After the SIC King Air thread started to swing towards a logbook conversation I got to thinking it would be good to start a thread discussing how important logbook accuracy is. Lets say you have 2000 hours or more in your logbook, but your hours dont add up just perfectly, is it a huge deal breaker? For instance, you add up SEL and MEL time and it comes up 1-2 hours different than your total time.. big deal or not?

I have heard rumors that some jobs like UPS spend hours combing through all of your logbooks for discrepencies like this... true?

 

I don't know what might or might not be required of all airlines, but PERSONALLY, I'm very meticulous about my logbook and I want everything to add up just right. I have yers of logbooks that weren't kept like civilian logbooks might be kept and flight times not always logged the same; but I can at least reconcile every hour in my logbook and make them all add up so I would feel pretty good about answering any questions in an interview.

USMCFLYR

 

Yeah, try to make it all add up. Start at the beginning and go page-by-page.

Now would also be a good time to enter the data in an electronic logbook...the longer you wait, the harder it will be. The e-logbook will help you keep it accurate.

 

This is what I end up doing.
Most people recomend LogBook Pro it seems.
Good luck.

USMCFLYR

 

How do you go about fixing yoru time when it goes back almost 10 years and 1000 hours worth of pages?

With logbook pro, what happens if you get a new computer? It says you are only licensed to use teh software on one computer.

 

When applying to a couple airlines I finally realized that my TT didn't equal my MEL+SEL, and my MEL+SEL didn't equal my day+night, which also didn't equal my TT. After a lot of searching and head scratching I found the errors (three of them, all stupid math errors, mostly on flights that ended late night).

As ridiculous as it sounds, after every page now I add SEL+MEL-day-night and if it equals zero, I feel a little better about it.

 

One page at a time. Find all the errors, and then correct them with a new entry (today's date) for each error, adding or subtracting the correction, and then a note with an explanation (reference the date of the error).

I think you can call them and transfer the license. I have it two computers, I don't recall doing anything special.

 

The line entries need to be correct and the regulatory boxes accurate.

The totals on each page are a convenience for you and anyone reviewing your logbook, but that's all it is. Fortunately that's where the errors occur.

The second best advice I've seen about logbooks is "Line entries in pen; totals in pencil."

The first best advice I've seen about logbooks is "Line entries in pen; totals in an electronic logbook."

I stopped running totals in my paper log about 4 years ago, unless someone asks to see then. Then I run the totals in my eLog through the last competed page in my paper log and pencil them in.

What weird requirements any particular (and maybe peculiar) employer, inspector, examiner or whomever may have is just something to deal with when it comes up. I'm hopeful (although I'd probably be be disappointed) that in today's economy a company employee would have a more important job than looking for 1st grade arithmetic errors.

 

As soon as I had two columns in the logbook I started adding them up to equal total time. It was pointed out to me that I didn't have to log daytime since TT minus night would equal day. But I still ended up adding all the categories and class to equal TT and Solo, PIC, SIC, Dual Received and CFI to equal TT when each page was filled. Finally went LogBook Pro at 15,000 hours. Lots and lots of data entry.

 

I'd suggest bribing your wife or girlfriend (but not both at the same time) to help you with data entry. Mine spent the better part of a week or so of evenings reading entries to me while I entered the data and vice-versa (it required a little bit of training, but made the job MUCH faster). At the time that was about 15 years worth of data (1576 flights, 3138 hours of flight time - it took me less than a minute to determine that, which is why I LOVE having an e-log).

I might as well have kept my original logs in crayon the way they looked (and they still didn't add up - I can add 2+2 and get 7). Entering the data into the elog solved that problem, and when it's interview time, I go to FedEx Office and have them print the pages since my last interview and punch them for the ledger binder I use, and take that along with my paper logs (which I haven't kept in over 13 years). Once I hand them the printed and bound electronic log (along with a summary sheet for them to keep, also generated from the elog), not a single interviewer has expressed ANY interest in seeing my original logs.

To once again harp on another pet subject of mine (since I'm already on my soapbox): Security. Enter all of your data into your elog. Scan all important original entries into PDF's (logbook endorsements, check rides, mile high entries, whatever). Create an email account which stores your messages on their server (hotmail works nicely). Email a copy of your elog data and the pdfs to yourself periodically. Congratulations, you now have a complete offsite backup of all of your logbook information should tragedy ever strike and your hard drive crash, house burn down, or all of your possessions are stolen from your car while parked at the crash pad. Simply download and restore the files and you are back in business in minutes - I defy you to do that with paper logs. And after purchasing the software, it's free (see, I really am a cheapskate pilot).

Yes, entering the data is tedious and time consuming - but it is completely worth it (assuming you aren't retiring in the next couple of years). I found myself unexpectedly out of work a little over three years ago. One thing I didn't stress about was having my logs in order. I honestly can't believe anyone other than a primary student actually keeps paper logs at this point in time. I'll shut up now...