Finished Logbook
 

I just finished my first logbook with 500TT. What should be done with it? Seal it in a bag and put it in a deep-dark hole never to be seen again?

My wife and I have a fireproof/waterproof safe that we keep important documents and jewelry in. My logbooks are kept in there. You can get a decent one at WalMart for under $100.

Get an electronic logbook, back it up online.

I go to Kinkos and make a fresh PdF of my logbook every now and email it to myself. You have an enormous amount of money, time, and effort in that logbook and you simply must not lose. As for the hard copy, a safe is a nice thing to have but the cheap ones can't survive a total structure fire without ruining your logbook. Better than nothing I guess. Personally I don't bother but it is not a bad idea, it might help in a partial fire.

Do both. The electronic logbook will enable you to easily filter items to assist in filling out future job applications. But you certainly want to keep that logbook when it isn't needed in a fireproof/waterproof safe.

Congrats by the way it certainly feels good to fill one of those suckers up. If you haven't already done so, look to get one of the big Jeppesen, Sportys, etc 'Professional' logbooks. More pages and columns to fill in to help keep track of various items.

Congrats on the 500 hour mark. For me, 500 was a huge milestone since I had no regular, full time job at the time. It separates you from the fresh CFIs and means you probably have over 200 hours as an instructor. That means are you starting to be marketable as a CFI to other places. While it means you cant immediately hop into an RJ, other flying jobs are starting to open up now. Maybe a 135 operation, some banner towing, jumper dumper, or a better CFI gig.

I am approaching the 1000 hour mark but not with as much anticipation as the 500 hour mark. To me, 500 hour is what separated the "Wet Commercials" and the slightly more experienced pilots. The road is still long and difficult ahead, but you now have some marketing power to you. Someone at HR who was told "No one under 500" will at least give your resume a closer look now.

Keep up the good work and remember: Network, network, network!

My first logbook is kept on the bookshelf at home probably should put it in a safe but...... a few years ago I transfered everything over to logbook pro (took forever since I had over 5000 hours to transfer and I've always logged everything flight by flight). Once I got done with that I went to kinko's and printed everything out, placed it into a large binder. I've interviewed with a couple of places since then and they liked the logbook pro version and never even asked to see the other logbooks. If you go that route once you start transfering date back it up every few months. My laptop crashed once when I was almost done transfering everything and I had to start all over again. Once you back it up email it to yourself, and then burn a cd with a copy of it as well.

I have a huge stack of logbooks in my gunsafe. Too late for me to add the 14,000 hours into an electronic one. Plus, I don't really care anymore. :D

A logbook is just like a mortgage, why you have finished it, burn it ;)

That's what the guys at Eastern, Pan Am, TWA, Midwest etc. thought too. I'm not saying the new United is going anywhere, just that you never know in this crazy industry....