Guides

How to keep a digital pilot logbook

Updated September 2026 · 5 min read

A logbook is only as useful as it is complete and accurate. The easiest way to keep it that way is to make logging part of the end of every trip, not a job you catch up on months later.

Know what your authority asks for

Each authority sets what a pilot logbook must hold: in the United States, the FAA's rules for pilot logbooks (14 CFR 61.51); in Canada, Transport Canada's personal log rules (CAR 401.08); in Europe, EASA's rules on recording flight time (Part-FCL, FCL.050). Employers and future employers often ask for more, such as totals by aircraft type, as pilot in command, at night or on instruments.

Log what happened, not what was planned

A roster is a plan. Block times, aircraft and even the route change on the day, so log the actual out and in times once the flight is done. Keep flights that haven't happened yet apart from the ones you've flown, so they never slip into your totals.

Decide your rules once, then keep them

Settle how you log night time (civil twilight or sunset to sunrise, as your authority defines it), cross-country time, takeoffs and landings when you were or weren't the pilot flying, and how you round: tenths, hundredths or hours and minutes. Consistency makes your totals easy to defend.

Check your totals every month

Compare the month's hours with your airline's records or pay statements. A difference is easiest to track down while the trip is still fresh.

Keep a copy you can take anywhere

Print pages in the layout your authority or employer expects, and export a spreadsheet now and then. If you move from another logbook app, check a few entries and the totals before and after the import.

General guidance for crews, not legal advice. Rules differ between authorities and operators: check the ones that apply to you.