Your logbook is your permanent aviation record. Start it on lesson one, keep it forever. Here's what to log, what to buy, and how to protect it.
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The FAA requires pilots to log any flight time they intend to apply toward a certificate or rating (FAR 61.51). Your logbook is the legal evidence of your experience — endorsements from your CFI, solo flight entries, cross-country times, night hours, and instrument hours all live here. When you apply for your PPL, your DPE will review it. When you apply for an airline job 20 years from now, they'll ask for it too.
Start logging from your very first lesson. Don't wait until it feels official — every hour counts and every endorsement matters.
Your logbook cannot be recreated if lost. Keep a digital backup — photograph each page monthly or use a digital logbook alongside your paper one. Airlines occasionally require original logbooks for job applications.
FAR 61.51 specifies minimum required entries. Log all of these for every flight:
Also log: cross-country time (if >50nm straight-line), instrument approaches, landings (touch-and-go count), and any endorsements in the endorsements section.
Digital logbooks automatically total your hours, track currency, and create instant backups. Most professional pilots use a digital logbook as their primary record and maintain a paper logbook as a legal backup (or vice versa).
MyFlightbook is a free web and mobile app that covers all standard logging requirements, tracks currency automatically, generates FAA-format reports, and syncs across devices. For a student pilot it does everything you need at no cost. The interface is functional if not beautiful.
If you're already paying for ForeFlight ($100/year), the built-in logbook automatically imports flight data from your ForeFlight flight track. This alone can save significant logging time on cross-country flights. It syncs with your iPad and iPhone and generates currency reports automatically.
The most feature-rich option — used extensively by professional and airline pilots. Overkill for a student, but worth knowing about for when you're building serious hours toward an ATP.
| Approach | Cost | Legal standing | Backup risk | Currency tracking |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Paper only (ASA) | ~$15 | Highest — original signatures | High — fire, flood, loss | Manual |
| Digital only | Free–$80/yr | Acceptable — FAA accepts digital | Low — cloud backup | Automatic |
| Both (recommended) | ~$15 + free app | Best of both | Very low | Automatic |
Our recommendation: Buy the ASA Standard logbook for your primary paper record (CFI endorsements live here — they need to be signed in original ink). Use MyFlightbook or ForeFlight Logbook alongside it for automatic totaling, currency tracking, and digital backup. Photograph your logbook pages monthly and store them in Google Drive or iCloud.