Paper logbook or electronic logbook?

Next to your license, you need proof of all your flying activities. That is why you need to keep an updated logbook at all times. As it is your own responsibility, you should never leave any of those documents with anybody, unless with the Aviation Authorities. Even if you send one of those documents by conventional mail, know that documents can always get lost underway and the consequences of that loss can cause you a nightmare.

So I advise you to care for those documents as the most precious materialisation of your study investments and experience!

What does EASA say about keeping your flight recordings?

If you go to https://www.easa.europa.eu/sites/default/files/dfu/Part-FCL.pdf   you will find on page 29 in article FCL 050, dated June 2016, detailed information about “Recording of flight time”. Take your time to go through that article, in order to better understand what is being expected from you when logging your hours in an aircraft or a simulator. The latest document of the BCAA dates from Jan 2015: Licensing Procedure, Mission L-Lic/01, but is less informative. In case you want to use the Belgian version of a logbook, there is a link on the BCAA website that connects you to a Word document “Aanvraag vliegboek voor vliegtuigen en helicopters”.

You can choose for the Belgian logbook or any logbook (i.e. Jeppesen) that contains the elements as described in the EASA FCL 050.

Electronic logbooks

Most of you are at the beginning of a flying career, so you will hopefully have a lot of recordings with a lot of variables to make in your logbooks. Dates, locations, timings, aircraft types, names of captains/co-pilots, IFR/VFR, etc.

At different stages of your career, you will want specific listings of each of those variables, be if for applying for a new rating or just for your own curiosity: i.e. how many hours day/night, how many hours SEP or MEP, how many landings in the last year, etc. So I invite you to consider keeping an electronic logbook.

Strong points:

• It will make the processing of and retrieving your recorded flight/sim data ergonomic and accurate. When you only record your activities on a paper version of a logbook, errors quickly slip in your totals, and afterwards it is hard work to correct those mistakes.
• When sending a CV to a potential employer, a printed overview (PDF) of the required logbook listings makes a professional impression; most employers even want you to upload your CV, motivation letter and latest page(s) of your logbook online anyhow.
• If at a certain point in your career, you want for yourself a neatly printed logbook in a nice (i.e. leather) binding, you can order it online.

Weak points:

• During a day-to-day training period, you need to carry an interface such as an IPAD or a tablet to record signatures and stamps and not all instructors in your career will be familiar with that process.

Opportunities

• In a minimum of time you can create paper/PDF files containing any kind of elements (aircraft types, hours flown in a specific time frame on a certain aircraft type in a graphic or numeric way, etc,) without computation mistakes.
• Some airlines can provide you with your programmed and flown activities in an electronic format that allows you to upload that whole month in your logbook with one mouse-click.
• Depending on your personal preferences, you can add a lot of tailor made features.

Threats

• If your provider disappears or ends its activities , you may loose all your records, so choose one that is credible and keep back-ups yourself. Paper printouts and cloud saved PDF files are recommended.

Which electronic logbook to choose?

I am not an influencer that is sponsored to recommend (subjectively) one or another brand! 😉  I only want to encourage you to type in your browser “electronic logbook for pilots” and you will see a collection of potential providers. Widely used providers are for example LogTen Pro or MCC PilotLog.

When investigating, take into account following items:

• Which operating system (MAC, Windows) are you going to use and is a cross-platform use from one to the other possible?
• Does it allow you to record your flights from your phone or tablet on board (wifi and 5G) and synchronize your entries via the “cloud”?
• Of which airlines can rosters/flighs be uploaded?
• What does the “dashboard screen” look like?
• Most logbooks leave you the choice for FAA EASA and other formats. Make sure that your preference is in the list;
• What other useful features does the application contain?
• Is setting up your preferences and the entry of your flights easy?
• How does the provider foresee database backups and can you store one in your personal environment?
• Is there a good customer service (24/7)?
• Does the provider follow the updates of the operating system?
• Is there a logbook printing/binding possibility?
• What are the entry price and the monthly recurrent price? Do they grant special tariffs for student pilots?
• IT-specialists can also develop their own low-budget Excel document.