Logbooks 101

Logbooks are an important part of a pilot’s life. I did my flight training from the United States and maintained another logbook for my license conversion in India. However, it was a hassle trying to find the right logbook, that met all requirements and had all the necessary columns. Once I found the logbook, the next obstacle was figuring out how to fill it out. If only, there was one resource that explained to me in simple terms, how to do it.  DGCA, like any regulatory body, has straightforward and easy-to-follow rules about logbook filling. However, due to either wrong information or a lack thereof, student pilots seeking their Commercial Pilot’s License, still make some common mistakes.

CHOOSING A LOGBOOK

You will find a myriad of logbooks in the market out there, Jeppesen and Sterling being the most commonly used. However, I would make sure these columns are present in my logbook:

1.    Serial Number: I find this rather helpful in avoiding errors in entries, especially because your logbook has two pages worth of entries for a single flight. If this section isn’t already available, I strongly suggest making columns and numbering your flights on both sides.

2.    Date of Flight

3.    Aircraft Make and Model: Mention the proper make and model. E.g: C-172, PA-34

4.    Aircraft Ident/ Registration: Mention the proper tail number. E.g: VT-ABC, N979PG

5.    Route of flight (from and to): Use ICAO codes of the departure and destination airports.

6.    Total duration of flight: In some countries the duration is recorded from 0.1-0.9 (each 0.1 summing up to 6 minutes) E.g: 1.1= 01:06

7.    Departure and arrival time: Mention the departure and arrival times in Zulu time. Beware of splitting time between day and night time.

8.    Single engine time: I find logbooks with separate columns for single-engine with sub-columns of Day Dual, Day PIC, Night Dual, and Night PIC work most effectively for easily calculating hours for your CA-39. Log all single-engine checks under PIC.

9.    Multi-engine time: With the same divisions as Single-engine time. Some logbooks have an additional column of "P1 U/S" which should be logged when conducting any check on a multi-aircraft.

10. Instrument flying: Beware this section ONLY logs your instrument time on an actual aircraft. This section is further divided into simulated instrument time (also known as time under the hood) and actual IFR. There are many misconceptions about actual IFR time being logged under DGCA. I suggest always logging your time under simulated instrument to avoid shortfalls.

11. Instructional flying: Logs your hours as a CFI and AFI.

12. (optional) Number of landings/ Approaches/type of approaches: These columns are recommended for you to keep a tab on your training progress.

13. Remarks: This is probably the most important section in your logbook, because this is a brief description of your flight. Your description can look like- “PPL CHECKRIDE”, “AIRCRAFT FAMILIARISATION”, “STALLS, STEEP TURNS, UPSET RECOVERY”, “100NM CROSS COUNTRY”, “SIMULATED ENGINE FAILURE”, “CIRCUIT AND LANDINGS”. When in doubt, look at some of the remarks on your EGCA and write the one applicable to your flight.

COMMON MISTAKES WHILE FILLING UP LOGBOOKS

• Using whiteners or correctors and other techniques: Absolutely do not use whiteners, correctors, or other techniques to hide errors. Rather, put a single slash on the error, write the corrected entry, and put your signature beside it. While the above technique is acceptable to DGCA, avoid mistakes as much as possible.

• Not first filling it out in pencil first: Give yourself some room for error. Fill it out in pencil first before putting it in ink.

• Using anything other than black and blue pen: Use these standard color pens. I, personally like to use pens which are 0.3mm thick because they look really neat. If using gel pens, avoid smudges.

•  Not starting every month on a fresh page: This just makes it easy for you and DGCA to quickly locate all flights. In addition to this, you must write a monthly summary on each page.

• Not writing totals: Please please please, tally your logbook on each page. If you happen to have 0 entries for a particular column, write “00:00” and carry forward the same on the next page.

•  Not tallying right: In conjunction with the point above, avoid making calculation errors in your logbooks. Use hours and minutes calculators, available online for free.

•  Not writing a summary: A summary of the month is absolutely essential for your DGCA conversion. A good summary would like:

• Not making proper documents to validate your logbook: These documents are mandatory and need to be validated by your flight school. You can find sample documents here

• Not taking the stamp and seal of flight school: Make sure both are available on ALL pages of your logbook, along with the signature of your Chief Flight Instructor.

  
  

• Logging Night PIC before your Instrument Rating: This is not allowed as per DGCA