So,

Apparently my flight bag was stolen from my truck over the last few days. Other than an old David Clark headset, a nice pair of Ray Bans (That F Shaw bought for me) a broken pair of reading glasses and an old E6B along with some other miscellaneous stuff it also had my liscense, medical certificate AND my log book. Replacing the license and Med. certificate seems pretty straight forward. But what about the log book? Any help pointing me in the right direction would be appreciated. I have a couple of calls out to friends, but the more advice I can get the better. Do I need to reconstruct it and if so how accurate does it need to be? I can get pretty close in total hours (Within 10+-), but everything else will be tough. Cross country hours, landings, night flights, ect. Are there essential signoffs from my student days that need to be in there? BFR's? I really have no clue at this point. Also, any suggestions for digital logbooks would be appreciated. Granted, in the whole scheme of life this is a small deal, but I was suprised at how much it has bummed me out.

Pete

I recently converted to electronic; picked the logbook internal to ForeFlight. I hand loaded a bunch of details, imported a home grown excel product I had built, and have been using it for a variety of things. It lets me add a lot more detail than I was used to, and now I like that extra stuff. The other thing handy for me was the auto generated reports with all sorts of stuff broken out. And, it's backed up automatically, so when the next lost phone/logbook/iPad occurs, it's not an issue. There are lots of really nice benefits to this one, And I was already subscribing to ForeFlight, so no extra payment or company.
KW

That sucks.

Murderers get a lot of bad press, but by in large murder is a spur-of-the-moment bad decision made under extreme duress. Theft, on the other hand, is a way of life. Cutting off hands is a wee bit extreme, but I can totally see breaking half a dozen metacarpals with a hammer as being a just punishment for it.

My experience with electronic log books has not been great. I spent a few dozen hours transferring data from my paper logs, then the device crashed and I lost it all. For reasons I don't recall the backup was also corrupted. I quit the electronic route after that. Now I keep my logbooks in the safe and update the current one a couple times a year from the gps. BFR's and other necessary stuff gets logged immediately.

AOPA should be able to advise you on the legal aspects of what you have to reproduce. Unless otherwise specified, I think you're fine reconstructing your log book to the best of your ability, not flight by flight, but totals. After all, there's no verification or proof-checking to what someone records in their logbook. It's assumed that you're honest when you record it, and it's assumed you're honest when you reconstruct it. Just make a notation of the date of the logbook theft. All the sign-off's for your licenses are a given, since they were verified when you applied for said licenses. Loosing your logbooks does not alter that. If it did, then the FAA would keep a copy of your logs to verify your credentials.

Filing a police report is probably a good idea. Won't do crap for getting anything back, but it's a way of bolstering your story down the line if someone questions it. Pay whatever the cost is to get a copy of the report...usually $10~20. Staple it into the new log book.

For what it's worth, I keep my log book at home, and my medical and license in my wallet. They're not immune to loss or theft, but they're more secure than in my airplane bag.

Good luck...maybe your flight bag is really just behind the sofa...

zenpilot wrote:I recently converted to electronic; picked the logbook internal to ForeFlight. I hand loaded a bunch of details, imported a home grown excel product I had built, and have been using it for a variety of things. It lets me add a lot more detail than I was used to, and now I like that extra stuff. The other thing handy for me was the auto generated reports with all sorts of stuff broken out. And, it's backed up automatically, so when the next lost phone/logbook/iPad occurs, it's not an issue. There are lots of really nice benefits to this one, And I was already subscribing to ForeFlight, so no extra payment or company.
KW

Why not just build a logbook spreadsheet? It backs up when you back up all your other valuable files, theres no problem with lost data if you decide to use some other flight planning software, it's free (since you OWN the program) custom reports are a no brainer... I thought of the Foreflight logbook and rejected that idea about the same time as the Foreflight's embedded W&B 'freebee', for the same reasons.

Re: OP question on how to reconstruct his log... First, I am sad for you to lose such an important chronicle of personal history. I've known a couple of people who have lost logs. They reconstructed them as best they could using various records (FAA medical, tax files, trip records, recollections etc.). You can request a copy of your FAA Airman certification records here: https://www.faa.gov/licenses_certificates/airmen_certification/copy_of_certification_records/.

To request lost or destroyed medical or licence see: http://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/text-idx?SID=286634eb03a0b340d7fc992c96febf15&mc=true&node=se14.2.61_129&rgn=div8

you might also look at this AOPA document: https://www.aopa.org/news-and-media/all-news/2000/january/02/lost-logbooks

I know how you feel, my log book was stolen back in 2005 along with some other stuff. I asked my old nieghbor who was a 17,000hr airline pilot and CFI what to do. He told me to start a new logbook with a note in the beginning stating the date my logbook was stolen then I listed all the aircraft I had flown with approximate times in each (that wasn't too hard at the time since I'd only had my license a few years and had only flown a handful of planes). He then gave me a new BFR, tail wheel endorsement, and high performance endorsement.

Hammer wrote:For what it's worth, I keep my log book at home, and my medical and license in my wallet. They're not immune to loss or theft, but they're more secure than in my airplane bag.

I'm with Hammer on this one. I keep my log books (aircraft and pilot) in my rifle safe which is also fire resistant. Too much of an investment to risk loosing.

Sorry for your situation. I wouldn't count on it but hopefully the thief has some small amount of decency and drops your log book off in your mailbox.

Rich

Frankly, nobody in officialdom really cares much about logbooks, with a few exceptions:

You'll need to get with an instructor, preferably the one you flew with doing your flight review and any endorsements (tailwheel, high performance, complex, etc) and get the CFI to re-create those endorsements. That CFI will have records in his/her logs specific to those endorsements.

As to time in type, total time, night, etc, I wouldn't worry much about those totals unless you are planning to add certificates and will need that time to qualify. If that's the case, I'd call AOPA and maybe visit the local FSDO (make an appointment). That's also what I'd do if I can't track down the CFI noted earlier.

I've never used electronic logs. I've also always kept logbook at home. When I was working, I kept a copy of a log page every month or so at the office as backup.

If you're not a working pilot, and aren't going there, there's no real reason to sweat anything else. Insurance company will want to know hours, but honest approximations are good enough.

If you're going to re-create your logbook for whatever reason, be honest and conservative. Bear in mind that you're going to sign that document swearing to its accuracy. Hardly ever matter, but in a future enforcement action or accident, it might come under a microscope.

Former CFIs are one of the best sources to get the essentials re-created.

MTV

Not that this can help you in the aftermath, but my primary logbook is a MySQL database that I wrote a custom logbook PHP app for. It's crude with only basic reporting and totals but it works and it's easy to back up. It also lets me directly control the data. A spreadsheet isn't a bad solution either but it has to be stored locally and versioning can be an issue, unless you use a Google Doc or something cloud based.

I use it to update my paper logbook periodically. I scanned my endorsements and back those up in the cloud (any private file storage like Dropbox or google drive.)

I lost my log when young, poor, and still adding ratings. Like MTV said, my instructor fixed me right up.

I haven't done electronic because I don't want to transfer all the old info.

I do, however, backup my log book by photographing the pages.

mtv wrote:You'll need to get with an instructor, preferably the one you flew with doing your flight review and any endorsements (tailwheel, high performance, complex, etc) and get the CFI to re-create those endorsements. That CFI will have records in his/her logs specific to those endorsements.

As to time in type, total time, night, etc, I wouldn't worry much about those totals unless you are planning to add certificates and will need that time to qualify. If that's the case, I'd call AOPA and maybe visit the local FSDO (make an appointment). That's also what I'd do if I can't track down the CFI noted earlier.

MTV

MTV suggests the same way I recommend to create you're new logbook. If you have access to your most recent CFI from a flight review, you may be able to enter an entry about the old logbook being stolen with your best summation of the hours you had, and have the CFI sign it along with any endorsement you need recreated.

Going forward in the future, figure out a backup plan such as other have mentioned. I chose to use an electronic logbook software. I keep my logbook at home. After I fly I enter it by hand in my physical logbook and also into the electronic. If something ever happens to the physical, at least I'll have accurate info to begin a new physical logbook.

Hey Guys,

Thanks for the all the help. Hammer, I couldn't agree more and although it's not behind the sofa (I looked), I'm still holding out hope it will melt out of a snowbank or something in the spring. I did report it to the police, basically to have a record and maybe if the headset turned up we might be able to track down the log book. My CFI is still around and I have a call in to him. I'm pretty old school and really like the tactile sense of making entries by hand, but a backup plan is definitely in order. I do have Foreflight so I will look into their log and I do like the idea of taking photos as well.

Pete

logbook?

Logbook: La-ga-bok A record of mistakes, errors, and poor life choices. See confessional. John repeated the same action over and over as evidenced by entries in a diary.

mghallen wrote:Logbook: La-ga-bok A record of mistakes, errors, and poor life choices. See confessional. John repeated the same action over and over as evidenced by entries in a diary.

Yup...

Mine would read; I flew between Kotz and Noorvik seven times today. I'll do it six tomorrow, with maybe a Kiana thrown in. Next week, a bunch of Point Hopes, or heck, even a Barrow run.

Over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over....

Work hours I recorded because I had to. My own flying logs evolved over the years, to a kinda loose journal with highlights, names, and weird shit just to jog the memories.

Fun to look through and see the long gone names and places. And remember all the airplanes, like ex's... Some built for comfort. Some that did their best to kill you dead. And others that you'd give almost anything to get to go up and spend an hour just learning each other again.

Gump

rw2 wrote:I haven't done electronic because I don't want to transfer all the old info.

I do, however, backup my log book by photographing the pages.

I'm surprised more people aren't recommending this, especially since cameras on smart phones are almost always close at hand and the resolution is good enough that one photo will easily grab an entire page.

Every time I fill up a page I take a picture of the page. If I was a belt and suspenders kind of guy I would then upload that photo somewhere more permanent than my phone but that is enough of a backup for me to sleep at night.

Pretty much an old thread at this point Pete, but I misplaced mine after holding on to it unused for nearly 20 years, and so when I was able to get back in I simply started a new one with a conservative hour number and line entry. I needed a BFR at that point anyhow so it was perhaps easier, but I also took the electronic route for simplicity. I can write more, record more data, memories, and non-essential information that hopefully someone in the future gets a smile from reading it.

myflightbook.com is free (donations accepted), gets backed up to my google drive, and I always fly with my iPad so it's easy to use.

That being said, a friend of mine just had his phone stolen from his truck in the 3-4 minutes he spent inside a Stewarts shop for coffee the other day. In less than an hour it pinged when turned on in Schenectady. Seems that the thieves had targeted the convenience store as most people don't lock their vehicle for a few minutes to get coffee. It has changed my routine.

Aside from all that, I too agree with MTV... no one really much cares about it, for what you and I are doing.

pb

So,

Just to update. Got a new log book, entered in hours as close as I could, just got my last BFR entered today, by my CFI and received an e-mail with a temporary certificate from the FAA yesterday. So I'm good to go, which is nice. On a side note the local FSDO was great. They called me back promptly and gave me a number in OK that they promised someone would answer (which they did) to expedite the temporary certificate. Now if we just get a decent weather window, I might be able to get back in the air.

Pete

Thanks for the follow up post. It's always good to learn from others' experiences. It's also good to hear that the FAA handled this for you with minimal hassle and promptness.

Good luck with the weather, none of us can provide much help with that.....

MTV