The evolution of pilot logbooks from paper to digital platforms

According to Airside Magazine, pilot logbooks go back more than a century and are as old as the world’s first airline. They can be dated to when aviation pioneers – the Wright Brothers – began keeping detailed records of testing the first-ever aircraft in 1903. Thorough notes were crucial for their success with the aircraft.

Key milestones in the history of pilot logbooks include:

- 1912: Britain's Royal Corps adopted the practice of logging flights.

- 1913: The first detailed pilot log was recorded.

- 1926: The Air Commerce Act recognized the importance and necessity of logging pilot and flight information.

Logbooks may come in varying formats depending on their maker, according to Wings Alliance. Many instructors encourage their students to log as much information as possible since detailed logs can be useful in emergencies or investigations.

All books include columns for recording the aircraft’s tail number, flight date, total duration, and takeoffs and landings. Optional columns may encompass aspects such as nocturnal flight time, instrument approaches, time spent in-command (PIC) or second-in-command (SIC), or other specific details. Smaller logbooks may have around eight lines per page while larger ones may have up to 15 lines per page.

There are two primary ways to record time: hours and minutes or hours and decimals. For example, logging two hours and 35 minutes would be either 2:35 or 2.5 hours respectively. Wings Alliance notes that general aviation aircraft use Hobbs meters which tick over by 0.1 every six minutes when the engine is running; hence students typically adopt the decimal format during flight training.

Each logbook must be maintained accurately before any examiner can proceed with a check-ride or test. The book requires the pilot’s signature while instructors must endorse every entry with their certificate number to verify accuracy.

Flight schools and airlines also record pilots' flying times digitally. This allows carriers to avoid scheduling pilots outside crew rest and duty time rules since aircraft automatically transmit flight times to tracking systems.

Pilots often maintain both paper copies and cloud-based digital logbooks simultaneously. According to PilotBase, there are five reasons why all pilots should use an electronic logbook:

- They save time

- Allow data backup

- Information can be filtered and organized

- Professional reports can be printed

- Ensures legality and safety

The LogTen Pilot Logbook is one example compatible with iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, and Mac developed by Coradine Aviation Systems. It allows “super-fast flight logging,” instant calculations, detailed flight time analysis, comprehensive reporting,” monitors upcoming flights ensuring compliance with regulations, syncs across multiple devices with automatic backups allowing digital signatures proving logged hours' legality.