Question about lost log books...

[Dave Borneman]

Hi guys,

I have been living outside the USA now for about 10 years, and in that time it appears my logbook was lost in the USA. I had ~70 hours, but had not done my checkride yet, owing to the official that did them being on maternity leave at the time, and she had not returned before I had to leave the country for work... and I stayed away quite a bit longer than I wanted.

I still want to finish my license and purchase a plane, but not sure if I need to start over or if there is some way to reconstitute my logbook, perhaps using the data from my flight instructors logbook? I do not know where she is these days, but I am certain I can contact her (though I have not tried yet). I do know she moved to another state, but am pretty sure I could find her if that is an option.

If that is not an option... do I have any others? I would hate to go thru the time and expense of doing that all again - when I left off, I was soloing 2 times per week between Dallas and Tulsa (with my instructors signoff of course), and no doubt would be able to jump right back in today with 1 or 2 refresher flights.

Any info you can give is greatly appreciated!

Dave

 

[Cap'n Jack]

Welcome!
I suppose you have no receipts, either? Time could be reconstituted off those.

 

[Dave Borneman]

No, my flight bag is MIA. I know where I left it (lol), but it and my logbook, headset, books - everything, MIA. No idea if it will be found when I return, but as of now its not where it was supposed to be, so I am likely SOL on that score

In fact... ive no idea if the FBO I used is still there, under the same management or anything... but if they are, they did have a computerized system in place - I might still be in there. Ill be back in the USA in 3 weeks and that is something I can easily check.

 

[SkyDog58]

Did you mostly or entirely use the same CFI or two? If so and if they logged their time with you in their logbooks and recorded your name, I’d track them down. That’s if you can recall their name and locate them. Good luck.

 

[apr911]

8900.1 Volume 5, Chapter 1, Section 8:

5-171 GENERAL. Aeronautical training and experience that is used by airmen to meet the requirements for a certificate or rating, or for recent flight experience, must be documented in a reliable record. This section provides guidance to operations inspectors on the requirement for airmen possession of logbook records and replacement of pilot flight experience records. A pilot logbook is the primary evidence of pilot experience; however, inspectors may accept operator records in lieu of a personal pilot logbook. Pilot logbooks or those company records used to meet the recordkeeping requirements of 14 CFR part 61, § 61.51 may be inspected upon reasonable request by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Administrator, an authorized representative of the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), or any state or local law enforcement officer.
5-172 LOST LOGBOOKS OR FLIGHT RECORDS. Inspectors should advise airmen that they may reconstruct lost logbooks or flight records by providing a signed statement of previous flight time.
A. Proof of Experience. Airmen may use the following items to substantiate flight time and experience:
· Aircraft logbooks,
· Receipts for aircraft rentals,
· Operator records,
· Copies of airman medical files, and
· Copies of FAA Form 8710‑1, Airman Certificate and/or Rating Application.

You dont own the aircraft so even if the aircraft and its logs could be tracked down, they are going to be rather unhelpful since you cant differentiate your time from other people's time, plus I'm guessing you probably flew a handful of planes during training up to 70 hours so that's a lot of logs and history to track down.

You already indicated you dont have receipts for the aircraft rental. Your operator may still have records (especially if they were supported online scheduling and are still using the same system) but after 10 years, I wouldn't hold my breath as they most likely they got rid of your file when the requirement to keep your endorsements (3 years) and citizenship

You dont have a completed 8710/IACRA since you never took the checkride and your airmen medical file likely has no useful information since you probably got your medical after only a handful of hours...

So technically speaking, in the eyes of the FAA, you have no hours.

Now as to reconstituting your log book through other means, its not specifically stated you can use another person's log to reconstitute your log but pretty sure the FAA would consider the use of the CFI's log book as validation to be an "operator record" in which case you could at least rebuild your dual time from that though your solo time would still be lost. The question becomes does your CFI have their log books and did they clearly log your name in there to identify who the flight was with but its also possible they also lost their log book covering that period and/or did not log your name on the flights so that might not yield any result.

It'd be helpful to get as much detail from your CFI's log as you can; in addition to copying relevant entries, copies of the log pages would also be great as well as a signed statement from your former CFI.

Whether you get the records from your CFI or the FBO, be sure to compensate them and well for the time and effort involved.

Overall though, at 70 hours with no certificate, I'd question the value of trying to reconstitute the log in this way. Having those 70 hours isn't likely to make too much of difference overall... After 10 years, you're probably looking at several hours of instruction getting proficient enough to solo again, plus additional time preparing for the checkride. Chances are you are looking at a minimum of 15-20 hours of instruction and another 10 hours of solo flight to knock the rust off and get proficient again enough so that you can go for the checkride and that's a "best case" scenario.

At 25-30 hours in checkride prep you are still essentially starting over, so it'll probably only you 10-15 hours of flight time towards your PPL in best case scenario.

Towards your IR, none of the dual hours will help you towards 50 XC hours since those hours must be done as PIC (which means solo for the non-PPL).

Towards your commercial, the 70 hours are more helpful towards the 250 total hours but again it does nothing for the other required times (PIC, XC, etc).

The 70 hours are again unlikely to really make a difference towards the ATP.