500TT lost hours
 

Flight bag was stolen, lost my hours. Last checkride I took was back with 230TT. What can I do to get those hours back? I worked the last 250 hours in a part 91 job, so can those hours be re-logged in my new logbook without a signature or what? Thanks in advance to those who respond.

There is some sort of record of those hours flown.
Rentals receipts, flightplans filed.
If you worked these hours then employer records.
You have paystubs for hours flown.

Don’t carry your logbook from now on.
There’s no legal requirement to do so.
You need to provide a record on request but no need to carry it around.

Thanks, TS. I could contact the employer and use the airplane logs to get the numbers back, but how would I verify those hours? Would something like a verifier be necessary?

You didn't lose hours. You lost a logbook.

The logbook can be reconstructed.

If you filled out an 8130 for a checkride, the hours are cited there. If you took a medical, you reported your hours. If you rented, you have a record in the rental. If you flew for someone else, you have their records (and you should always take your records with you when you leave an employer).

What you're missing are endorsements and other training records, and you'll need to make an entry in a new log stating that the old log is missing. If you have contact with the instructors and school that trained you, those records are available. You don't necessarily need to reconstruct the log verbatim, but if you can collect some documentation and keep it, it supports your statement of what you had.

It's not a bad practice to take pictures of your log; you have something to fall back on that way.

It's a very good practice to keep your logbook in a safe place. Like a safe. Something waterproof and fire resistant.

If you make a flight this afternoon, you won't have anyone endorsing you, verifying that you flew the flight, or watching over your shoulder, will you?

Why get too wrapped around the axle that you don't have someone doing the same for the last 250 hours?

But it is an object lesson
 

Not only are there electronic logbooks that will store this information - both on the device and in the cloud, but most of us are carrying a phone that doubles as a camera that we ought to be using to photograph at least every page, and THEN transfer it into the cloud so you will still have a record when your canoe overturns.

Really all you would need from a flightschool is a Complex or High Performance or Tailwheel endorsement.
Nothing else as you already hold a Commercial certificate.
What am I missing?

Would you need a complex endorsement if his commercial was issued back when you were required to do the checkride in a complex plane?

Good point.
Don’t think so.
Not too long ago I saw a blurb somewhere about reconstruction of a logbook.
*found it*

https://www.aopa.org/news-and-media/all-news/2000/january/02/lost-logbooks

Basically, all you can re-enter all of the "lost" time yourself, if you have some other source for the data (rental receipts, CFI logbook, employment records, etc). I would not recommend "estimating" the time, that may not go over well with employers.

Exception would be dual received, you need a CFI to sign for that. But that's really only if you need the time for a checkride. If you already took the checkride, you can just re-constitute the dual received for historical logging purposes so you have the total time. Be prepared to explain what happened at an interview. If possible, get all that dual time signed by the CFI(s) in question, if they're available.

You will need endorsements for privileges like high altitude, complex, high performance (but not for past training stuff like student solos). You can get the CFI who did them originally to just re-create them. If he's not available, you'll need to redo the training and get a new endorsement. I think you could make a case that you had a complex endorsement when you took the CPL checkride (if the plane was complex).

Like others said, don't carry your logbook around, it will get stolen. I wish I had a nickel for everybody who comes on here asking this question after their flight bag got stolen out of their car. Keep the paper logbook in a cheap fireproof safe at home or in a safe deposit box. Use a digital logbook and back it up online.

I mean, there's also the MSU-method. Get the endorsements, and fix the rest yourself.