the book and keep it on a back up drive both hardware here at home and in the cloud, both iCloud and G-drive.

At the moment I like ForeFlight. I log everything to ForeFlight including check rides, endorsements, FR's, etc. I even had a battery issue once and the CFI couldn't sign my ForeFlight entry, but an email to the CFI the next day allowed him to see the log book entry, sign it and lock it in the log book. In this day of always on 24/7 connectivity, it just makes things easy, as they should be. 

At the moment ForeFlight seems to have staying power and while the subscription isn't trivial, I still think it's worth the cost. So I'll stay with ForeFlight and let it do the logging until I change my mind. And when I do, I'll take my latest .csv export from ForeFlight and import it into the next digital logbook of some sort.

A late addition to this post. One of the head developers at ForeFlight is David "Kiwi" Mitchell who owns and flies a pretty nice 231.

[midlifeflyer]

23 hours ago, toto said:

Any significant signatures (e.g., a flight review), I snap a picture with my phone and attach to the flight in MyFlightBook.  The process works pretty well once I figure out where the upload thing is.

Yes, that is definitely an option. I do that if it's something like a flight review or IPC. I don't bother with plain instruction given.

[Greg Ellis]

Funny thing, I still keep regular log books.  On my 5th one now.  Never have done an electronic entry.  This will sound weird I'm sure but it is very satisfying to me to sit and tally up the pages on my own and not have a computer do it for me.  Okay, I know, I'm weird.  Being 52 years old you would think that I would embrace the technology and use e-logbooks but I just find something satisfying about paper logs.

And, they are easier to destroy and leave no traces if needs must....