Flight Log Book

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Hello Phantom pilots, I am new to the forum also new to Quadcopters. I am waiting for my Phantom that I purchased from DSLRPROS, been a month now however, with sales like they are, parts inventory runs out fast!

I was just wandering how many of you log every flight in some sort of a flight log book or computer data base? If so, what do you log other than just flight hours? I know that you can be detailed as you won't, just looking for some ideas. Thanks

Lamar
 
I log in MS Word : Date,Duration,Total duration, Location,Weather,K-Index,Satellites acquired before take off,Notes (including changes or mods done before that flight, or changes in firmware), Battery Number.

As I tend to have a lot of this saved in Flytrex and DVR recording anyway this level of details is now questionable for me.
 
hychewright, that's pretty odd. You can still order Phantoms from Amazon and get them the next day.

To answer your question, I'm recording my flight information in an Excel spreadsheet.
 
Last edited:
Log whatever you like. Some like lots of data, others not so much.
As long as it is enjoyable and does not become tedious.

To prep for possible future certifications or other licenses at least log your dates, number of flights, flight times, and ANY maintenance you do. Maint. logs will be just as important as flights in the future to prove due diligence in safety and maintaining airworthiness of your a/c.
 
I use Flytrex to log all telemitry and location. Get a software logger if you can't afford an on board tracker. If loose your bird in-air it will be worth it
 
davisual, I think the OP is trying to log data outside of what Flytrex captures. For example, I use my log to keep track of things like:

- when to clean my battery contacts
- when to fully discharge my batteries
- when to replace my batteries
 
RPAS Logger is a good app
 
My last year or so of professional flying I barely logged any of my hours and I haven't bothered to log any of the small amount of flying I've done since. It never even crossed my mind to log phantom flights. Is this something I should consider doing?
 
msinger said:
davisual, I think the OP is trying to log data outside of what Flytrex captures. For example, I use my log to keep track of things like:

- when to clean my battery contacts
- when to fully discharge my batteries
- when to replace my batteries

I have logged all of my flights but have never considered logging these other items. Probably a good idea. I just use a small pocket sized personel journel.
 
johan said:
My last year or so of professional flying I barely logged any of my hours and I haven't bothered to log any of the small amount of flying I've done since. It never even crossed my mind to log phantom flights. Is this something I should consider doing?
Here in Australia, professionals must not only log their hours, but also have a routine and logged maintenance schedule.
Apart from being a legal requirement, if you fly professionally, you should do it anyway, for the sake of insurance and other possible claims.
Also, your tax agent may have good reason for you to have such records.

To the OP, where do you live? If you've been waiting a month for delivery, I'd be jumping up and down asking why. I've never heard of such a delay, unless perhaps you live at some sort of ultra remote location.

As for logging, I use Excel and log flight times, location, which battery etc. Battery logging is important too, if you want to get the best endurance by following cycling procedures.
 
I'm using a logbook that I purchased somewhere, probably Amazon.
 
Hello pilots, I sure have been educated on some good ideas about flight logs and I am glad to see that a lot of UAV pilots (professional and for flight enjoyment) use flight log books just like private pilot would. Thank you all so much for your info on how and why you log your flights..........

As for my Phantom that I ordered from DSLRPROS, I knew up front it would be a month to 6 weeks before it would be delivered. You see, my purpose to use the Phantom is for film making. I make short film for travel agency's and I will be adding aerial video for the first time...........

What DSLRPROS does is a complete overhaul , if you will, of the Phantom and set it up for the best aerial video platform at a reasonable cost and that includes FPV, long range, ground station, special futaba transmitter, special video receivers ect. They keep me informed on the build and right now they are waiting on OSD's. This business is growing at such a rapid pace that parts run out fast and have to ordered...

After the build is complete and all firmware is updated and ready to ship the Phantom goes through a flight test several times to make sure all systems work as suppose too. All I have to add is my video cameras...

Their website is DSLRPros.com if you would like to see their products and what they do..............

Best Regards

Lamar Wright.......... PS I live in Alabama USA
 
Narrator said:
johan said:
My last year or so of professional flying I barely logged any of my hours and I haven't bothered to log any of the small amount of flying I've done since. It never even crossed my mind to log phantom flights. Is this something I should consider doing?
Here in Australia, professionals must not only log their hours, but also have a routine and logged maintenance schedule.
Apart from being a legal requirement, if you fly professionally, you should do it anyway, for the sake of insurance and other possible claims.
Also, your tax agent may have good reason for you to have such records.
All pilots in the US are required to log as well but not every flight hour, only to satisfy certain minimum requirements. Obviously if you're going to fly professionally and stay in the game you'll want to log every hour because certain jobs only open up after you've logged X in X type etc. For me, I was doing the pro thing and I got to the point where I realized I hated what I was doing and I wanted out. I knew I wouldn't be staying in the game. By that point I also had all the hours I'd ever need to get any additional rating I'd ever want or qualify to get the lowest insurance rates in certain types (taildraggers mainly) if I ever decided to own one. So I kind of went meh, no point in keeping the logbook up and I stopped. As for maintenance, the aircraft have their own logbooks which are used for tracking maintenance intervals. That book is tracked off an hours meter in the plane and so no pilot logs are required.


I guess I can see the advantage in keeping a log for battery cycles and routine inspections. Looks like I'll have to build a spreadsheet or something to track it. Ugg it sound like work but I can see why it would be worthwhile in the long term.
 
I can see a huge benefit for a log book as being a new Phantom pilot. You guys have some very good points. My next step is to find or make a log book. Is there any online that you can download?
 
hychewright said:
I can see a huge benefit for a log book as being a new Phantom pilot. You guys have some very good points. My next step is to find or make a log book. Is there any online that you can download?
Like I said a few posts up, 'RPAS Logger' is a good app
 
Right now I log in a log book but I like the idea of using a spreadsheet. The only data I log is date, wind conditions and speed, and number of batteries I used that day. I also log any maintenance I do, including pics if appropriate. I also log anything I've changed since the last flight, i.e., gains, failsafe/manual, etc. Since I'm only up to 35 battery cycles and am still learning flight maneuvers, I also log what I practiced and any unusual things that happened, like when I first tried manual and crashed from 5 feet in 3 seconds, or when I wasn't watching battery level and the drone went into failsafe and freaked me out (only my second flight outing).

I never thought about the need to log flights for the upcoming licensing thing, but it's a great idea!
 
edonovanl said:
Right now I log in a log book but I like the idea of using a spreadsheet. The only data I log is date, wind conditions and speed, and number of batteries I used that day. I also log any maintenance I do, including pics if appropriate. I also log anything I've changed since the last flight, i.e., gains, failsafe/manual, etc. Since I'm only up to 35 battery cycles and am still learning flight maneuvers, I also log what I practiced and any unusual things that happened, like when I first tried manual and crashed from 5 feet in 3 seconds, or when I wasn't watching battery level and the drone went into failsafe and freaked me out (only my second flight outing).

I never thought about the need to log flights for the upcoming licensing thing, but it's a great idea!


I am in the process of building a spreadsheet flight log for all the things that you mentioned above. I to am a new Phantom pilot and right now I am using a Ares Ehoes FPV for training.
 
edonovanl said:
I never thought about the need to log flights for the upcoming licensing thing, but it's a great idea!
A flight log is of value for many of the reasons listed. For example, insurance companies like to see them to gauge your experience level. When we can finally fly for hire legally and you go to an aviation insurance company for liability insurance, the first thing they will ask is "how many hours do you have in the same make and model"? If you hand them a logbook with 400 hours in it, you are going to get a better rate than someone who has no documentation of their flight experience.

The NPRM that is proposing commercial use of drones has no experience requirement, so a logbook is not mentioned in the proposed rules. That's not to say it won't change in the future, so some kind of flight record-keeping is advisable.

I just added a Flytrex Live to my Phantom and I may write a program to autofill a logbook entry. I have date, time, altitude, duration, and location. I just need to manually add comments.
 
SteveMann said:
edonovanl said:
I never thought about the need to log flights for the upcoming licensing thing, but it's a great idea!
A flight log is of value for many of the reasons listed. For example, insurance companies like to see them to gauge your experience level. When we can finally fly for hire legally and you go to an aviation insurance company for liability insurance, the first thing they will ask is "how many hours do you have in the same make and model"? If you hand them a logbook with 400 hours in it, you are going to get a better rate than someone who has no documentation of their flight experience.

The NPRM that is proposing commercial use of drones has no experience requirement, so a logbook is not mentioned in the proposed rules. That's not to say it won't change in the future, so some kind of flight record-keeping is advisable.

I just added a Flytrex Live to my Phantom and I may write a program to autofill a logbook entry. I have date, time, altitude, duration, and location. I just need to manually add comments.

Well said Steve, I totally agree. I believe at some point in the future a log book will pay off in many ways.
 
SteveMann said:
edonovanl said:
I never thought about the need to log flights for the upcoming licensing thing, but it's a great idea!
A flight log is of value for many of the reasons listed. For example, insurance companies like to see them to gauge your experience level. When we can finally fly for hire legally and you go to an aviation insurance company for liability insurance, the first thing they will ask is "how many hours do you have in the same make and model"? If you hand them a logbook with 400 hours in it, you are going to get a better rate than someone who has no documentation of their flight experience.
Meh, I can see the logic of this. But at the same time, I kind of doubt it would ever become a reality. Because the reality is people lie. Especially when that lie will save them money. And insurance companies know this.

I don't know that I'm the most honest man you'll ever meet but I dare say I'm probably in the top 5 and I don't say that lightly. I'm honest to fault. But even I wouldn't bat an eyelash at putting pen to paper and producing a logbook of pure fiction showing me to have 1200 hours of UAV experience if that was all it would take to cut my insurance rates in half. I seriously doubt a log which can only be verified as accurate by your own signature and nothing more will ever be worth more than the paper its written on.

I can see the benefit of keeping a log for things like battery cycles and inspection intervals. But those things are only of value to the author of the logs. Even when it comes to resale, they're essentially worthless if they can't be verified. At least if I'm the buyer.
 

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