Logbooks soaked in water

[Jacob Wall]

Hello,

My logbooks are soaked and nearly ruined (as well as my macbook air ). If I get a new one, can I copy all of my old flights and copy my CFI's number and discard my old ones or should I keep onto my old ones "just in case"? I have pictures of my old logbooks, I just don't want, if I go into a job interview, for them to think it's fishy.

Regards,
Jacob Wall

 

[Der_Meister]

I'd fill out new ones, But I would keep whats left of the old ones in case they had any questions but I doubt many would.

 

[USMCmech]

Hello,

My logbooks are soaked and nearly ruined (as well as my macbook air ). If I get a new one, can I copy all of my old flights and copy my CFI's number and discard my old ones or should I keep onto my old ones "just in case"? I have pictures of my old logbooks, I just don't want, if I go into a job interview, for them to think it's fishy.

First off, you aren't the first person to have damaged logbooks and you won't be the last. Your goal is to now make a good faith attempt to document the training you received and the hours you have flown. Everyone knows that this will not be a perfect record, but as long as you are conservative and honest about your estimates it will be OK.

DO NOT sign your old CFI's number into your new replacement logbook. This could be considered forgery. If you do try to reconstruct your logbooks with dual received, then log it as such and note that the originals were destroyed in a house flood.

If you can make copies of what you have left then do so. Anything is better than your fuzzy recollection of how many hours you flew in May of 2008. If the old logbooks are not totally destroyed, then keep them in a safe place.

You can ask the FAA for copies of your most recent 8710. If the flight school you trained at or worked for you can try to dig up your records there.

Ultimately you will have to start a new logbook. Save the first page for entering estimates from the records that you can salvage. Once you have done that, then that is all you can do.

 

[Jacob Wall]

First off, you aren't the first person to have damaged logbooks and you won't be the last. Your goal is to now make a good faith attempt to document the training you received and the hours you have flown. Everyone knows that this will not be a perfect record, but as long as you are conservative and honest about your estimates it will be OK.

DO NOT sign your old CFI's number into your new replacement logbook. This could be considered forgery. If you do try to reconstruct your logbooks with dual received, then log it as such and note that the originals were destroyed in a house flood.

If you can make copies of what you have left then do so. Anything is better than your fuzzy recollection of how many hours you flew in May of 2008. If the old logbooks are not totally destroyed, then keep them in a safe place.

You can ask the FAA for copies of your most recent 8710. If the flight school you trained at or worked for you can try to dig up your records there.

Ultimately you will have to start a new logbook. Save the first page for entering estimates from the records that you can salvage. Once you have done that, then that is all you can do.

I have pictures of my logbook prior to the water damage as of this summer which is a plus. They're not unreadable damage but they're definitely in a brittle state and the ink has smeared in some sections such as night time, dual, etc. That being said though, I want a single logbook with all my flights and I'm willing to put in the hours to individually write in every flight as they have memories for me instead of just forwarding the numbers. You're simply saying just don't copy down my CFI's number but just keep the notes he put for example?

 

[z987k]

Perfect. Make the whole thing electronic, keep the pictures as part of the electronic logbook to backup the dual received and endorsements.

 

[drunkenbeagle]

You're simply saying just don't copy down my CFI's number but just keep the notes he put for example?

Just don't sign his name, I'd copy everything else.

 

[USMCmech]

That being said though, I want a single logbook with all my flights and I'm willing to put in the hours to individually write in every flight as they have memories for me instead of just forwarding the numbers. You're simply saying just don't copy down my CFI's number but just keep the notes he put for example?

I would put a statement in the back of your "new" logbook along the lines of "This logbook is a recreation of my previous logbook from ___ to ____ which was destroyed on October XX 2012." That way it is very obvious why your logbook might look like it was all filled out in one sitting.

I would try and note who your CFI was on each flight if you can do that, but do not sign or put down his certificate #.

Once you have done that, that's really all you can do.

 

[rframe]

Sounds like a great opportunity to create an electronic logbook. Since it sounds like you can read the old entries well enough to re-create them. I'd scan the old pages so you have a digital copy. Also, time permitting, when recreating those entries that had an instructor's signature, I'd attach a cropped digital image of his notes and signature to the new electronic entry.

Then when you're done, you've got a full up-to-date digital logbook. Be sure you copy regular backups, and go ahead an print a full hard copy as well and keep that someplace safe.

 

[FlyingScot]

Perfect. Make the whole thing electronic, keep the pictures as part of the electronic logbook to backup the dual received and endorsements.

This.


I lost my logbooks in Hurricane Katrina. I had copies of my early book. Using this I was able to recreate my early books electronically. I was able to make a statement about my total hours. I knew I had 200 hours in this plane, 500 hours in this plane and recorded that in my electronic logbook. Down the road no one is going to want to see your high performance endorsement. For any interviews I have had I have printed my last 3 pages of my log book and a few different print outs of my totals and the different planes I have flown.

In an electronic logbook it is easy to find any problems and fix, and analyze your different times which comes in handy when filling out some of the more complex applications down the road.