Electronic pilot log books

Probably the same way it's been solved in the past, it's not a problem until it becomes a problem. Wasn't there a DPE in the last few years that had all of their checkrides invalidated, causing every student to have to retest? It was all done after the fact, once the issue came up. So if someone really wanted to go to the trouble you describe, sure they'd probably get away with it for a while. Until they don't. I'm not really seeing that as a major problem that needs an immediate solution.
 
iamtheari said:
How do you know that the account under joerandomuser42@hotmail.com really belongs to the person whose name, flight instructor certificate number, and expiration date he entered and uses to sign logbook entries? That is not a problem any different from Joe R. User signing with a CFI's name and other information using a pen, of course, but I wonder if and how MFB or other logbooks that support electronic signatures, if any exist, solve the problem.
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You don't. You know that someone who has an account with that email and that name and claimed that certificate signed it. But if Joe Randomuser indeed has an account joerandomuser42@hotmail.com on MyFlightbook, then you can draw that connection.
 
I started with paper, then went to myflightbook and then to FF...for a couple of years, was updating all three and now use FF exclusively. I do worry about FF going down and losing my logbook, but I figure that'd be the least of my problems if FF is down :). I also go the D2 Mach 1 and it auto records a flight to Garmin pilot logbook. That feature is pretty nifty, but records tkoff to landing as the total time rather than hobbs (which the watch has no idea about of course), so manual edits are required, but it gets most of the other things in pretty nicely.
 
I have four logbooks all for specific things:

Jepp paper logbook is still used only for anything requiring a signature or endorsement.

Logbook Pro for my master logbook.

ForeFlight for personal currency.

Agency Logbook for work currency.
 
I am using myflightbook, it’s working well.
For those who want to donate but don’t want Paypal/creditcard to skim ericbe’s revenue- you can dm him, get address for your check.
 
Ok, got another one. As a recommending instructor, how can I log that I gave a checkride endorsement to a student for my own record keeping? I took a photo of the endorsement and uploaded it with the record, but is there a flight property I can add to tag it as such?
 
Sierra_Hotel said:
Ok, got another one. As a recommending instructor, how can I log that I gave a checkride endorsement to a student for my own record keeping? I took a photo of the endorsement and uploaded it with the record, but is there a flight property I can add to tag it as such?
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Paging @EricBe
 
If you do the endorsement through MyFlightBook, it retains a copy in your record. Other than that I'm not aware of a way keep what are essentially ground activities,
upload_2022-8-8_7-31-31.png
 
Ahh, a template. I didn't look there. Student isn't using MFB but I've switched everything over so I want to keep the record besides just the photo.
 
Bonchie said:
......

But even as a paper user, I’d concede that I’m more likely to lose my logbook, have it stolen, or have it burn up in a fire that Google is to orphan my data.
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I used to be paranoid about data loss... backing up my computer all the time (especially my photos), maintaining a photocopy of my logbook, etc...

Ultimately I conceded the same thing about " the cloud"...as long as the data is under something I control. I'm still concerned about some low life hacking in and deleting all my stuff just for fun... ugh.

There wasn't really all these electronic options back in my day when I was flying alot. A few years ago though, over several evenings I transcribed my logbook into a spreadsheet in the cloud. I've since used the data and added lists of airports, aircraft flown and counts. Very useful... As I'm writing this it comes to mind that I need to add a count of how many landings at each airport...for no reason.

So the spreadsheet is one back-up although mine doesn't include endorsements
I also have a scanned copy of my paper
a photocopy in the fire box
and of course the actual paper book

I think i'm going to look into importing my spreadsheet into that MFB though...might be fun to play with and easier to use moving forward.
 
I was thnking about this thread on my drive home....
RussR said:
I can't go that far. If I ever have grandkids, I'll likely never sit with them and look through my electronic logbook as I tell stories. Some descendents of mine will never discover it and donate it to a museum. It doesn't capture the sentimentality of the entries, other people's handwriting, some who may be long gone, etc.

However, in every other way than nostalgia or sentimentality, the electronic logbook is superior.

Admittedly, though, very very few of my entries have any sentimentality to them anyway. Pages and pages of training flights as a CFI, and pages and pages of flying other people from point A to point B don't make for very interesting reading.
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Seems to me that for many, sentiment is really the driver to maintain a logbook...unless you're working on additional ratings, or if there are some work reasons for you pro's, then there doesn't seem much of a reason to log much more than just short term stuff....night currency, instrument currency, and maybe an annual total set of simple numbers for insurance reasons


Anyway, I downloaded the MFB app and started setting up to do a spreadsheet import. Almost immediately I get myself sucked into the analysis paralysis vortex... the big problem I see with these sorts of things....trying to fit my data into some other format. There must be 50 different sorts of landing categories....but not just plain old day landings and night landings. My paper book didn't break out full stop from T&G, or any of the others.

I've got some reading to do I suppose to figure out the best approach if I'm going to play with this.... It does look like a very nice and powerful tool for sure!
 
Brad W said:
There must be 50 different sorts of landing categories....but not just plain old day landings and night landings. My paper book didn't break out full stop from T&G, or any of the others.
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Those items are there for people who want to track that much granularity.

If you don't want or need that, then don't use it.

Just track if it was a day or night landing.
 
Yup. I really like that you can put as much or as little detail as you want.
 
Sierra_Hotel said:
Yup. I really like that you can put as much or as little detail as you want.
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I have students using MFB for their digital logbook solution.

I have to grin a bit when they use the flight properties to record every tiny little detail about the flight.

Thank goodness Eric chose to leave out “Instructor farted” else they may tick that box too.
 
:lol: I haven't had any students make the switch yet but I keep showing it to everyone
 
AggieMike88 said:
Those items are there for people who want to track that much granularity.

If you don't want or need that, then don't use it.

Just track if it was a day or night landing.
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but that's the problem...didn't see just plain old vanilla "day landing" and "night landing" as an option.....
 
Brad W said:
but that's the problem...didn't see just plain old vanilla "day landing" and "night landing" as an option.....
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Should be right on the main screen. This is the web version, so appearance will differ on the apps, but it’s the same idea.

upload_2022-8-12_16-38-35.jpeg
 
Brad W said:
but that's the problem...didn't see just plain old vanilla "day landing" and "night landing" as an option.....
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I phone version of MyFlightbook has it as shown…

D360977D-0097-4F81-810E-C3FD753C7170.jpeg
 
Rgbeard said:
What's the true cost of the MyFlightBook electronic logbook?

The website says free, but - ummmm.
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Are you suggesting there's some hidden cost? Or maybe ulterior motive?

It's free.

You can make a small donation to get nightly automatic backups, but that's not necessary (but I'm quite sure it's appreciated).
 
RussR said:
Are you suggesting there's some hidden cost? Or maybe ulterior motive?

It's free.

You can make a small donation to get nightly automatic backups, but that's not necessary (but I'm quite sure it's appreciated).
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We, as a society, are exposed to things such as in-app purchases and surcharges for enhanced functionality.

I don’t demonize these things. I just want to know about them before I step forward into surprises.

I’m also wildly skeptical of any business plan that involves the word “free” in it.

My hangups from my exposure and experiences.
 
It's really free. But I appreciate the work EricBe has put into it and donated.
 
Rgbeard said:
We, as a society, are exposed to things such as in-app purchases and surcharges for enhanced functionality.

I don’t demonize these things. I just want to know about them before I step forward into surprises.

I’m also wildly skeptical of any business plan that involves the word “free” in it.

My hangups from my exposure and experiences.
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I totally get it.

But MFB is the real deal. @EricBe is a real person (and as you know, posts here), flies a real airplane, and does normal pilot stuff like go to Oshkosh.

I do make a donation, but as far as I know have never received spam or marketing emails or anything like that as a result of using MFB.

It's really, totally free. There are a few added benefits for donating, but for the normal user, the totally free version works just fine. From the site:

upload_2022-8-12_18-45-1.png
 
RussR said:
I totally get it.

But MFB is the real deal. @EricBe is a real person (and as you know, posts here), flies a real airplane, and does normal pilot stuff like go to Oshkosh.

I do make a donation, but as far as I know have never received spam or marketing emails or anything like that as a result of using MFB.

It's really, totally free. There are a few added benefits for donating, but for the normal user, the totally free version works just fine. From the site:

View attachment 109616
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Sierra_Hotel said:
It's really free. But I appreciate the work EricBe has put into it and donated.
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Thanks, guys. That’s what I was looking for.
 
RussR said:
Should be right on the main screen. This is the web version, so appearance will differ on the apps, but it’s the same idea.

View attachment 109610
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I haven't even gotten to those screens..only just trying to format my spreadsheet for importing....
but that's the problem. My log book is "Landings"...not "Full Stop Landings"
I know it doesn't matter.... but the data is not right. There are t&g and full stops all mixed into my numbers. It's the kind of stuff that drives me nuts about data...so many variables...analysis paralysis....
 
Brad W said:
I haven't even gotten to those screens..only just trying to format my spreadsheet for importing....
but that's the problem. My log book is "Landings"...not "Full Stop Landings"
I know it doesn't matter.... but the data is not right. There are t&g and full stops all mixed into my numbers. It's the kind of stuff that drives me nuts about data...so many variables...analysis paralysis....
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Gotcha. So, when importing, just import it as "landings". The only useful thing for the "full stop" landings is for currency (tailwheel and night). And to qualify for certain ratings. So, basically, after 90 days it becomes irrelevant unless you are actively pursuing a rating where the type of landing matters. And if it really does matter within the next 90 days, or for a rating, you can manually edit the entry and change it.

Importing works pretty well with MFB - however as with any logbook or even any conversion of any data anywhere, it's not perfect. But for pilot logbooks it's good enough. It's pretty irrelevant whether that landing 30 years ago was a touch and go or a full stop, so don't worry about it.

https://myflightbook.com/logbook/Public/ImportTable.aspx

From this point forward, track your FS vs T&G landings if you want, or don't, if you don't want. My paper logbooks never indicated a difference unless I hand-wrote it in, so I'm not too overzealous about my electronic logbook either.

As @AggieMike88 said above, there are a whole ton of fields listed as "Properties" that cater to one interest or another. If there's one complaint I have about MFB, it's that @EricBe has seemingly catered to every possible person's every possible minute desire for tracking with these properties. Of course, that's also one of the great things about him and his software as well, so I'm mixed on it. So I don't use Properties much. But when I do, it seems to take too long to find anything, having to sort through JPALS Approaches or Firebombing or Repellers (?) to get to what I want. But since I don't care about them, I generally just ignore them. This does mean I can't have it automatically calculate how many "Takeoffs - Vx" I've done, but since I don't care, it doesn't matter. For someone who cares, they can enter that data (I am having trouble figuring out why someone requested that specific example, but I'm sure they had a reason).
 
Oh yeah there are definitely some extremely specific properties in there that I'm curious about, but the search field makes it easy to look-up the one you need.
 
Rgbeard said:
We, as a society, are exposed to things such as in-app purchases and surcharges for enhanced functionality.
...
I’m also wildly skeptical of any business plan that involves the word “free” in it.
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I've always assumed this is similar to the public radio model. Anyone can use it, for legit totally free. But some fraction of users think it's valuable enough to them that they will make a financial contribution to keep it going. The fraction of users who actually pays is probably small, but presumably it generates enough revenue that Eric finds it worthwhile to continue supporting. (One deviation from the public radio model is that there are no corporate sponsors who get shout-outs.)

I can't imagine Eric generates any revenue by reselling the data MyFlightbook collects.
 
Rgbeard said:
We, as a society, are exposed to things such as in-app purchases and surcharges for enhanced functionality.

I don’t demonize these things. I just want to know about them before I step forward into surprises.

I’m also wildly skeptical of any business plan that involves the word “free” in it.

My hangups from my exposure and experiences.
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I don't know if it helps with your concerns, but here's my exposure and experience. I have been a MyFligthBook user since 2006. Yep, 16 years. I have been using this service since before either Android or iOS smartphones existed. Never a cause for concern.
 
AggieMike88 said:
Those items are there for people who want to track that much granularity.

If you don't want or need that, then don't use it.

Just track if it was a day or night landing.
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Minor quibble: Track if it was a night landing. By definition, a landing is either day or night, so if it's night it must not be day and if it's not night it must be day. I.e., Day Landings = (Total Landings minus Night Landings), so can be computed, so no need to explicitly log day landings.
 
AggieMike88 said:
Thank goodness Eric chose to leave out “Instructor farted” else they may tick that box too.
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I always figure that if you go up to any altitude at all, the pressure differential guarantees that happens on every flight to everyone on board. :)
 
RussR said:
I totally get it.
I do make a donation, but as far as I know have never received spam or marketing emails or anything like that as a result of using MFB.

It's really, totally free. There are a few added benefits for donating, but for the normal user, the totally free version works just fine. From the site:
Click to expand...
And you WON'T receive spam. I only send emails that are (a) transactional (password reset, aircraft edit, etc.) or (b) explicitly opted into. And the latter are from MyFlightbook, no 3rd party service. I do NOT sell email lists or otherwise try to monetize you.
 
Rgbeard said:
I’m also wildly skeptical of any business plan that involves the word “free” in it.

My hangups from my exposure and experiences.
Click to expand...

As well you should be, but indeed, MyFlightbook is not a profit-seeking enterprise. Thankfully, I have other sources of income that are more than adequate, so this is a passion project. I keep my expenses very low, and thankfully donations cover those expenses (they don't begin to cover my time). And the site is tied to a bank account with funds that can keep it going for years (decades at current rates), the code is all open-source, and I have a set of designated backups if I should get hit by a bus.

You'll notice the thing the gratuities for donation all have in common (other than club functionality) is that they are things that directly impact costs I get charged for: videos require processing, storage, and streaming; nightly backups spike the CPU and the database, ditto nightly computation of your currencies and any diffs to decide what's upcoming. Small incremental costs, but reserving those features for users who donate ensures that any growth in the costs to provide those services is covered. (Clubs are enough of a separate feature from logbooks that I felt it was fine to treat that differently. Still, it's only a one-time donation I request). But you can - for free - store links to videos that you host on vimeo or youtube; you can - for free - save to dropbox if you're willing to press the button, etc. That's why I refer to these features as "gratuities" - they enhance the experience, but don't really add functionality you can't already use without donating.
 
Oh, and to address the landings thing here. Please check out https://myflightbookblog.blogspot.com/2017/11/logging-landingstakeoffs-and-approaches.html.

The gist of it is that you are logging subsets. So "Landings" is "how many times did I stop flying that wasn't a crash." "Full-stop Landings" is the *subset* of total landings that were to a full-stop. "Full-stop night landings" is the *subset* of total landings that were to a full-stop at night. And so forth.

There are two reasons I follow this model: (a) it's simpler than recording "Landing 1 was a touch & go on a soft field at a towered airport, Landing 2 was a full-stop short-field landing at night,...", but more importantly (b) "Landings" maps 1:1 to 61.57(a), Full-stop landings (day + night) map 1:1 to 61.57(a) for tailwheel, Full-stop night landings maps directly to 61.57(b), and so forth.
 
This is a great thing you have done, Eric.
Can't thank you enough.
I am about to report my totals to an insurance co for renewal - and it is sooo much more accurate without my arithmetic errors.
I trust you got my check.
I probably will need a reminder to contribution again in a year, this is something that deserves regular contributions.
Thanks again.
Dave
 
Let'sgoflying! said:
This is a great thing you have done, Eric.
Can't thank you enough.
I am about to report my totals to an insurance co for renewal - and it is sooo much more accurate without my arithmetic errors.
I trust you got my check.
I probably will need a reminder to contribution again in a year, this is something that deserves regular contributions.
Thanks again.
Dave
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indeed - already credited your account - thank-you so much!!!
 
finally got back to this over the weekend and imported my data..and have it mostly squared away now...
I wish I'd have seen your post about the "landings" column type before I did my import...but no big deal all my T&G's are logged as full stop.... they are ancient history anyway so don't really much matter.

It really is a nice application you have developed.

I was impressed that it even recognized a few of my logged airports that are now long gone.
The map view is fun. I only had to clean up a few where the 3-digit code had changed..it showed me having flown to Greenland and to China...worth a chuckle, and easy to fix

I like the crowd sourcing and link to the registration database for aircraft... Kind of fun to see, and only a few hiccups with re-registered aircraft.....

thanks
 
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