If you are a part 107 commercial drone pilot you are required to keep a flight log, but as a hobbyist do you keep one? Why or why not?
Personally I do keep a flight log. I started out with a paper log book and while I've added an Android based electronic log book to my routine I still make updates after every flying session in the paper one. Why you may ask? That seems like a lot of writing and ever since I left school nobody can make me write by hand (except for darn those non-fillable PDF forms).
Two main reasons. I keep the paper log mostly for sharing with grand kids or new club members at some point in the future cause it would be a neat keepsake to hand off. But everything else I get out of the paper log book can also be done on the phone based one.
So what do I get out of it? That's a function of what I put into it. I keep track of each flight, what batteries I used, any notes of how well or badly the plane performed, and a list of repairs or ideas I had to make it better. Things like " I need to change the control throws on this one" or "I think the rudder control rod might be flexing in flight - Don't go back in the air until that gets fixed"
Then when I get home I can go through and check off the list of repairs or changes I wanted to make to the planes so that I don't forget a great idea until I'm back at the field with that plane again. And I look at the log the night before I go to the field when I'm charging batteries up to make sure the planes I'm planning to take do have all the maintenance tasks done. It's also handy to use when I'm trying to remember what battery goes into a plane that I haven't flown in a while.
So what's it look like? here are some screenshots from the phone based log book that I use.
[edit to add link: https://sjimpey.wixsite.com/rcflightlog]
Here's what the log looks like - it colors "good" flights in green, crashes in red, and repairs in blue.
There are summary reports that are fun to look at to see which planes I fly the most, and when was the last time I made it to the field.
Here's the plane listing - sometimes I think I would lose planes in my workshop if I didn't have a picture of what to go looking for!
It also logs battery usage. I don't use this part very much - mostly it's how I keep track of which sizes perform best in which plane.
This is the plane detail screen where I don't both to fill in data that isn't relevant for me. I'm sure for someone looking to buy & sell and make a buck the prices could be useful, but I don't need to be reminded of how much money I just drove into the ground after a crash.
Some of the graphs can be fun to look at too - I've been able to fly more this year, which also means more crashes... *sigh*
I have been able to keep my resolution of flying every month though!
Looks like I can crash just fine at either field I go to - that disproves my theory that it's the darn trees at Poplar Ford that are so dangerous. I can hit the bare ground with frequency at Lorton just fine too.
I wish this screen had a few more options - I have so many planes that this view of how many flights per plane just isn't useful. Maybe if it could be sorted to planes with just a certain number of flights?
So what about y'all? Any other compulsive record keepers out there?
Personally I do keep a flight log. I started out with a paper log book and while I've added an Android based electronic log book to my routine I still make updates after every flying session in the paper one. Why you may ask? That seems like a lot of writing and ever since I left school nobody can make me write by hand (except for darn those non-fillable PDF forms).
Two main reasons. I keep the paper log mostly for sharing with grand kids or new club members at some point in the future cause it would be a neat keepsake to hand off. But everything else I get out of the paper log book can also be done on the phone based one.
So what do I get out of it? That's a function of what I put into it. I keep track of each flight, what batteries I used, any notes of how well or badly the plane performed, and a list of repairs or ideas I had to make it better. Things like " I need to change the control throws on this one" or "I think the rudder control rod might be flexing in flight - Don't go back in the air until that gets fixed"
Then when I get home I can go through and check off the list of repairs or changes I wanted to make to the planes so that I don't forget a great idea until I'm back at the field with that plane again. And I look at the log the night before I go to the field when I'm charging batteries up to make sure the planes I'm planning to take do have all the maintenance tasks done. It's also handy to use when I'm trying to remember what battery goes into a plane that I haven't flown in a while.
So what's it look like? here are some screenshots from the phone based log book that I use.
[edit to add link: https://sjimpey.wixsite.com/rcflightlog]
Here's what the log looks like - it colors "good" flights in green, crashes in red, and repairs in blue.
There are summary reports that are fun to look at to see which planes I fly the most, and when was the last time I made it to the field.
Here's the plane listing - sometimes I think I would lose planes in my workshop if I didn't have a picture of what to go looking for!
It also logs battery usage. I don't use this part very much - mostly it's how I keep track of which sizes perform best in which plane.
This is the plane detail screen where I don't both to fill in data that isn't relevant for me. I'm sure for someone looking to buy & sell and make a buck the prices could be useful, but I don't need to be reminded of how much money I just drove into the ground after a crash.
Some of the graphs can be fun to look at too - I've been able to fly more this year, which also means more crashes... *sigh*
I have been able to keep my resolution of flying every month though!
Looks like I can crash just fine at either field I go to - that disproves my theory that it's the darn trees at Poplar Ford that are so dangerous. I can hit the bare ground with frequency at Lorton just fine too.
I wish this screen had a few more options - I have so many planes that this view of how many flights per plane just isn't useful.
Maybe if it could be sorted to planes with just a certain number of flights?
So what about y'all? Any other compulsive record keepers out there?
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