Foreflight logbook review

[jsgro]

I have recently been searching for a good electronic logbook to use instead of hassling with my very messy paper logbook. I also felt having an electronic logbook would be an added layer of protection in case my paper one is lost or destroyed. I know there are many free versions out there that still "get the job done" but I wanted to choose something a bit more professional looking. When it comes down to it the simplest solution for an electronic logbook would to just create an excel spreadsheet and upload that to google drive or some other cloud service. During my search I briefly tried LogTen and another small provider that I cant remember which I liked but kept having trouble with cloud sync (which kind of defeated the purpose of electronic logbook imo). Earlier this year Foreflight released their version and since I hadn't 100% committed to any provider yet I decided to give it a shot. I already use foreflight pro for work so it seemed like a no-brainer. Over the last couple weeks of using it I have tried to build a list of things I liked and disliked about it. Thought I would share with you some of those thoughts later in the comments session.

I would also like to add before I start that I am no expert on ForeFlight so if you have a fix for something I complained about then share 

[Paul Thomas]

I like paper logbooks and have not been inclined to switch. My CFI uses www.myflightbook.com. It's the only eLogbook that I've seen that I liked.

[midlifeflyer]

1 hour ago, jsgro said:

Earlier this year Foreflight released their version

Foreflight added their logbook to the EFB app 8 years ago, in 2016.

I've been using MyFlightBook for 18 years and am very happy with it. FWIW, some history (it's a cut an paste):

I've been using an electronic logbook since the mid-1990s. Originally as backup to paper without arithmetic errors.  I began using MyFlightBook in 2006 and stopped logging on paper for myself in 2013. I continued to use my paper logbook for CFI signatures - endorsements and dual received. In 2016, I stopped doing even that unless the instructor had some issue with signing electronically. Some people acclimate more easily than others and I'm not a zealot about it. My last paper logbook entry was in July, 2019.

MyFlightBook It is now my only logbook. You can download your entire logbook manually whenever you want. Pay a small donationware annual fee and you can get automatic daily downloads to the cloud of your choice. I also do a periodic pdf printout from the site (which really looks great - the photo is intentionally blurred. The large entry indicates that entry was signed digitally). Optional but that all means multiple backups - theirs and yours - making it more secure from risk of loss than paper.

The downside of electronic logs is still in the signature area. Current technology - can't backup digital signatures - that entry is not a digital signature; just an indication that the entry was digitally signed). But that's true of paper logbooks as well, so I don't see a net difference. 

I've also been a Foreflight user for over 13 years. The only think I use the Foreflight logbook for is signing dual and endorsements for students/client who use it. Why didn't I switch? Two main reasons:

• I had been happily using MFB for 6 years before Foreflight even existed (and 10 before they added a logbook).
• As much as I like Foreflight, I do not want to feel tied to any particular EFB. 

I also personally think the FF logbook add-on is not as good as this dedicated one, but that's just personal preference.

[Schllc]

ForeFlight logbook is fully portable and printable. You can retain it after you no longer subscribe. It definitely makes checkrides a whole lot easier. 

[Rick Junkin]

I've used Foreflight from its inception and entered all of my historical flight data into the Foreflight logbook when they added that function. I find it extremely easy to use with its auto-logging from the track log, requiring me only to enter the specifics like PIC time, instrument time, approaches, etc. I really like the search and sorting capabilities, and the reports and top level logbook page data make filling out my annual insurance paperwork a breeze. The import/export capability has been useful as well. As an instructor I also like the built in endorsement and signature capability for log entries for clients who also use Foreflight. I created custom fields to track things that are not required but interesting to me, like formation time.

I used myflightbook.com for a bit before the Foreflight solution became available and liked it. I chose to transition to the Foreflight logbook for the simplicity of automated logging and having everything in a single package.

[jsgro]

The Good

By FAR my favorite part of having my electronic logbook with ForeFlight is the consolidation. I now can take recorded flights or flight plans and import them directly to my logbook. After a few adjustments to maybe aircraft specifications (which it will remember later) or the type of time I can put approve and go. I do have some small grievances with this feature that Ill touch on later. LogTen does have a similar features with the ability to locate you via the device you're using but like I said, consolidation. Being able to do that without changing programs is a plus for me. It is likely not much of a plus for the ATP crowd because they don't have a need for Foreflight. With how the Foreflight team has made it part of the PRO subscription it doesn't seem like pilots flying at the level are really the target audience of Foreflight yet.

The logbook does offer several different options for dividing up the time that you have in their Experience reports. Between ASEL and AMEL or between types of engines. It does show you how much you have of PIC in each of those categories too. All of these are nice things but I think we can agree its expected for a product like this to have these kinds of things.

I also enjoy how they have a certain "catalog" for options when inputing different items such as Approach type and being able to "tag" flights as things like checkride IPC or otherwise. That does make things a lot easier for choosing things.

There are several other small things that I really like but I wont go over them one by one I just wanted to emphasize some things I liked..

Overall I feel like it satisfies the major requirements in order to be a good competitor in the electronic logbook market. Things like having lots of options while filling out log entries and being able to add certifications are things that I expected from this and it completely fulfilled them. That being said I don't think they are utilizing their full potential so I do have some suggestions.

[jsgro]

Things To Improve

There are a lot of good things about the logbook but there are a lot of things that can be improved too.

One of my major annoyances right now is the inability to filter flights in the logbook entry screen. I think it would be helpful to be able to select the custom date range (currently there is a set date range of All, 7 days, 30 days, 90 days, 6 months, and 12 months) and maybe some other parameters like hours or location. I can do it if I export my data and open it in excel but that kind of defeats the purpose haha.

I thought this would be something in the foreflight web app at the very least but it isn't :(. Foreflight is still in beta currently though so maybe they will add some things to it for the logbook.

I also would like to print out all of my flights. I like the experience report. Its very sleek looking and breaks time down very well but I feel like I should have the ability to print out the flights line by line over a chosen date range or for one airplane type or different parameters in order to have a paper version or a very specific electronic summary report.

One of the smaller features I would like to see added to the logbook is the ability to auto fill forms like 8710 and other applications. This feature is kind of only for those who are going through their training because its quite a pain to put all that info into IACRA every time and double check it. I had emailed them about it awhile back and they replied that it was "on their radar".

I did mention earlier that the consolidation was my favorite thing about flying with ForeFlight and it is a plus but there a few things that would make it better. One thing that I noticed was that if I build a flight plan with an instrument approach in it and then hit "send to logbook" it wont recognize the approach. I don't know if that is user error or just an oversight but that could definitely help with streamlining this feature. Along with this I wish the record feature would suggest more input options when making the logbook entry. Maybe suggesting airports for the "route" portion (it already does this for the "to" portion of the entry") or maybe number of landings. Right not it seems to only be geared for those A to B flights (which isn't bad)

Also, why don't the aircraft I input into my logbook also enter into my aircraft selection when creating a flight plan?

 

[exM20K]

I have used ForeFlight logbook for many years after switching from another IOS solution. I find it very satisfactory and appreciate the auto-logging and track imports.

Tax reporting is a breeze with an excel download and some straightforward data transformations. For me, that is a much more effective way of processing or rolling up flight data..  I hope they do not lard it up with custom filtering and 8710-type reporting which is not meaningful to the vast majority of users, and i've seen plenty of software solution fail by losing the focus on what they do and instead trying to please everybody. chasing shiny things can kill your business.

 

 

[N201MKTurbo]

Since the early 90s I was using a logbook app I developed myself. It was written in Delphi using DBISAM database. Although it was still working great, but getting hard to maintain. So I decided to export it and import it into ForeFlight. It only took a few minutes to import 35 years of flying after spending about 8 hours finding ancient DB tools and curating the export CSV files. But it is all in there now.

The bulk of my hours were flown doing repeat trips. I wrote the log book app because I wanted a list of flights. I would just enter a date and select a flight from a list. Nobody would let you do that. I don't think ForeFlight will, but I haven't tried either.

[dzeleski]

45 minutes ago, jsgro said:

 

One of my major annoyances right now is the inability to filter flights in the logbook entry screen. I think it would be helpful to be able to select the custom date range (currently there is a set date range of All, 7 days, 30 days, 90 days, 6 months, and 12 months) and maybe some other parameters like hours or location. I can do it if I export my data and open it in excel but that kind of defeats the purpose haha.

 

Click into any of those categories and then click the center filter button at the top, you can filter on many things once you do that.

[dzeleski]

49 minutes ago, jsgro said:

I also would like to print out all of my flights. I like the experience report. Its very sleek looking and breaks time down very well but I feel like I should have the ability to print out the flights line by line over a chosen date range or for one airplane type or different parameters in order to have a paper version or a very specific electronic summary report.

You can do this as well by clicking any of the reports and clicking the center box that starts out saying “all time” you can then filter that report generation based on a date range. One of either the condensed log book or complete log book should do that for you. You can then press the share button at the top right and print from there.

[PeteMc]

9 hours ago, jsgro said:

Earlier this year Foreflight released their version

FF is always updating their Logbook.  But I don't know of any major change that would make it "new" in the past year or so.  Do you remember where you read/heard this?

 

[Pinecone]

I use Safelog Pro.  It is a subscription, but it works very well.

In my case, a prime mover in selecting it was that they could convert my old log files from AeroLog Pro to their format.  So I would not have to enter a LOT of flights again.  I had been running AeroLog Pro since the early 90s.  It is still around, but very dated.

One thing I like is that my logbook is saved on the cloud (in their servers), plus on my desktop, my laptop, my phone, and two iPads (regular and Mini).   Unlikely to lose it all.  I also export it in PDF and CSV a couple of times per year. 

I run both paper and electronic logbooks.  Belt and suspenders.  I lost my previous paper log book in a crash and fire.  Paper was my primary logbook.  Later I found that I was about 2 years behind on entering flights into my electronic log book.  So most of that time was lost.  I was able to recreate some of it.  I also misplaced my original logbook, so missing things like first solo date and other early milestones.