Poll: How many hours in your logbook?

How many hours in your logbook?

  • 0-50

    Votes: 17 5.2%

  • 50-100

    Votes: 35 10.6%

  • 100-150

    Votes: 28 8.5%

  • 150-250

    Votes: 41 12.5%

  • 250-400

    Votes: 36 10.9%

  • 400-650

    Votes: 29 8.8%

  • 650-1000

    Votes: 32 9.7%

  • 1000-1500

    Votes: 25 7.6%

  • 1500-2000

    Votes: 10 3.0%

  • 2000-5000

    Votes: 36 10.9%

  • 5000-10000

    Votes: 21 6.4%

  • 10000+

    Votes: 19 5.8%
  • Total voters
    329
I'm at about 4300 total. Likely to increase with the new job (Delta).
 
Just passed 200 hours over 4 years of flying. I'm your generic 50 hour a year guy! :)
 
Jim_R said:
I know a lot of student pilots solo, but never get their ticket.

I know a lot of private pilots get their ticket, then hardly ever fly again.

I know a lot of private pilots fly quite a bit for a short while after getting their ticket, then taper off to little or nothing.

I know a lot of pilots go on to have aviation careers and fly regularly and frequently.

I'd be curious to know what the distribution of total hours flown is across the pilot population. (I'd be further curious to see it broken down by pilot age, by how long a pilot's held a certificate, by highest rating, and all sorts of other criteria as well.)

Do such data exist, and are they publicly available for review?
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I think it is good to see 66% of respondents less than 1,000 hours.

That assumes a younger pilots (not necessarily younger in age) amongst the respondents. Which of course assumes that the majority of pilots continue to fly a requisite number of hours/yr to remain proficient.

In summary, a younger population is a sign of growth. This bodes well for the POA website.

In contrast, I have known a small number of pilots who fly enough only to remain current, whether measured by flight review or that which is the minimum requirement to carry passengers. I strive to avoid those pilots. I have also fallen into that category in some years.


Even among those pilots who fly professionally, I have known those whose skills have degraded. The WSJ recently had a pretty good article detailing how technology has resulted in a degradation of skills because the pilots have been relegated to 'button pusher' status. Others have seen skills deteriorate because of type of operations (day VFR only for aerial tours, as example)

Neither here nor there is the pilot (I have met a few) who fly whenever, where ever, the rules be damned. One tower controller I spoke with had confessed he had little recourse over a certain pilot who refused to comply, or minimally comply, with ATC even whilst in Class D airspace.

That begs the question; isn't 'compliance' to the minimal?
 
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jspilot said:
Just passed 200 hours over 4 years of flying. I'm your generic 50 hour a year guy! :)
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yup....+600 hrs TT...and 30 years of flying. I'm happy with ~30hrs a year. :wink2:


Remember.....it's quality over quantity.....but, quantity does help too. :goofy:
 
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Checkout_my_Six said:
yup....+600 hrs TT...and 30 years of flying. I'm happy with ~30hrs a year. :rolleyes:


Remember.....it quality over quantity.....but, quantity does help too. :wink2:
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I think that was the basis of Ed G's objection to dual instruction provided as CFI to be counted towards proficiency. In that case it would be reasonable to assume hundreds of hours gotten flying the same routes in the same conditions. As contrast, a non-CFI would have flown the same many hours across various regions in various conditions.

I know as soon as I was let out of the barn I had flown across 11 western states in the same hours as a first year CFI at his few favorite airports.
 
1100 something, I haven't tallied it recently. Probably somewhat more, as I usually don't count short runs done for a mundane purpose, like fueling up cheaply. That's after nearly 13 years, with a 1.5 year hiatus around 2006-8. These last 4.5 years of ownership I've averaged well over 100 hours per year.
 
I am pushing 1300...I averaged about 180-200 per year for the first 6 years but the last two years I am down in the 100-120 hour range...
 
MAKG1 said:
Total hours are reported in every medical. This data has to exist, at least at that time.

For us old farts, it's no more than two years old. One for commercial pilots, 0.5 for ATPs.
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My last medical was in 1979.
 
A little over 4000 hours, plus quite a few hours never logged. Three thousand of this was in taildraggers. Sometimes I would not fly for 2-3 years, some years flew a lot, some years maybe none or very few. Interesting article some time ago in the smithsonian mag. Reporting on several well known pilots like Hoover, aldrin, etc. some just didn't bother with a log book at all after a thousand hours or so. I was surprised at this info.
 
John Edward "Ed" Long, Jr. (1915–July 18, 1999) was an American pilot who is in the Guinness Book of Records for the most flight time by a pilot: over 65,000 hours (more than seven years and four months) at the time of his death.

He began in 1933 at the age of 17, when he too his first and only flying lesson. In September 1989, he broke the previous record, 52,929 hours, set by Max Conrad in 1974. According to his brother, Ed Long's job involved checking power lines, so "most of that was under 200 feet, in a Piper Cub". He died in 1999 at the age of 83.

Long was inducted into the Alabama Aviation Hall of Fame.
 
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FlyingTiger said:
John Edward "Ed" Long, Jr. (1915–July 18, 1999) was an American pilot who is in the Guinness Book of Records for the most flight time by a pilot: over 65,000 hours (more than seven years and four months) at the time of his death.
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There you go. Privett, stop giving me advice about flying, you are just an amateur. You've barely got half the time of that guy.
 
FlyingTiger said:
John Edward "Ed" Long, Jr. (1915–July 18, 1999) was an American pilot who is in the Guinness Book of Records for the most flight time by a pilot: over 65,000 hours (more than seven years and four months) at the time of his death.

He began in 1933 at the age of 17, when he too his first and only flying lesson. In September 1989, he broke the previous record, 52,929 hours, set by Max Conrad in 1974. According to his brother, Ed Long's job involved checking power lines, so "most of that was under 200 feet, in a Piper Cub". He died in 1999 at the age of 83.

Long was inducted into the Alabama Aviation Hall of Fame.
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CNN says 2,000 feet but it's a insignificant detail in comparison the accomplishment of a lifetime of flying. I salute you Mr Long.
http://www.cnn.com/TECH/science/9812/31/tt.record.pilot/index.html?_s=PM:TECH

If be interested to know if he did quit flying and if so, how soon after he died.
 
I stopped totaling my hours about 20 years ago when I had 8500ish and got hired at my current airline.

I average about 650-700 hours per year, so I am well over 20K, probably closer to 22k-23k.
 
Slipkid65 said:
I stopped totaling my hours about 20 years ago when I had 8500ish and got hired at my current airline.



I average about 650-700 hours per year, so I am well over 20K, probably closer to 22k-23k.
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I've been wondering about that. I have a logbook entry for every flight in the military and civilian world so far. I like to look back occasionally and see when a trip was or where I was flying on a certain date. Now that I'm with Delta, I'm undecided on whether to try to keep up or not. I think it'd be cool to have one day but I also know I don't really need it.
 
EvilEagle said:
I've been wondering about that. I have a logbook entry for every flight in the military and civilian world so far. I like to look back occasionally and see when a trip was or where I was flying on a certain date. Now that I'm with Delta, I'm undecided on whether to try to keep up or not. I think it'd be cool to have one day but I also know I don't really need it.
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Never go into the airline industry thinking your job (even with a Major) is secure. You can't predict the future.

You may need that logbook for another job down the road. Either keep the log or get monthly print outs from scheduling.
 
RotorAndWing said:
Never go into the airline industry thinking your job (even with a Major) is secure. You can't predict the future.

You may need that logbook for another job down the road. Either keep the log or get monthly print outs from scheduling.
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This.....

When I first got hired at my major, I kept those little red logbooks for the first 5 years or so, but never totaled them up. Then, when they became available, I used to print them out from scheduling. Now I just have a computer file with each months flying in it.

It doesn't keep a running total, so if I ever have to look for another job, I have a few days of work ahead of me compiling them into my "master" log and totaling them up. I dread even thinking about breaking it down into day, night, IFR, Approaches etc. :eek: After nearly 30 years of steady, verifiable 121 flying, you'd think that stuff wouldn't matter.

I figure I have better than an even chance of making retirement in 15 years without having to do that..... But, you never know! :eek:
 
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Little over 650. I'm shooting for 1000 by May so I can start applying to the airlines.
 
All of my hours are in my logbook, except for Wednesday night heading out for the holiday, and this afternoon's upcoming flight home.

Tips in the Mason jar, please.
 
RotorAndWing said:
Never go into the airline industry thinking your job (even with a Major) is secure. You can't predict the future.

You may need that logbook for another job down the road. Either keep the log or get monthly print outs from scheduling.
Click to expand...
Hi guys... I'm new here and not sure where to introduce myself.

First of all, I second R&W's post. I learned this the hard way. I flew for CitationAir (Shares) for 16 years. We were the crem de la crem (I likely did that wrong..). We were promised the best of everything, including a lifetime job.
Well, as many may know, we are now shutdown by our parent company, Cessna.

Now I am in transition to the airlines. I have learned to appreciate the tiles as 121 operator provides.
Anyway, in addition to above I am an ATP/AMEL with C750, C680, C560XL, and C500 types. I also have the Commercial SEL, CFI ASMEL, and AGI. I have a multitude of different backgrounds, from sky diver pilot, to CFI, conmuter Airlines, to charter and fractional ownership, and now back to airlines.
I started flying in 1985 for a hobby, which eventually turned into a career. I presently have just shy of 13,000 hours.
You seem like a great bunch of guys and a great site...

Fly safe!!!!!
Kungaloosh!!
 
Oh, and yes... The C750 (Citation X) really does .92 Mach, and is certified to FL510.
Call sign "Five Star"
 
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