Airline Guys, How do you log flights?

LogTen pro.

Its significantly faster to log flights (especially adding a new tail) than mylogbook.

I do each leg as a separate entry.

Many guys don’t log at all. I can’t do that… old habits. I finally stopped carrying my pocket log about a year ago but I can’t fly without logging. Feels weird.
 
I have a note on my iphone that's labeled "DAL flights"

1 Sep 25 N424DX AMS-SEA 9.2*
30 Aug 25 N421DX SLC-AMS

* denotes legs I flew

Eventually I'll grab my ole' paper logbook (I have a separate one that just holds Delta stuff) and write them all up.

Old school for sure but.... I'm ok with that.
 
I log by the day unless I flew different aircraft types. I never did the regional thing so it was never common for me to fly multiple tails in the same day, but when it does happen I just put the other tail number in the notes. My logbook is electronic but it's also pretty basic so I never thought to have multiple tails in one line. It was designed mainly to make it easy for me to break out data for insurance and employers.

I've seen all sorts of stuff from professional pilots. The airline is meeting the requirement for 61.51, so I think most guys generally log time for themselves, or for future employers. One guy I know logs by the month. Many (most?) don't log at all. I'm a dinosaur when it comes to logging, but I think the tools have gotten good enough that even if you're a lazy bastard like me it's trivial to log by the leg.
 
SixPapaCharlie said:
In my flight book, you have to add a new aircraft, assign the manufacturer, type, enter the tail number

View attachment 144727


Then it gets put into a droplist for you to select
View attachment 144728


It gets time consuming. Also over time, that droplist is going to be a mile long. Thus wondering if a place holder tail number is going to bite me later.
Click to expand...

Use the 2nd button under #2..
 
I keep both an electronic logbook (Logbook Pro) and a paper logbook. Daily I put the legs, aircraft number, times and other information in the small Flight Crew Log. When I'm home I then input that information into my electronic and paper logs. I only have to enter the tail number once electronically because Logbook Pro has a drop down menu of the tail numbers associated with that aircraft type so I just click on the numeber that I need.
 
I used to carry a little paper logbook that I devised, then at home transfer to my Jepp Pro paper logbook. Now that I’m at a 121, I just downloaded the logbook provided by my union. Has all the details as well as N numbers.

That stinks your company doesn’t include the N numbers in their logs. Talk with some coworkers to see what they do.
 
kayoh190 said:
I log by the day unless I flew different aircraft types. I never did the regional thing so it was never common for me to fly multiple tails in the same day, but when it does happen I just put the other tail number in the notes. My logbook is electronic but it's also pretty basic so I never thought to have multiple tails in one line. It was designed mainly to make it easy for me to break out data for insurance and employers.

I've seen all sorts of stuff from professional pilots. The airline is meeting the requirement for 61.51, so I think most guys generally log time for themselves, or for future employers. One guy I know logs by the month. Many (most?) don't log at all. I'm a dinosaur when it comes to logging, but I think the tools have gotten good enough that even if you're a lazy bastard like me it's trivial to log by the leg.
Click to expand...

I may adopt this daily method. It seems like a simpler way to keep track. We swap tails a lot and may do 4 or 5 legs in a day.
 
If I didn't fly GA and have to fill out insurance paperwork every year, I doubt I would keep a logbook.
 
TCABM said:
That is all FM to me. PDFs are the devil. Sometimes.
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agreed. I look at them every day and mostly don't have problems...but once in a while.... I'm trying to run OCR on one now and it's being a bugger.


But on topic.....
this might be stupid, but I'll excuse that because I know very little about that world....
How large is the entire fleet for your airline? I would imagine that the total count for each type isn't really all that big of a number. Maybe you could get a master list and just import them all, then you don't have to keep adding new ones every day???
 
Brad W said:
agreed. I look at them every day and mostly don't have problems...but once in a while.... I'm trying to run OCR on one now and it's being a bugger.


But on topic.....
this might be stupid, but I'll excuse that because I know very little about that world....
How large is the entire fleet for your airline? I would imagine that the total count for each type isn't really all that big of a number. Maybe you could get a master list and just import them all, then you don't have to keep adding new ones every day???
Click to expand...
I am saving each new one to a database for that exact purpose. we have 188 planes and plan to have 250 at the end of 26. so small dataset.
 
SixPapaCharlie said:
I may adopt this daily method. It seems like a simpler way to keep track. We swap tails a lot and may do 4 or 5 legs in a day.
Click to expand...

Like a lot of others, I keep a small trip log to jot down the essentials of a trip before transferring it over to my electronic logbook once I'm home.

Some guys that use the whiz bang software keep a crazy amount of data - they can tell me exactly when they last flew with me, etc.

Anyway there's no standard - figure out what is comfortable for you. The only thing I'd suggest is to keep it presentable for future job interviews, and if you're good about entering the data after each trip - it doesn't eventually become an unwieldy PITA.
 
For Electronic, I just have the tails in there. But we only have 20+ tails to enter, and others have already entered many of them.
For the paper logbook I do one entry per month with the totals for the type.
Example

Phenom 300 - Company Trips (See company records) Total time 45 hrs, night x, PIC x, etc...
I also keep an electronic record of the company records.
 
Brad W said:
Maybe you could get a master list and just import them all, then you don't have to keep adding new ones every day???
Click to expand...

My interpretation of Bryan's post is that it's not just the adding of the airplanes that's a problem, it's then having to scroll down a long list each time to find the one you were in.
 
RussR said:
My interpretation of Bryan's post is that it's not just the adding of the airplanes that's a problem, it's then having to scroll down a long list each time to find the one you were in.
Click to expand...
I've never used the software he is using. On Logbook Pro, I define each type aircraft once. I have five "types" covering a 500+ airplane fleet (737-700, 800, 900, 8, 9) plus one additional type for the simulator. At the end of each flight, I verify the "type", which pre-loaded from importing my schedule, and enter the N-number.

Can his software not work this way? What has been described seems unnecessarily tedious.

I don't have any experience with any other modern logbook software.

The important part, for a commercial pilot, is making the logging process as simple as possible. If it is tedious, you'll get behind.
 
RussR said:
My interpretation of Bryan's post is that it's not just the adding of the airplanes that's a problem, it's then having to scroll down a long list each time to find the one you were in.
Click to expand...

Concur. That’s why I like the elegance of mfb’s anonymous tail and just updating the relevant ID in the remarks later.
 
eman1200 said:
ugh, I have SOOOO many jets...........................

View attachment 144761
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I mean, I have like 3 type ratings.
Sometimes I will get in the plane and be all like "Which one is this again? The 170? 175? 190?

I kidd, you can always tell if it is a 170. It will be a ragged out POS and a lot of stuff will be INOP.
Those primarily live in Chicago and have lots of speed tape on them. And we don't have 190s but my type covers all 3.

Its like sometimes you feel like a Mooney and other times you feel like a Bonanza.
Same thing.
 
RussR said:
My interpretation of Bryan's post is that it's not just the adding of the airplanes that's a problem, it's then having to scroll down a long list each time to find the one you were in.
Click to expand...
Yep, that is an issue too. However, I finished my program that feeds to MFB and if the plane already exists, it will select it. And I no longer have to go through the MFB interface. I can convert the sequence to CSV and upload it and it takes care of the rest. I do have to go back and add specifics like approaches, etc but that is always the case. My Comanche flights, I will do manually but those are easier. copy the last flight, and change the times. Tail number doesn't change.
 
RussR said:
My interpretation of Bryan's post is that it's not just the adding of the airplanes that's a problem, it's then having to scroll down a long list each time to find the one you were in.
Click to expand...
I'm just a lowly (weekend) renter/club pilot and CFI but my logbook has over 300 individual aircraft. Fortunately, MyFlightBook lets me move the ones I'm no longer involved without of the active list.
 
midlifeflyer said:
I'm just a lowly (weekend) renter/club pilot and CFI but my logbook has over 300 individual aircraft. Fortunately, MyFlightBook lets me move the ones I'm no longer involved without of the active list.
Click to expand...
DID NOT KNOW THAT!!
Cleaning it out now.
 
SixPapaCharlie said:
DID NOT KNOW THAT!!
Cleaning it out now.
Click to expand...
Wow! over 60 posts in and I actually came up with something useful! :eek:

Actually, I was just looking at my list and needed to move 10 more out of active because I haven't been in them in more than 3 years. Made me realize it needs a way to make the clean out a little faster.

@EricBe, how about, in the aircraft list on the website, add a last time flown and the ability to select multiples for moving out of the active list.
 
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RussR said:
My interpretation of Bryan's post is that it's not just the adding of the airplanes that's a problem, it's then having to scroll down a long list each time to find the one you were in.
Click to expand...
that makes some sense
I'm a little surprised that the database isn't set up so that it filters as you start typing in the field
type N35 and it hides all the ones that don't start with N35....
 
SixPapaCharlie said:
I am updating my log book with my work flights and quickly learning I have flown 20 different tail numbers in a very short span of time.
I know the airline is keeping track and I can see it all but I log using myflightbook and I am also backing it up with a paper logbook.
Do you go lookup every tail number from your past flights and add them to your logbook?
Myflightbook requires a tail number and this is just enough work that I am wondering if it is bad to identify 1 tail number and use it exclusively since the type will always be the same.
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Sorry for the delayed response (been traveling offline for 2 weeks). I'd suggest using an anonymous aircraft; it's for just this scenario where you fly a different tail of the same type each day, and it greatly reduces clutter. I suspect that this is sufficient to count as "identifier" for the aircraft per 61.51, but I don't know that I can back that up. But when you use an anonymous aircraft, an "Aircraft Registration" field shows up automatically, which is a great place to put the specific tail number. Can GREATLY reduce the clutter of that list.
 
SixPapaCharlie said:
In my flight book, you have to add a new aircraft, assign the manufacturer, type, enter the tail number

View attachment 144727


Then it gets put into a droplist for you to select
View attachment 144728


It gets time consuming. Also over time, that droplist is going to be a mile long. Thus wondering if a place holder tail number is going to bite me later.
Click to expand...
Add it as anonymous. You don't need all of those NxxxNN ERJ's in the list - it is indeed clumsy and cumbersome. If you use an anonymous aircraft, you can add the actual tail on a flight-by-flight basis if you like in the Aircraft Registration field, which will show up automatically. You can also de-activate aircraft you don't fly much any more to make the list less cumbersome
 
dmspilot said:
I gave up having a paper logbook pretty soon after I got a line as logging by hand became a huge time sink.

As far as the electronic logging, does myflightbook have a bulk import option? I made my own so I don't use mfb
Click to expand...
Absolutely!!! Go to Logbook->Import on the website and you'll see links with information that can help with what you need to do. I'm also always willing to help (at least later this week when I'm back home...)
 
midlifeflyer said:
Wow! over 60 posts in and I actually came up with something useful! :eek:

Actually, I was just looking at my list and needed to move 10 more out of active because I haven't been in them in more than 3 years. Made me realize it needs a way to make the clean out a little faster.

@EricBe, how about, in the aircraft list on the website, add a last time flown and the ability to select multiples for moving out of the active list.
Click to expand...
In that list, do "View Aircraft by Recency of Flight". I also think that if you do a bulk edit of your aircraft, you can bulk activate/deactivate aircraft. Click on "Download all of your aircraft in a spreadsheet", modify the "Frequently Used" column as appropriate ("Yes" for active, blank for inactive), then re-import your aircraft.
 
EricBe said:
You can use "#" if you don't have a tail number - that will use an anonymous aircraft of the specified model.
Click to expand...
So here's what I figured out and you will know this already.
I wrote a program to convert my HSS data to MFB data.
As long as someone else that uses MFB has logged that tail number, when I upload the data, it finds the plane.

So now I am able to log a large sequence of flights with multiple tail numbers in about a minute.
I decided to leverage your CSV import function because it finds the plane and logs the data simply.

I wanted to send it directly via API but just doing what I have written has turned a 45 minute process into a 2 minute process.
I have basically solved my problem but it is mostly as a result of others flying the plane before me and logging the tail number in MFB.
 
SixPapaCharlie said:
I wanted to send it directly via API but just doing what I have written has turned a 45 minute process into a 2 minute process.
I have basically solved my problem but it is mostly as a result of others flying the plane before me and logging the tail number in MFB.
Click to expand...
And that is the reason that crowd-sourced data is awesome. :)
 
SixPapaCharlie said:
So here's what I figured out and you will know this already.
I wrote a program to convert my HSS data to MFB data.
As long as someone else that uses MFB has logged that tail number, when I upload the data, it finds the plane.

So now I am able to log a large sequence of flights with multiple tail numbers in about a minute.
I decided to leverage your CSV import function because it finds the plane and logs the data simply.

I wanted to send it directly via API but just doing what I have written has turned a 45 minute process into a 2 minute process.
I have basically solved my problem but it is mostly as a result of others flying the plane before me and logging the tail number in MFB.
Click to expand...

And you said you were no longer useful in IT. Look at you go!
 
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SixPapaCharlie said:
I'm getting there. I already can't stand biscof and ginger ale and the tiny bottles of vodka are growing on me.
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Drink too many and they will, literally. Then W&B goes out the window.

Oh, and BTW, congrats. I’m equal parts proud and jealous on your journey to the right seat!
 
Bill said:
Drink too many and they will, literally. Then W&B goes out the window.

Oh, and BTW, congrats. I’m equal parts proud and jealous on your journey to the right seat!
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Thanks I'm still in the honeymoon phase. But right now I'm loving every second of it. every day is an adventure. Truly.
 
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