Do you keep a logbook?
 

Not just a small expense report type but a master log?

Yes:)

Yes,

You never know when you might need it, e.g. seeking revalidations etc etc.

MP:)

Apart from their obvious usefulness I have logbooks going back to 1964 and as a result a short history of my flying career.

Very nice to have and look back on.

while transferring all my records to the electronic version...it was stunning how much one remembers about flights some 25 years ago...yes, I love the hardcopy as well.

Recall years ago when joining SQ, one Captain, after completing a JAL contract, applied to SQ and did not have a logbook, only the JAL company generated printed monthly time sheets. These were not acceptable to the DCA in Singapore so....no job for him.
He was not a happy camper.
A master log is a wise investment.

Thought it was a legal requirement actually or have I missed the point?

Yes, I keep up with logbooks. How else would I know that I have 15171 hours right now. Besides, the FAA medical questionaire asks how many total hours one has, and how many hours one has flown in the past six months.
:eek:

Started flying 1969, only have military computer logs til 1977, which only log time, approaches and landings (not TO/Landing fields). After that (when told by FAA to keep logbooks for ATP license), I started a formal logbook.

I would give left nut (almost) to be able to read when & where, with comments of unusual happenings, of flights '69-'77; alas, they are gone (except for vague images). '77 on, have info; usually with copious amounts of wine, it amuses me to read back on experiences & screwups I have made & survived. Young guys, keep a logbook; if you're not sure whether to make a comment, make it! 25 years down the line, you will savor same. Sam

Logbook
 

Interesting response, thank you, my point is that in the US keeping a formal log book <not just a miniature expense report type> once you have started with a major airline appears to be quite unusual.

Coming from the UK originally I always found that rather odd,< I keep one myself> it appears to be another of our differences, along with the American dislike of using an aircraft's name rather than a number, just an observation....

Quit logging at 11,000 hours.
The FAA requires a "record" of flight time to be kept, but my airlines computer print-outs satisfies that requirement.
(I walked into a FSDO office to ask that specific question)

Have kept all my small and big logbooks and may one day log the time I have flown over the last couple of years.
Not going to apply for another job anyway: If I get laid off or present company goes Tango Uniform, I am ready to kiss flying goodby...(17 jobs, 50 types and counting...)

You could always start TD Cruise Lines a.k.a. The Loveboat:D

I have kept written logbooks ever since I went solo in a glider when I was 16. They are a personal record of your life and are so precious and irreplaceable. If you think that keeping a written logbook is a pain in the ar*e then you have no real love for flying.

An airline once lost my baggage for six weeks when coming back home from an overseas contract. All of my logbooks were gone! I felt like I had lost a limb and it was such a relief when they finally appeared again.

They are also so useful for settling arguments in the pub. When did such and such happen and who were you with and where were you at the time for example.

Don't give up writing guys (even if you can't spell!!!) - you will regret it when you get older!

logbooks
 

as far as im aware in the uk it is law that you keep a log book. one sqn i was on had 2 american exchange pilots, one usaf one marine. marine had a log book usaf guy didnt , this made it very difficult at the end of the month when the boss is meant to sign your log book.

Of course!

JW411:

Yup, agree: All that touchy/feely stuff about keeping a logbook since the gliderdays at age 16 is all fine and good.
Been there, done that.

Then some years later, it does not matter: Take all yer hours, all yer events and episodes ya logged, all the good stuff, then add 50 Cents to it, and it won't even buy ya a cup of coffe.
If the airlines are recruiting, ya get the job, fancy logbook or not.
If they ain't, uh would ya like fries with that Sir?

:D

Techman: Ya be the Danish F/E? Did ya fly in the Biafra Airlift?
If so, I know ya....

I know some pilots that make notes in the log,engine failures, off runway arrivals, that sort of thing. Some people even stick little photos of flown aircraft in their logbook. Probably best kept in an album with details noted so future interviewers can't take a dim view. (Sept. 6 1969 to now 20649 hours total airframe time).

On a similar note, does anyone know of a good book binder in the Oxford or Cheltenham area? Specifically for logbook(s).

Yes...sailplanes, skydives and microlights.

Tower Dog, as your profile shows, flying is neither your first or second love. I think you have a very sad attitude to log books.
For some of us they are an almanac, a history and a diary. I do encourage anyone starting out on a flying career to keep an accurate log book and append notes when significant events occur. It may seem like a pain now but in years to come you will be glad you did.

Only today I was able to discover that on the day Elvis croaked, (16th August 1977), I was arriving back in Bahrain after a nightstop in Dubai!:)

BlueEagle:

Sad attitude towards logbooks?

Yeah, perhaps so but I kept logging for over 20 years, then just lost interest. Got burned out on flying and now it is just a pay-check, yet when I started out in 1977, heck I was more hooked than most of the PPRuNe gang.
As I was working my way up as a Flight Instructor and parachute pilot, I used every spare penny and bought more courses and ratings and logged every touch and go and all that.
Kept on trucking for years untill one day I was flying left seat of a DC-3 and thought I have died and gone to heaven. Logged every hour of that adventure.
Some ten years and many jobs and types later, I strapped into the left seat of a B-747 and flew it for the 4 years it lasted. Even logged the time...:D

Then that deal fell apart and I ended up as an F/E on the B-727 for a different company, sort of lost interest and quit logging.
No big deal, just more interested in sailing and diving than flying.
Flying has been good to me, but the passion has gone:
Don't rent small planes anymore, have not done my tail wheel or float plane stuff in years, nor instructed. (Kept my CFI current, not sure why)

So to the boys and gals who enjoy your flying, fantastic, go for it and keep logging the events and hours and landings and all that, but it is after all optional..;)

I kept them all, including glider.

A simple line can evoke a hilarious story even 25 years later.

Pictures of Mates, planes, places, squadron stickers, a mention of a hairy approach or a stupid one, I can recall most of the better events or the last 20, 354 hours.

I don't plan on any interviews with airlines in the near future, but all the times can be verified with three phone calls, and it would probably add a bit to an otherwise boring chat session.

Logbook Software
 

Would anybody have any suggestions for computer logbooks? Or possibly there own excel type version. I'm up to 2100 hours and want let my logbooks out the house in case I lose them. It would be great to have a copy on my laptop. (I'd rather lose that than my Logbook; at least the insurance company can replace it!)

After making too many mistakes in counting the hours and during a time, waiting in a hotel somewhere in Indonesia to get my license validated (and believe me, that takes long time... :D :p ) for a charter operation, I sat down and made an Excel version of my Logbook. I am quite happy with that and in fact I log my hours now only 'virtually'. I use the printouts as my formal logbook. Those can be signed as well and everybody is happy

Mental note: update logbook tomorrow.

Tower Dog:

You sound like a very sad and bitter individual to me. I have been flying for more than twice your 20 years and have found myself out of luck (and ideas) more times than you have had hot dinners but I have a great passion for flying and have always got back up there somehow.

If all you are interested in now is sailing, why the hell are you on Pprune?

Why don't you write a book about your sad experiences? That is where a logbook really comes in handy. I could not have written my first one with any accuracy without such an accurate record.