Logbook missing :(

azure

azure

Final Approach
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azure
I'm afraid my quest for my instrument rating has been dealt a severe setback as of last night. I went flying with my instructor. Back on the ground I could not move my seat back and had to squeeze out of the airplane. Got my logbook from the car, handed it to my instructor, wrote out a check to him. Asked him to come look at my seat. The last time I remember seeing it is when he was walking up to me. I handed him the check and do not remember ever touching or seeing my logbook again, though he says I took it and was then away for a minute or so, so I assume I put it in my car. He fiddled with my seat and eventually released the latch that was installed by the previous owner as a safety measure and which my mechanic had supposedly disconnected. I put my airplane away, made a couple of stops on the way home, and meant to look at my logbook but but put it off until this morning. This morning I discovered that it was missing. Looked everywhere in my condo, my car, drove out to the airport and searched my airplane thoroughly, and the area in front of the hangar and on the side where I was parked, and where my CFII was parked as well. Also talked to my CFII, who searched his own car. My logbook is gone. Vanished into thin air. All I can do is hope that some honest soul found it and will mail it to me.

So I assume I am not even legal to be PIC in my own airplane now, since it is a complex aircraft and requires a logbook endorsement which I no longer have. I no longer have the umpteen cross country PIC hours that I had logged above the required 50 for the instrument rating plus the 60-odd hours under the hood and the ground and flight training that I had accumulated over the last year. I no longer have any way to answer the questions on my insurance renewal and my medical renewal (both due next year) about hours logged in past 90 days, 6 months, 1 year, etc. In short, I am starting over again from scratch, except for my PP-ASEL rating which is in the FAA records as well as my plastic certificate, and my current 3rd class medical.

I'm just wondering if anyone has any further advice, or whether the situation is less bleak (or even more bleak) than it looks right now.
 
Make a good faith estimate of the hours you have flown - if you can back this up with fuel reciepts, etc. even better.

Endorsements - can you get a copy from the instructor that gave them?

Once you finally get it all sorted out, the old book will re-surface.
 
Ugh. This is embarrassing. I found the logbook in my condo. It is almost exactly the same size as a DVD box and was under a video I rented from Blockbuster last night. I had apparently lifted it along with the video several times and not realised it was my logbook.

Crisis over. Whew.

BTW - you're right Geoffrey that I could have gotten my complex endorsement redone by that instructor as he is still teaching out of PHN (Skipper Steffens, if you know him). So I would have quickly gotten legal again in 8JT. The HP was done by an instructor at 76G who is GOK where now.

So this is an object lesson in backing things up: my next project is to make photocopies of my entire logbook. It's almost full and I'm in the market for a new one... now I'm wondering if electronic logbooks are FAA-legal? Much easier to back up a digital logbook than a paper one.
 
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azure said:
Ugh. This is embarrassing. I found the logbook in my condo. It is almost exactly the same size as a DVD box and was under a video I rented from Blockbuster last night. I had apparently lifted it along with the video several times and not realised it was my logbook.

Crisis over. Whew.

BTW - you're right Geoffrey that I could have gotten my complex endorsement redone by that instructor as he is still teaching out of PHN (Skipper Steffens, if you know him). So I would have quickly gotten legal again in 8JT. The HP was done by an instructor at 76G who is GOK where now.

So this is an object lesson in backing things up: my next project is to make photocopies of my entire logbook. It's almost full and I'm in the market for a new one... now I'm wondering if electronic logbooks are FAA-legal? Much easier to back up a digital logbook than a paper one.
Click to expand...

Take a digital camera, and take some pictures of everything significant in your logbook. Store said data on a thumb drive that you use for NOTHING else, so it doesn't use up it's read/write capacity. Store said thumb drive in secure location.

Ryan
 
azure said:
Ugh. This is embarrassing. I found the logbook in my condo. It is almost exactly the same size as a DVD box and was under a video I rented from Blockbuster last night. I had apparently lifted it along with the video several times and not realised it was my logbook.

Crisis over. Whew.

BTW - you're right Geoffrey that I could have gotten my complex endorsement redone by that instructor as he is still teaching out of PHN (Skipper Steffens, if you know him). So I would have quickly gotten legal again in 8JT. The HP was done by an instructor at 76G who is GOK where now.

So this is an object lesson in backing things up: my next project is to make photocopies of my entire logbook. It's almost full and I'm in the market for a new one... now I'm wondering if electronic logbooks are FAA-legal? Much easier to back up a digital logbook than a paper one.
Click to expand...

Glad you found it. I have been an advocate of scanning my logbook pages often. Especially after a new endorsement (like the tailwheel this summer) is added. Don't forget those pages in the back too where comments or written test endorsements may be. (I have a Sporty's Logbook that has those templates to be filled in located in the back)
 
I have a modified Excel spreadsheet where I enter all my hours. I also scan all my endorsements and sign-offs as well. If I ever loose my log book, I'll have a really good backup.
 
Your e-logs become usable for FAA purposes when you print and sign them. Beyond that, here's what the FAA says:

5-321 LOST LOGBOOKS OR FLIGHT RECORDS. Aeronautical experience requirements must be shown for a person to be eligible for the issuance or to exercise the privileges of a pilot certificate. A pilot who has lost logbooks or flight time records should be reminded that any fraudulent or intentional false statements concerning aeronautical experience are a basis for suspension or revocation of any certificate or rating held. The pilot who has this problem may, at the discretion of the ASI accepting the application for a pilot certificate or rating, use a signed and notarized statement of previous flight time as the basis for starting a new flight time record. Such a statement should be substantiated by all available evidence, such as aircraft logbooks, receipts for aircraft rentals, and statements of flight operators.
Click to expand...
 
Another tool in this arsenal is to get FAA to send a copy of your last 8710 - the times listed there are considered validated.

When you submit same for your instrument checkride, save a copy.

I'm happy for you. The feeling of relief when such a situation is happily resolved is almost worth the stress. :)
 
Ditto on the photos. Also, get a Picasa account and save the photos, or email them to yourself so they are in a webmail server online. That way, if your house burns down and you lose everything, you have a copy in the cloud. The thumbdrive is backup for if Picasa goes away or your email gets wiped.
 
My best advice, be more aware of your logs and never loose them again.
 
A friend of mine had her logbook, along with the rest of her flight bag, stolen out of her car last winter. It never turned up, and I'm sure some dirtbag pitched it. She was working on her CFI, and got her commercial within the past year, so at least she can use that as a starting point. (She also was diagnosed with breast cancer about a month later, which made the logbook theft look like no more than just a pain in the neck.)

Since that time, I've scanned my logbook and will continue to do so as I complete pages.
 
Don't feel bad. The identical thing happened to me. I was so concerned that I would have trouble finding my log book on the day before my checkride, I took it out of my flight bag and put squarely on my dresser.
Of course, the next day, I got in my car and reached into my flight bag...WHERE IS MY LOG BOOK????
As was suggested above, I scrambled to get my instructor to sign a paper which verified that I have all the requirements. Took my checkride. Aced it. Felt good about everything but fluffing the log book.
Then, I came home. I went in to my room and THERE IS MY LOG BOOK!!!
Considering the concern that we have about doing well on the rating, it should not be surprised that we get a little keyed up.
Now -- go get that rating and stay proficient!
I love flying IFR. It is great.
:thumbsup:
 
The problem in my case wasn't that I lost the logbook -- I hadn't, as it turned out, but that I was keyed up enough over something that I thought had been fixed unfixing itself that I couldn't remember putting it in my knapsack. Sometimes force of habit is a wonderful thing...

And yeah, I unfortunately know of one case of an airframe log that was stolen out of a mechanic's car. The owners no longer let any mechanic hold onto any aircraft log even for a few hours.
 
azure said:
The problem in my case wasn't that I lost the logbook -- I hadn't, as it turned out, but that I was keyed up enough over something that I thought had been fixed unfixing itself that I couldn't remember putting it in my knapsack. Sometimes force of habit is a wonderful thing...

And yeah, I unfortunately know of one case of an airframe log that was stolen out of a mechanic's car. The owners no longer let any mechanic hold onto any aircraft log even for a few hours.
Click to expand...

I have a traditional paper logbook, electronic logbook as well as a paper printout of the electronic copy. The electronic copy backed up on a CD and hardcopy printout of the electronic log is in a 2 hr firesafe box inside a locked gun safe.
 
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I keep an online backup, but I was wondering if I could possibly keep a second one in paper in another logbook? Just as a back up so if I do lose it (god forbid) I have it already in the other logbook?
 
I was told by a DPE that all you really need to "back up" are the most recent completed page (which should have the totals in the columns), and pages that have endorsements and anything else of special significance on them.

I don't know if that's legally true (although it does make sense to me), but it seems silly to not keep scanned copies of all the pages on file, considering how cheap data storage is.

-Rich
 
RJM62 said:
I was told by a DPE that all you really need to "back up" are the most recent completed page (which should have the totals in the columns), and pages that have endorsements and anything else of special significance on them.

I don't know if that's legally true
Click to expand...
For FAA purposes, it probably is enough, although they do ask some things on the 8710-1 for which you might not have columns (e.g., night dual XC time). However, there are a lot of other purposes for which it might not, including insurance (e.g., how much time in BE35's did you get when you were flying one for a while 10 years ago?) and employment.
 
Ron Levy said:
For FAA purposes, it probably is enough, although they do ask some things on the 8710-1 for which you might not have columns (e.g., night dual XC time). However, there are a lot of other purposes for which it might not, including insurance (e.g., how much time in BE35's did you get when you were flying one for a while 10 years ago?) and employment.
Click to expand...

This is where digital log copies prove themselves. I have on my paper printout a breakdown of Day, night, retract, High Power, dual, XC, PIC, Sim, Actual IFR, and by AC type.

Its a lot easier if you start digitizing it when you are new... but... once its done the benefits are tremendous for data mining.
 
Electronic logbook via excel (which reminds me, UPDATE IT) in numerous places work, home, email and a friend, multiple photo copies up to the last completed page (have to update that too) also at work, home, and a friend, and the original hardcopy. It's worse when you've moved a few times and the boxes have all changed.
 
I put my logbook entries on pilotpal.com. I attempt to type any comments left by the CFI as exactly as possible (including their CFI #) into the REMARKS block. Basically, I try to have my online copy match my paper copy as much as possible. If anything happens to my hard copy I'll be able to print out another with almost the exact same information.

Any details I want to leave are left as blog comments, not as part of the REMARKS block of the log. I started to leave long blog comments to help me retain information, and to help others who may stumble across it during their flight training. I read my thoughts from the last flight before the next lesson. I only have a few hours, but it's definitely been beneficial.

http://pilotpal.com/logbook/pilot/bqmassey
 
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