Lost license and Log books!!!

[solent]

Hi Folks,

Please help, l have lost my license and log books, yes careless l know.

I have around 100 hrs total time, gained license in 2002, last flew in earnest 2005, been skint since and want to get back in to it.

Questions are l know the CAA should hopefuly replace my PPL but what about the log books, how can you replace this sort of data??

Also because l have not flown since 2005, what training is required for me to get back up to scratch, please dont say all of it!!

Any help much appreciated with thanks!

[Sam Rutherford]

If you're only talking 100 hours, it may not be as bad as it could be. First stop - your instructors! Then, the mates you flew with, etc. etc.

Once you have as much as possible, complete your new logbook and go to a local school and ask them what you'll need to do to go legal again!

5 years is a bit of a key timeframe, so don't hang about to get yourself 'online' again.

It shouldn't be as bad as you think!

Sam.

[SNS3Guppy]

Let me preface my comment by saying I'm not familiar with the UK procedure. I can tell you what I recommend to US students and pilots to whom this happens, however.

If you're able, reconstruct what you can if you have access to flight school documents or other records. When I was working toward my private pilot certificate, I saved every invoice and receipt, which included records of the flight, flight times, aircraft identification, flight instructor names, etc. If you have this, it can help.

If in the worse-case scenario you have none of those things, start a new longbook and self-certify a one line entry to start the log, putting in all your times. Make a note in the remarks that the former logbook was lost or destroyed. In the US, a "notary public" can initial and stamp the certification to lend an air of credence to it, but it's not necessary.

I can't comment beyond that what may be required in the UK, but as you already hold a pilot certification then you have proof that you have already completed the training and paperwork to get that far. It's a matter of record. If you submitted a form to the avaition authority detailing your flight times and experience, having a copy of that will be a useful aid...either your own or one obtained from the aviation authority.

If you had one instructor or rented from one school, you may be able to go there to reconstruct a log, or obtain a letter certifying your experience.

[Roffa]

Have a look at this section of LASORS (http://www.caa.co.uk/docs/175/Section%20A%20-%20GENERAL%20INFORMATION%20(LASORS).pdf) for some further info that may be of interest.

Specifically Section A17 on page 26.

[javelin]

And without any bit of being smart - that is why I photocopy the last page of my logbook on my birthday.

It allows me to see what I have done the previous year, but more importantly, if anything gets lost, you can start a fresh book, with copy of last one and not lose information :ok:

[DBisDogOne]

As above, sorry to be all 'Stable door/Horses' etc., but it's always best to photocopy each page of your logbook (& your licence too) when it's completed and store it elsewhere just in case you lose it or it gets lost in a flood or housefire or something unforseen.

[jxk]

I had my brief-case stolen from my car when it was parked in my drive right outside the front door. In the brief-case were my logbooks, licence and course notes for an AFI rating I was studying.
I went to a solicitor and made a STATUTORY DECLARATION, in it I recorded, to best of my knowledge, all the hours and licences held. The declaration was made in front of a commissioner of oaths and accepted by the CAA.
Incidentally, about a year later the brief-case was found about a mile away tucked up behind a garage. The contents were all pretty water logged and just about readable. The only things missing were a few homemade music tapes.

[Pace]

I had a problem not with my log books but my sons. He held a PPL. Our home was broken into and strangely cash in draws was not touched but all his log books were stolen.

As I am a commercial pilot and was then going through a divorce I can only imagine that "someone" thought they were mine and took them for the benefit of getting income evidence but who knows?

It was a case of reporting the break in to the police and a trip to the solicitor where as others have reported above a sworn statement was made and accepted by the CAA.

Pace

[RatherBeFlying]

Every January, I start a new page in my logbooks, photocopy last year's entries and add to pile in bank safe deposit box.

In the worst case, I can reconstruct the current year from my glider club billings and rentals.

And yes, do not let five full years elapse between flights as you will have extra hoops to jump through, at least in Canada.

[englishal]

Re: photocopying....

It is always a pain in the ar*e to photocopy as you can't get both pages in. So what i do is photo it every time a page is completed. Far easier and with a 8MP digital camera the quality is easily good enough to zoom in and see all the details should it be nescessary.

[charliegolf]

There's an excel 'logbook' spreadsheet on the BMAA website, from a bloke called Alastair Arthur. (in the files section)

Every now and then, i update my version of it and email it to my wife. She has a copy, and I have it in my sent items folder. i keep paper too.

CG