How much of your flight gear is digital?

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Adventurous_Bus13@reddit

Ask what your instructor thinks. A lot of people start on Paper, and then transition to an EFB later in their training.

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Agreeable-Traffic464@reddit (OP)

I will do that. Thank you!

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Student_Whole@reddit

Starting on paper is a terrible idea. Anyone who has transitioned will tell you to start digital and stay digital. Excel, ForeFlight ,Logtenpro, anything is better than paper

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I say start on EFB from the beginning. Why would you want to have to upload all of your paper entries later on? Plus now you need to keep that paper logbook forever. I’m saying this because I did exactly that and I regret it. Just go electronic now. Myflightbook is absolutely amazing and it’s freeeee. It will show your progress towards each rating. You can also search for all the weird flight criteria’s that IACRA asks for instead of doing math forever. I also recommend downloading your logbook a couple times a year to be safe.

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morrre@reddit

EASA PPL student here, I’m logging on paper and digitally (cause I’m a data nerd 🤷).

In the cockpit, I just use what the plane has, and a good old paper map and charts.

Note that the DA20s I train in do have a moving map and ADS-B in+out.

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Paul_The_Builder@reddit

You absolutely should have a paper logbook. A lot of instructors aren't registered and/or don't like signing and doing endorsements on digital logbooks. I would recommend having a digital logbook as a backup to your paper logbook, also makes it easier to calculate currency and progress towards your requirements.

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wt1j@reddit

Get ForeFlight now and start using it as your logbook. Also get an ASA CX3 and get very comfy with it now, including weight and balance. Your future self that loses their logbook and will write their commercial is welcome.

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Abject_Tear_8829@reddit

Wouldn't dare to have paper logbook to loose. Everything is in ForeFlight. Never had a problem with endorsements. FF will send you a monthly export which you can just save to another cloud. If that's not enough then also use that export to keep myflightbook updated.

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wt1j@reddit

Yup. I only accept endorsements from CFI(I)'s via ForeFlight. And not one of them has a problem with that and I have a ton. Yeah whenever I see a "I lost my logbook" post I just want to bang my head against the desk because everyone should be logging to an electronic logbook from day one. Not to mention that many CFI's handwriting is illegible. The only legit use case for a paper logbook I've heard of is aviation fanboys who want to get people to autograph their logbook. Not really my thing but whatever.

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adventuresofh@reddit

I keep both - a digital logbook because it catches math errors, but a paper logbook because I enjoy the ritual of writing in a physical logbook after each flight. I wished I’d started an electronic logbook earlier because transferring hundreds of hours is a pain!

I used paper charts and a mechanical E6B during PPL. The iPad is a great tool, but I would encourage you not to use it too early in training. It’s important to learn the basics without it, and I have seen it become a crutch. Don’t become one of those people who is terrified to fly without their iPad, and who considers it an emergency when (not if) the iPad fails in Day VRF conditions. I always keep paper charts as a backup in my airplane as well, especially on long cross countries / international trips.

Highly recommend a nice knee board too. I prefer to take notes on paper. I personally just use foreflight on my phone. I find that even an iPad mini takes up more space on a panel mount than I’d like. When I fly with an iPad, I usually delegate iPad duty to a passenger since I find it to be more of a nuisance than anything, size wise.

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ScottPWard@reddit

Paper logbook but also saved in excel, put everything in Foreflight later. I grew up reading maps, so it was easy for me on paper charts. Although I spent my career in IT, I wanted to minimize any use of an EFB so I could learn to fly the plane. Now that working on my IR, adding in Foreflight wasn’t difficult.

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DisregardLogan@reddit

Nearly none of it. I guess I’m kind of an odd one out.

I have a digital logbook alongside my physical one. I have a notepad for writing things down and I don’t use an iPad.

I also fly a plane without any glass instruments. So far, I’ve been pretty ok for PPL. If/when you plan on getting your IR, slowly incorporate digital stuff.

A digital logbook however is non-negotiable.

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skunimatrix@reddit

Wouldn't surprise me if this is the decade in which radio navigation goes the way of the dodo. It's harder and harder to find localizer approaches around, but everyone and their brother seem to have a GPS approach.

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DisregardLogan@reddit

Yeah, honestly. I wouldn’t be too suprised.

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HungryCommittee3547@reddit

I don't think MON is going anywhere. GPS is great until it has issues. In the last year I've had a coupe flights where sunspots degraded my approach enough to lose vertical guidance. That would be pretty scary in an IMC scenario if you had no radio backup.

I do agree that ground radio equipment is getting less common (lots of VORs NOTAMed) but I don't think the FAA is quite ready to ground all commercial traffic if GPS becomes unreliable.

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SoManyEmail@reddit

I'm a student pilot as well, and I bought a cheap e6b on Amazon. This one comes with a little manual that explains how to use it and has practice calculations. I'll probably get electronic eventually, but I'm glad I learned to use this first. For under $20, it's worth getting and spending a few hours to learn.

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dodint@reddit

I use Garmin Pilot for my logbook, then export it to MyFlightBook to print it. I do the export/import every 10 hours or so. That way I have the data in three places (on my EFB, the spreadsheet itself, and the MFB website). The EFB data is also backed up to the Garmin site.

I bought a small paper logbook when I started but have never had an instructor that demanded it.

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No_Recipe9743@reddit

Slowly invest over time as your training continues. Start with all paper and pen etc then invest in all the brilliant tech stuff as you progress

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cody_hates_reddit@reddit

A very old electronic E6B (CX-1) and my physical logbook is duplicated in Excel in case something happens to it. Other than that, I'm almost done my PPL and have yet to use anything more sophisticated than a plain ASA kneeboard and paper.

I'll get Foreflight eventually, but I've very much enjoyed learning things (mostly) the way my grandfather did. Also I already had a firmly rooted belief that digital aids will be garbage-in, garbage-out for people who don't understand what's going on behind the scenes.

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Rhyick@reddit

For logbooks, only a digital one is needed. There is no need to have a "backup" paper logbook. There is not much added value there.

With how cloud services are nowadays, you can export backups on a regular basis and save them to Google Drive or Dropbox. Foreflight even has a built in automatic email logbook backup.

The only caveat I have with digital logbooks is please make sure you actually know how to fill them and your instructor is familiar with filling them. Especially with Foreflight, since you're entering time via an app, you really have to check each and every field and be sure remarks and comments are entered.

It's easy to miss a field, and correction of a signed entry is much harder than a paper logbook because it requires re-signing. When doing logbook reviews, I see way more mistakes with digital logbooks than with paper ones.

Many of my students prefer to start with paper then switch to digital logbooks when they have their private. Paper is admittedly way easier to review and give student pilot endorsements.

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DarthMithos@reddit

As an instructor what I'd recommend

Go with a digital logbook right away. It'll make your life way easier.

Learn your PPL with the mechanical E6B and paper charts. It's harder but you'll be better equipped for it. If you are planning to go CPL make the change over to an EFB at that point.

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jaylowgee@reddit

Do both for your initial then switch over to only digital once you start getting paid to fly. It’s a pain in the ass if you wait beyond that.

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sdgmusic96@reddit

-Digital logbook (you can have a paper one too if you really want but that’s extra work for no real gain imho)

-The only times I’ve ever used an E6B were during the written exams. The electronic one is easier to use.

You’ll absolutely want a nice iPad mini for GA flying. Get the one with cellular, it has the GPS chip (you don’t need to actually connect it to a cell plan)

-Kneeboards can be nice too. I used one for GA flying. I found it easier to use than the iPad for quick note-taking.

YMMV

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TxAggieMike@reddit

Much of it… I either have a single copy (1) of something, or I don’t have one (zero)

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mustang__1@reddit

In real life, iPad for charte etc. not that I always carry paper any more, but if I needed to id be 100% comfortable with it. I would recommend learning on paper...

I have my paper logbook and a spreadsheet for totalling my hours (chunks of rows and subtotals that match my logbook formats) to make it easier to submit aircraft hours to insurance companies.

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justonevegetable@reddit

Logbook: I have a physical book, then when I finish a page I add it digitally to myflightbook.com, and also take a photo of the page and save it in my docs. Cover all the bases. If something happens to the physical book it will save a lot of stress and work.

For flights: I use my ipad more so now post training than I did during training. That being said, its a resource like anything else so why not use it for flight planning and tracking while training and get used to using it. I get my knee board and pens out and ready if I'm doing ifr stuff, but not so much for vfr flights.

Just my two cents! Not sure it's the best way, but its the way I do things.

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Bravo-Buster@reddit

I log on paper and online. Helps me catch any errors, and makes it easy for CFIs to sign in person instead of the digital log.

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Independent-Ad-2324@reddit

Paper with the instructors and foreflight when I’m on my own

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NevadaCFI@reddit

2000 hours here. I am not headed to the airlines as I am semi retired. I use an iPad mini 7 cellular, a small yellow paper notepad on a knee-board, a ForeFlight logbook, and a spreadsheet to keep track of students and CFI expenses.

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Atlantien@reddit

I actually have both of everything…

I log on paper and foreflight. You can lose one but not the other. A student at my school got his car broken into and his bag stolen with his logbook for example…

I have a whiz wheel and a digital e6b. Whiz wheel for early training, digital e6b for written tests. Always thought the Whiz wheel was actually easier to use in the plane.

Kneeboard for papers, npte taking and checklists. iPad mounted on window for foreflight. You won’t need an iPad until later in your training though.

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Deep-Wolverine-4313@reddit

I keep a digital logbook and ForeFlight and a paper one. I’ve used a paper/mechanical E6B throughout my PPL. Sporty’s E6B app is also great and that is what I use practically. I used just a kneeboard with pen/paper for most of my private until towards the end when I started using an iPad for traffic. Talk to your instructor

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McDrummerSLR@reddit

For me a paper logbook was perfect through training because of all the endorsements you receive for checkrides and stuff. But I would also do a digital logbook as well from day one because you won’t really need to worry about endorsements past a certain point. Then you can go full digital and lock up the paper book. I think some logbooks will actually support digital endorsements but paper is easiest and familiar to every instructor and examiner. As far as e6b, just go digital. Kneeboard is personal preference but I only used mine PPL to CFI. Once I got in a groove as a teacher I just stopped using it all together.

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parc@reddit

There’s something to be said for a physical logbook. I keep both physical and digital copies, but if I was going to pros I wouldn’t bother with physical.

But keep backups. Like multiple backups. Digital rot is a real thing.

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lcisne787@reddit

Hey! I would recommend getting both logbooks just to have either one as a backup. The paper logbook comes in handy for the endorsements. As for the E6B, I’d recommend going digital I noticed a lot of CFIs are moving toward that and not familiar with the mechanical as much. iPad should be good enough to take down notes. If you use Foreflight, they have a scratchpad function that you can use to write down ATIS, Clearances, and any notes you need! Best of luck!

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rFlyingTower@reddit

This is a copy of the original post body for posterity:

I’m starting my PPL and I don’t know whether I should start logging my hours in a physical or digital logbook, if I should get a mechanical or digital e6b, if I should invest in a nice kneeboard or just use an iPad etc. Any help?

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