I've misplaced my paper before. But I've also had computers completely crash, and lost USB sticks that had valuable information (pictures) on them. Nothing is perfect. But I like my pen and paper stuff. It's damn near free.
Best logbook software for CFI
- Thread starter tcco94
- Start date
I've misplaced my paper before. But I've also had computers completely crash, and lost USB sticks that had valuable information (pictures) on them. Nothing is perfect. But I like my pen and paper stuff. It's damn near free.
Cessnaflyer
Wooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
Now with the cloud available 99%of the time there is little that gets lost.
"No one knows what happens once it goes to the cloud!"
In all seriousness, unless you are the one maintaining said cloud, putting information such as log books on one isn't such a good idea. My best friend of 15+ years who lives on the opposite side of the country runs a company that does clouds. This was advice from him.
"Don't put important things in a cloud. They aren't as secure as people think they are."
BobDDuck
Island Bus Driver
You're concerned about a hacker stealing your logbook and doing what with it exactly?
USMCmech
Well-Known Member
+1
Logbooks are important, but do not need to be secure. It's not like the fact that you flew for 1.2 hours from SAT to AUS on June 23rd, 2007 can realisticly be used against you. If you are running drugs from Columbia to Florida, I assume you are not worried about meeting the FAA's currency requirements
.If anyone wants to see mine, I'll happily email it to you (although why you would care is beyond me).
No. I'm concerned about what a hacker can do to a cloud. My log book isn't the only thing stored there. And if that company providing the cloud goes under, so does all the stuff on the cloud. I tend to trust those who make a living in the area I'm being given the advice in.
motormadness24
Well-Known Member
I don't think Apple is going out of business for a while, so their cloud seems pretty safe for the time being. Hackers, if you are reading this, you can dive right into my cloud and see a bunch of random numbers that will do absolutely nothing for you. :stir:
I look at it like this. If a pilot tells you not to fly on a certain airline because they have horrible (whatever), I don't fly on them.
When a guy who runs a cloud service, and has spent his entire adult life in IT, tells me to be careful what I put in the cloud, I listen. If I didn't have a problem loosing USB memory sticks, I'd probably do the cloud. But little kids get into things, and stuff gets lost. Especially little things like a USB stick.
I never thought something as benign as a log book service would turn into a pissing match though, because someone heeded advice from a friend. Y'all need'a relax a little.
When a guy who runs a cloud service, and has spent his entire adult life in IT, tells me to be careful what I put in the cloud, I listen. If I didn't have a problem loosing USB memory sticks, I'd probably do the cloud. But little kids get into things, and stuff gets lost. Especially little things like a USB stick.
I never thought something as benign as a log book service would turn into a pissing match though, because someone heeded advice from a friend. Y'all need'a relax a little.
poser765
Well-Known Member
The awesome thing about a digital logbook is I can store my backup in MANY "clouds." I don't leave my backups in any one place. I have one in Dropbox, one in that I emailed to myself, and another stored locally. The idea that all three of those sources can be compromised is beyond reasonable paranoia.
That doesn't even address the fact that I have printed hard copies that are just a couple of months out of date.
That doesn't even address the fact that I have printed hard copies that are just a couple of months out of date.
USMCmech
Well-Known Member
Same here, I keep a Excel logbook file on my laptop and I back it up by emailing it to my mom every 3-4 months who saves it on her desktop. I also fill out my paper logbook every couple of months which sits in a safe at the house.
Richman
JC’s Resident Curmudgeon
Pen/paper. If you're weirded out about losing it, snap a pic with your cell phone every couple of pages and stash the files somewhere or print them out.
Companies come and go, programs go out of style, files get corrupted, media gets lost. Heck, some unscrupulous vendor may hold your data hostage one day. You just don't know. I used a great DOS program called Aerolog, but I couldn't access the data files now if I tried
Paper is forever, and it's yours. It's material...you can hold it. If you need to track times for job purposes, Excel.
My $0.02. Worth what you paid.
Richman
Companies come and go, programs go out of style, files get corrupted, media gets lost. Heck, some unscrupulous vendor may hold your data hostage one day. You just don't know. I used a great DOS program called Aerolog, but I couldn't access the data files now if I tried
Paper is forever, and it's yours. It's material...you can hold it. If you need to track times for job purposes, Excel.
My $0.02. Worth what you paid.
Richman
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poser765
Well-Known Member
I agree to an extent, which is exactly why every few months I go down to FedEx and print the thing out. Really, though, if the right circumstances exist that render my electronic log book useless and kills ALL my backups my log book is going to be step 216.
1. Ensure my survival so I can...
2. Ensure the survival of my family.
3-214. Enjoy the fall of Civilization.
215. Become a Warlord.
216. Worry about how I log my flight time.
Bandit_Driver
Gold Member
just pick you aviation logbook wise. Printing out and keeping a hard copy is great, have a reliable back plan is good too. However, just pick a program that allows you to export to an open source such as csv, txt, or excel. Logbook Pro does allow you to export your data to those formats and more. So if the interweb end tomorrow you can simply export your logbook to an open source.
Richman
JC’s Resident Curmudgeon
I'm hardly the sentimental type, but there is something visceral about a paper logbook, like a leather jacket or worn flight bag.
Especially one done with dozens of different pens. It speaks of first flights, first solos, first XCs. TImes spent with a buddy or times you scared the poop out of yourself. Weird events and plain old sunsets.
Computer logs and Kinkos....bah.
You kids get off my lawn.
Richman
Especially one done with dozens of different pens. It speaks of first flights, first solos, first XCs. TImes spent with a buddy or times you scared the poop out of yourself. Weird events and plain old sunsets.
Computer logs and Kinkos....bah.
You kids get off my lawn.
Richman
motormadness24
Well-Known Member
Did someone just say Kinkos? That's where my paper logbook is constructed. 
poser765
Well-Known Member
I used to feel that way about my logbook. Then I spent two weeks realizing how horrible I am at record keeping and simple arithmetic. Now that visceral "thing" is no where near as important as having a neat, and close to perfect logbook with practically zero work. A logbook that won't ever get lost, or destroyed.
I used to feel that way about books in general as well. Then I moved...and had to pack and move several hundred books. Never again. They almost all went to Half Priced Books, and I'm strictly ebook now.
Hacker15e
Who am I? Where are my pants?
Another Excel guy here.
I've gone through many iterations of paper logs and computer-based logs, both as a GA pilot and a military pilot. About 10 years ago I simply adapted the Jeppesen Pro Pilot logbook format to an Excel spreadsheet I downloaded from somewhere else on the internet and have been operating off that since then. It has gone through about 5 major revisions in terms of format since that first one, each to adapt to the different types of flying that I have done over the last 10 years.
If any of you downloaded the blue-colored Excel logbook off of APC several years ago, that's the base model of the one I made.
It has served me well, allowed me to cut my time 1,000 different ways for different employers and different questions over the years, and is completely modifiable to do whatever I want it to.
Mostly I'm happy that I'm not paying some software company to rent a program that may or may not even be here next year, or might suddenly increase in cost next year.
I've gone through many iterations of paper logs and computer-based logs, both as a GA pilot and a military pilot. About 10 years ago I simply adapted the Jeppesen Pro Pilot logbook format to an Excel spreadsheet I downloaded from somewhere else on the internet and have been operating off that since then. It has gone through about 5 major revisions in terms of format since that first one, each to adapt to the different types of flying that I have done over the last 10 years.
If any of you downloaded the blue-colored Excel logbook off of APC several years ago, that's the base model of the one I made.
It has served me well, allowed me to cut my time 1,000 different ways for different employers and different questions over the years, and is completely modifiable to do whatever I want it to.
Mostly I'm happy that I'm not paying some software company to rent a program that may or may not even be here next year, or might suddenly increase in cost next year.
Bandit_Driver
Gold Member
Really? different colored pens, writing in remarks about how bad you scared yourself, and which $100 hamburger ate, etc are nothing interviewers are interested in and could cost you a job. I had a paper log and it was kept in all one color of pen. When transferred into an e-log you always find simple math errors somewhere.