Learn what you need to find in a properly-designed drone pilot logbook and why you should use it to log your drone flights.
The sorts of data that you should log in a drone pilot logbook depend upon your purpose.
If you are a pilot who flies one or more kinds of UAV (e.g. rotary, fixed-wing and/or Lighter-Than-Air vehicles) and your purpose in using a logbook is to record your own, possibly quite varied flight experience, training and certification, then obviously you will need a “pilot” logbook. More specifically, you will need a “drone pilot logbook,”or “UAV pilot logbook,” – one that was designed specifically for UAV flights and that records the sorts of data we drone pilots need to record. Logbooks for standard aircraft are not appropriate for our purposes, due to the fact that they leave out data that drone pilots ought to record, and include data that don’t apply to our kind of flying.
Moreover, it will need to be a logbook that has the capacity to record data from the flights of the several different types of aircraft that you fly and to keep them distinct from one another. The book will need to present a calculation of total flight time per type, as well as the grand total flight time of all types together.
This article, which is an abridgment of our more comprehensive treatment of the subject in our Parhelion Guide series of cornerstone Article, namely: “Drone Pilot Logbooks,” will briefly address the advantages you gain by logging your piloting activities. We invite you to read more about this subject in the article just mentioned. To compare the pros and cons of digital and paper logbooks, read our Parhelion Guide article: Digital or Traditional Logbook.
New! We do sell digital logbooks now. For those of you who would like to explore that option, click on the black UAV Pilot Logbook Pro Digital Edition cover image in the sidebar of this post. This downloadable logbook has been designed to avoid the expense of many other digital logs. Once it is on your desktop it does not require an internet connection to use, making it almost as flexible as a paper log. To learn more about this new product before buying, go here.
Specific data that should be recorded in a drone pilot logbook:
At a minimum it would be best for a drone pilot logbook to permit you to record the following, per flight:
– date of flight.
– aircraft make/model and registration number (if applicable).
– takeoff and landing location(s)
– takeoff and landing times
– calculated flight duration (with flight time totals per aircraft and a grand total of all aircraft flight time, to date, on each page).
– flight function, such as whether you flew under training or acted as the instructor, etc.
– the pilot’s signature, attesting to the accuracy of the data entered.
Additionally, there ought to be sections of the book in which you can record pilot training courses taken, exams passed and certifications earned.
You may find it helpful to make sure that your drone pilot logbook permits you to also log (again, per flight) data about battery use (e.g. preflight and postflight charges, use/charge cycles) as well as whether you performed a preflight inspection and/or compass calibration. You may additionally want to write some notes about aircraft technical problems and their resolutions, as well as making general remarks about the flight, to include signature endorsements from instructors/examiners, the names of observers or even the occurrence of accidents (hopefully not!).
Additional considerations
As a bonus, it would be good if your log had a dedicated section that permitted you to record identity details about your equipment, such as type and brand information for your batteries, cameras and other sensors, as well as identifying in detail the various aircraft that you are flying.
Items that we believe are unnecessary to record include such things as route of flight, flight plan, sketches or drawings of orbits, etc. These items are not recorded in standard aircraft logs and have no real value in drone pilot logbooks, either. They are unfortunately common in many of the logbooks being sold today, but in reality these things just take up space and waste your time.
A logbook that gives you the opportunity to log all of the types of data mentioned in this article creates a comprehensive, and therefore valuable, record of your experience as a pilot, both in terms of the amount of flying you’ve done and the quality of that flying (e.g. experience on different aircraft, training accomplished or given, certifications received). Although it may seem like a lot of work, the process of recording these data can be made a great deal easier if the logbook provides a page or two of explanation in the front about what ought to be recorded on each logging page, and it is especially nice to have a filled-out example page as well. Not all logbooks are created equal, and it would pay you to research a bit before making your choice.
In addition to your drone pilot logbook, an in-depth record of aircraft history and current condition can be made by using an “aircraft logbook;” one each per aircraft. We invite you to read more about this subject in our Parhelion Guide series of cornerstone Articles, namely: “Drone Aircraft Logbooks.”
Bottom Line:
Log your data! Be ready and able to demonstrate your experience and training. Choose your logbook carefully and record only the important information; avoid wasting time logging useless things. While there are many views on the subject, ours are derived from over 30 years of professional flying (standard aircraft and UAV). To review or buy logbooks that fulfill the criteria stated in this article, click on UAV Logbooks. Published by Parhelion Aerospace.