atpcliff
Well-known member
- Joined
- Nov 26, 2001
- Posts
- 4,260
Hi!
An electronic logbook is basically essential today, because of the modern methods of pilot recruitment (not to mention a laptop). With online applications, especially, it saves a lot of time to have your flying records in an easy to research format.
If they want to know my Turboprop SIC time, or my ME Xcountry time, I can come up with those numbers very quickly. I remember taking 20+ hours to fill out the paper CoEx time grid from my paper logbook!
Another benefit of an electronic logbook is not losing it. I lost my first logbook (I had a box either misplaced or stolen during a military move.), and I know a lot of others that have also. I currently have my electronic logbook on my laptop hard drive, on a usb portable drive, on a backup hard drive at home, and now printed up in a paper format.
I have been using LBPro since I started commercially flying. I like the program a lot and it is well worth the $70. As you would with any downloaded software purchase, you need to keep your original order and unlock key info somewhere safe. I once had a problem with downloading a new version. I emailed LBPro and they fixed it easily and quickly because I had the order info & key.
Some guys have used Excel (or openoffice.org, which is free and replaces MS Office=all of it) and made their own logbooks. I could do that, but I didn't want to spend the time. There are other electronic programs available, none of which I've used.
If you don't have an electronic logbook, I would shop around and see what works best for you.
Good luck with your job search!
Cliff
YIP
PS-If you itemize your deductions, it is deductable for professional pilots.
An electronic logbook is basically essential today, because of the modern methods of pilot recruitment (not to mention a laptop). With online applications, especially, it saves a lot of time to have your flying records in an easy to research format.
If they want to know my Turboprop SIC time, or my ME Xcountry time, I can come up with those numbers very quickly. I remember taking 20+ hours to fill out the paper CoEx time grid from my paper logbook!
Another benefit of an electronic logbook is not losing it. I lost my first logbook (I had a box either misplaced or stolen during a military move.), and I know a lot of others that have also. I currently have my electronic logbook on my laptop hard drive, on a usb portable drive, on a backup hard drive at home, and now printed up in a paper format.
I have been using LBPro since I started commercially flying. I like the program a lot and it is well worth the $70. As you would with any downloaded software purchase, you need to keep your original order and unlock key info somewhere safe. I once had a problem with downloading a new version. I emailed LBPro and they fixed it easily and quickly because I had the order info & key.
Some guys have used Excel (or openoffice.org, which is free and replaces MS Office=all of it) and made their own logbooks. I could do that, but I didn't want to spend the time. There are other electronic programs available, none of which I've used.
If you don't have an electronic logbook, I would shop around and see what works best for you.
Good luck with your job search!
Cliff
YIP
PS-If you itemize your deductions, it is deductable for professional pilots.