The importance of logbooks

There are probably four people who write up a daily journal of their activities. Ships captains, lighthouse keepers, teenage girls and pilots. Pilots are the ones who usually have their written record sighted by someone more regularly than the others.

And what is a logbook? Put simply it is a written history of a pilot’s flying experience. Civil Aviation Regulation 5.51 directs that each pilot shall maintain a logbook while CAR 5.52 tells us that we must keep it while we hold a flight crew licence. The CASA website tells us that the logbook must be in permanent ink. Falsification of a logbook is a criminal offence and an electronic record by itself is not acceptable.

If one has to write up a logbook it is worth while doing well, in such a format that both the owner and others can read and understand it, now and in years to come.

Many a new logbook tells what manoeuvres the owner carried out but quite often do not state what the departure and destination points were. Some books are written up using a location abbreviation. The now retired CFI of the flight school that this writer once flew at has gone over his logbook in recent years and has made the comment that he has no idea of where he was on certain days because he cannot read the abbreviations that he used back then. Current pilots take note.

A lost or stolen logbook is a hard item to replace. Indeed it is easier to replace the family bible than it is to replace a logbook. A good reason to safeguard your logbook. Do not leave it in a flight bag in your car where it can be stolen, never to be seen again. Sure you can recover some flight details from several sources but never the whole amount. The more flying you have done the more there is that cannot be recovered. Perhaps a good reason to take the occasional photocopy of the last few completed pages of a logbook and keep them in a safe place.

If a logbook is worth keeping then it is worth writing up in a neat and tidy fashion. This particularly applies to a budding airline pilot. A neatly kept logbook is a reflection of a pilot who can write up both his own paperwork and that of the company in a readable fashion.

In many ways a properly written up logbook is a diary. In years to come the pilot will have a record of his history to re-read or for others to see what he or she has done in their life. It is also the record that is used when confirming the hours required for a licence upgrade.

A logbook can also be used to help a pilot with his flying. A blank sheet stuck onto the front page can have critical dates put on it in pencil. Every time the pilot opens the cover the record sheet indicates what checks etc are due by a certain date. Such things as when a medical is due by, company check dates, when the flight review is due, instructor rating due, etc. or when a lifejacket is due to be serviced or maybe even when the ASIC or AVID is due for renewal.

In the back of the logbook are a few pages for notes. These could be used to record the name and details of the doctor and dentist, details asked at a pilot medical. If put in pencil they can then be changed as required or updated.

These days logbooks are inexpensive. Around $20-22 for an Airservices or ATC book. It is reported that the books are printed in China.
While CASA does not require a pilot to carry a logbook with them in the air they can request a pilot produce the logbook for inspection if so required.

It is interesting to note that in some accidents, both here and in the US; the ATSB and the NTSB were unable to gain access to the pilot’s logbook. That could be that the pilot did not maintain a logbook or else the deceased pilot’s family chose to say they could not find it, probably on the basis that they fear the logbook, the last tangible memory of that person, will not be returned. Not so.

Log books are here to stay so keep them up to date, correct, neat and kept safe.

Contact Dave by email at [email protected]