All logbook apps recognized by employers?

napoleonpp · August 17, 2015

I just recently graduated from army flight school and curious about logging flight time. Can I just choose any logbook app that I want to log my flight hours? I currently have the app MyFlightBook and going to log my time I have so far. I wasn't sure if employers and the FAA recognize all apps.

Also a part 2 to the question. I was confused on how to log night time as an AH-64D pilot. The app I have provides the option to log night time, FLIR and goggles. So if I fly 1.5 hours one night of FLIR, do I log that as night and FLIR or just FLIR? I wasn't sure if night only applied to unaided. Also my time in flight school schould be logged as SIC correct? I thought it should be PIC, but then saw that PIC time is sole manipulator of the flight controls in your rated aircraft. I was going to log it as PIC but I was not rated in the aircrafts at the time

Astro · August 19, 2015

I would keep my unaided and aided night seperate, simply because I have seen many job posts asking for one or the other, or both and seperate columns just makes it easier. You can always add them up for total night. Though I'm just using an old fashioned paper logbook.

As for all of your others conserns, I would post them on the Military Forum.

HawaiiCFII · August 19, 2015

I keep a normal paper logbook and a digital one. A lot of people I know do the same thing and I think it would look bad to show up to an interview and pull out a computer if they ask for your logbook. It's good for back-up purposes and the digital logbooks are great for mining specific numbers that would be pain to crunch from a paper logbook.

CharyouTree · August 20, 2015

Log per the FAA: If it meets their requirements to be "night", then it's "night", even if you're FLIR or goggles.

Log your time throughought flight school as dual received, unless you were already a rated helicopter pilot before flight school. Once you get out, it's SIC/PIC (and you may want an additional column for time as the actual PC (Part 1 vs part 61).

napoleonpp · August 20, 2015

Ok thanks for the help. Yeah I have an app for my civilian time for when I eventually retire and one for my army time so that one should cover my actual PC time once I finally start getting it.

Azhigher · August 20, 2015

I would log unaided night, NVG, and FLIR time separately. Then if you need to it'd be fairly easy to add them all up and get your total night number. As for the logbook as far as I've seen no one cares as to what medium it's logged in as long as you have something to backup the hours you claim to have. I.e. if you put down 2000 hours on a resume you better have a whole lot of entries that add up to 2000.

Flying Pig · August 20, 2015

Just remember that Night is night regardless of any aides you are flying with. Anything else, like NVG time is logged separately. So don't cheat yourself. Ive seen people log NVG time, but fail to log night also. Its easily correctable. Its a dead give-away when your NVG time exceeds your Night

napoleonpp · August 21, 2015

Ok that looks like it may be the general thought. Just wanted to make sure I was logging it right so 12 years down the road it's not too jacked up

Flying Pig · August 22, 2015

I think the big issue arises when you are flying multiple aircraft regularly and/or performing multiple missions in those aircraft. IFR, Night, NVG, Airplane, Long Line, Mountain Bambi Bucket, Instruction.... flying in boots, flying in tennis shoes... and any other number of things you could decide to keep track of. Over time I could see losing track or simply running out of columns. A lot of the current software allows for easy retrieval. There is really no standard of how that needs to be tracked. Although.. walking in with a steno pad for an interview vs having a nice organized industry accepted log book is telling. In many professions, accepted practices are important. I know a pilot who has been flying for years and keeps a 3 ring binder with running totals written in pen. Its not bad looking and really keeps track of anything anyone else does but to me, its just lazy. Most EVERYONE else is at the least using a logbook.... but you? You decided to use a 3-ring binder and lined paper? OK......

I personally still use the big brown Jeppesen logbook with the green pages and Im about to start my second one. I scan each last completed page into my computer and scan any endorsements I may have had. If I did lose my logbooks, I could literally print it all out again and pick up where I left off. I decided to do that when my car was stolen with my flight bag in the trunk that also had my logbook. Fortunately I only had a Private and about 60hrs TT so it wasnt hard to just pick it back up with a new one.

Edited August 22, 2015 by Flying Pig

Azhigher · August 22, 2015

I personally still use the big brown Jeppesen logbook with the green pages and Im about to start my second one. I scan each last completed page into my computer and scan any endorsements I may have had.

Me too! Although I'm about 18 months behind in actually logging my flights. A stack of manifests will work, right?

Flying Pig · August 23, 2015

Yeah...... I was about a year behind until about a month ago. What I did was just total each month not each specific flight.

Azhigher · August 25, 2015

Yeah...... I was about a year behind until about a month ago. What I did was just total each month not each specific flight.

Yep, that's my strategy too. Funny how things change. In flight school I was soo eager to log each and every tenth, now I can't be bothered to log a years worth of experience. Ah, life.

napoleonpp · September 11, 2015

One more question regarding this. I am looking to purchase a paper logbook to have in addition to an app I am using. From my understanding FAA flight time starts when you start engines, and Army flight time starts when you takeoff. As stated I am just now starting my flying career and want to ensure I am doing it right.

I was told today to only log my flight time how the Army logs it, because future employers will add 10% to calculate how much it would be in the civilian market. They told me if I tried to log it how civilians log it, then the 10% will still be added on when I get out causing there to be more than I actually have. Thanks for any input!