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Computer Based logbooks??

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FO4HIRE

Active member
Joined
May 15, 2003
Posts
29
Anyone use a computer logbook and PDA program that is easy to use and cheap. Second what is the difference with > Logbookpro.com/Airlinelogbook.net/Airlinelogbook.com/Flightlevel2003
They all look the same anyone have experience with any of these?? Anyhelp would be great, im so far behind im going to spend hours catching up anyway...
 
There a several to choose from as you know. Look at each carefully, and I think you will find that most of them require you to fill in each block for each entry. A tedious process and what if you need a total and the block is not there?

Here is what I use:

http://polaris-microsystems.com/aerologpro.htm

This one takes a bit more work up front making the airplane and flight lists, but it makes the entry process much easier and faster. Also you can call the man who wrote the program and ask him questions; I have done this and he is very cooperative and helpful. You can also make suggestions for improvements online.

His uses a different concept than I have seen before, he calls them 'tags.' The airplanes are tagged as to type etc. and the flight numbers, if you choose to use them, are tagged. This way, if you want any possible total, it's there for you.

Let me know what you decide.
 
Logbook pro offers a demo version, so try it out at www.logbookpro.com.

Airlinelookbook.net offers a palm based program which allows you to track 121 schedules, duty times, etc. and will actually upload flight data into Logbook Pro now thanks to an arrangement between the two companies.
 
Get Logbook Pro. I just purchased the program Dec 26, 04 and spent a grand total of 8 days working here and there to put in 2050 hours. I can't say enough about the program.

Also, the fine folks at NC Software Systems own this forum, so perhaps some support to those who makes this possible might be in order.
 
Airlinelogbook.net and airlinelogbook.com are the same - guess the owner wanted to own both domain extensions.

Anyway, if you're in the 121 world, airlinelogbook.net/com is the better program. It's geared for 121 ops. I use LogbookPro on my PC and use AirlineLogBook on my PDA. I haven't tried export the info from my PDA to my PC yet. I'm a little leery. Both programs are great - they just use different platforms.

Good luck.

HMM
 
I asked a related question the other day, but didn't get any replies. The short version is, how do you present them at airline interviews, and what was the response? I've heard some horror stories, but that was before they were widely accepted.

Anyone?
 
I have logbookpro and my paper logbook.

I'll probably still use both but for right now I'd consider logbookpro as my "main" logbook. The paper one is there so I can track endorsements (including that f*ckin TSA one), checkrides, etc. I really like the electronic logbook. After some playing, I can track currency with the click of a button...so that's nice...other than that, I can't wait to start teaching with it.

-mini
 
good call, can you present half hardcover and half computer print outs??? hawg do you have a computer logbook, if so which one??

My whole thing is that i got this **CENSORED****CENSORED****CENSORED****CENSORED** palm pilot as a gift and really have no use for it except keeping track of times i just want to get the best or most widley used one, that you can use on the pc and PDA????

thanks again guys
 
I use logbook pro, which in my opinion kicks a$$. No one can make a pen and ink logbook look uglier than I can, which is reason enough in itself to buy it. You can also (as I just discovered), print the pages out in Jepp format, which makes it easy enough to post in a binder.

My biggest question I guess, is how one would present this logbook at an interview where they actually open the book and look at it. Where are the signatures? Do you use the electronic version as the neat summary and then haul in all the old ratty logbooks with signatures in them if they ask?

I haven't had it come up yet. Just curious.
 
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I have a question. How many of you bought the binders that are sold on the site? They are quite pricey. What are other solutions people have come up with?
 
FlightLevel

I have been using FlightLevel 2000/2 for 4 years now. It is nice that as it gets improved you can use the same database with the new versions. It has all the basic sorts ..30day, 90, 12 etc. and you can make any combination you want. I print it out every now and then on the green paper you can buy at office depot. Looks exactly like a jepp book. I found the binders way too small to be any use ... they fill up at about 3000 hours.

I use an accounting book that screws together ... much cheaper and MUCH better quality... You can make it thicker as your hours grow. I like that as a few pages in a thick book looks sad.

As a safety, I e-mail a copy of the backup file to my hotmail accout for safe keeping.

The last three interviews have not asked for my logbook.. I asked at the last interview if the computer was a problem and they said no ... never looked ... yes, got the job.

The guy that sells it is easy to get a hold of for questions ... I have spoken to him a few times.

The palm pilot plugin is a royal pain in the XXX. If you always fly the exact same routes it might be ok ... I just keep too much info on each flight to enter via graffiti. When you sync with the desktop, you need to pretty much re-enter all the data anyway. I just keep my scratch paper for the flight and enter it all at the end of the month. I did make a palm program that tracks flight time limits for 121 ... easy to use but not intended as a log book. It is adaptable to 135 if anyone wants it. does 30 day, 90 day, 12 month, calander year, monthly, year to date and international. (The company I worker for was always pushing us to the limits).

In all, I like flight level a lot. Great for sorting totals and flight time limits.

You can download the trial version for free ( I think it is limited to 100 entries) fom the website. I found that I had to play with the program for a while before I figured out how I wanted to arrange it. So many choices to be customized that it is hard to decide.

Hope that helps ....

DD
 
hawg2hawk said:
*chop*My biggest question I guess, is how one would present this logbook at an interview where they actually open the book and look at it. Where are the signatures? Do you use the electronic version as the neat summary and then haul in all the old ratty logbooks with signatures in them if they ask?

I haven't had it come up yet. Just curious.
Click to expand...

I'm going to scan my checkrides, checkride endorsements, HP, complex, etc. into my computer at home, put them on a CD (which I use to backup my LBP file) and then print out those and put them in the back of my logbook when I take it for an interview.

I can't imagine anyone on an interview board wanting to see a CFI signature for a flight I had at 3pm on December 4th in a 172 in the local area working on slow flight and stall recoveries...

If so, I'm probably screwed because my logbook is F.U.B.A.R.. It's all accurate, but it's all ugly too...

-mini
 
fastandlow said:
Electronic logbooks are for women.
Click to expand...


So's your dad.

Having said that, when you apply for the fun jobs, they tend to want you to sort your hours in categories such as, How many hours you have in a blue airplane on alternate tuesdays during a full moon? PIC? How many hours do you have upside down at night south of the equator? Below 500 feet?
Assuming you apply for the fun jobs, here's how it works: I'm having a beer after having sorted my logbook and emailed my resume off with 5 minutes of effort, while you spend hours in front of a calculator pissed off looking through 20 years of paper logbooks.

Good luck with that!
 
fastandlow said:
Electronic logbooks are for women
Click to expand...
hawg2hawk said:
So's your dad.
Click to expand...


heh heh. nice...

i have a quick question regarding this thread. now i don't have a palm pilot and i have limited use with them (i.e. none). you can plug them into your computer to back-up your flight hours, right? it's not just dependent on the memory of the palm?
 
cforst513 said:
heh heh. nice...

i have a quick question regarding this thread. now i don't have a palm pilot and i have limited use with them (i.e. none). you can plug them into your computer to back-up your flight hours, right? it's not just dependent on the memory of the palm?
Click to expand...

Well...the way my palm works, if you let the batteries die, the memory is gone...not a chance I'd like to take.

If you mean backing up on the PC and not the PALM, then yeah...that's all good...I still like making a hard copy or two (the CD and the paper book), plus once it's worth it (say 5 or 10 pages) I may start printing out and taking them to the deposit box at the bank (where I keep my first paper logbook)...

-mini
 
My Ipaq 3950 (older) has a storage card which does not lose its memory with battery failure.
I think you can transfer data to the card.
(my card mainly houses a backup of the nav program in case I lose everything on the PDA flash memory, I can reboot from it and keep going.)
 
wmuflyguy said:
I have a question. How many of you bought the binders that are sold on the site? They are quite pricey. What are other solutions people have come up with?
Click to expand...

I bought one of the old leather ones a couple years ago during one of their sales. Paid around $60 for it. Looks very nice and flashy.

My only gripe is it only holds 1/2" of paper. So I find myself going through the effort of consolidating months/years of previous flying to single entries to keep my logbook down to less than 100 pages.
 
hawg2hawk said:
I asked a related question the other day, but didn't get any replies. The short version is, how do you present them at airline interviews, and what was the response? I've heard some horror stories, but that was before they were widely accepted.

Anyone?
Click to expand...

the secret is to get an online program that will print a logbook in a conventional logbook format. for example with logbook pro i printed a BEAUTIFUL, SUPER PROFESSIONAL looking logbook in a Jeppesen style complete with custom paper and put in a leather binder the same shape and size as a standard logbook would be. the result looked just like anyone else's logbook except mine was "typed" and had no errors of any kind. do not print your logbook in 8x11 format or anything that doesn't look like what a normal logbook would or it might bother some of the more stuck in the mud types.

for what it is worth during my SWA interview they said it was fantastic and wanted to know how they could so something like that for themselves. i start in 3 weeks, so they must have been happy... :)
 
cforst513 said:
heh heh. nice...

i have a quick question regarding this thread. now i don't have a palm pilot and i have limited use with them (i.e. none). you can plug them into your computer to back-up your flight hours, right? it's not just dependent on the memory of the palm?
Click to expand...

if you sync with the PC, then yes all your time gets stored on the computer and would not be lost if the Palm's batteries went dead. i don't find the battery issue a big problem with my Palm Tungsten E which has batteries that easily last 2 weeks with little use, or 1 week with more moderate use. also i have a small memory card that fits in the Palm (often given free with deals on the internet for a Palm) that i can copy my backup file to before i even sync with a PC. these memory cards don't go bad if the battery dies. finally Palm now makes one model, the Tungsten T5 which has memory that doesn't die if the batteries die, and a new low cost model, the E2 which is coming this spring that has the same feature.
 
saabcaptain said:
the secret is to get an online program that will print a logbook in a conventional logbook format. for example with logbook pro i printed a BEAUTIFUL, SUPER PROFESSIONAL looking logbook in a Jeppesen style complete with custom paper and put in a leather binder the same shape and size as a standard logbook would be. the result looked just like anyone else's logbook except mine was "typed" and had no errors of any kind. do not print your logbook in 8x11 format or anything that doesn't look like what a normal logbook would or it might bother some of the more stuck in the mud types.

for what it is worth during my SWA interview they said it was fantastic and wanted to know how they could so something like that for themselves. i start in 3 weeks, so they must have been happy... :)
Click to expand...

Did your logbook have any signatures (endorsements) in it?
 
If you have Micrsoft Excel, you can build your own logbook program in about 30 minutes and its FREE. Mine automatically keeps my currency status, flight time limits, and updates my resume each time I make an entry.

It is easy to get weird totals for insurance forms and such (night retract IMC, for example.)

For interviews, I bring my old logbooks with the signoffs and endorsements, and print a copy of the main colums in my excel logbook. I have it bound with a custom cover page for the interview for about 4 bucks at Kinkos. I have been complemented by interviewers on it.

My Palm treo has a excel spreadsheet reader plug in that works pretty well.
 
hawg2hawk said:
Did your logbook have any signatures (endorsements) in it?
Click to expand...

my orginial logbook from back in the day of my private etc. i brought to the interview in case they wanted to see the endorsements etc. (although i had duplicated the entries in my electronic version so that it would be 100% complete)

they didn't want to see the orginial endorsements in my case but i think a good part of the reason not much time was spent on my logbook was because it was OBVIOUS how much time I SPENT on my logbook you know what i mean? when it looks good, and it appears effort was made... that kinda starts to say it all.
 
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