AOPA Pilot Magazine - June 2024 - 86

RUDDER & WRENCH
This is why many pilots back up their
paper logbooks with electronic versions.
There are many available-some for free,
others included in electronic flight bags
such as ForeFlight and Garmin Pilot, and
some with yearly or monthly subscriptions.
Get in the habit of loading those computer
entries when you do your paper ones, or
else get ready to spend several hours inputting
the entries from day one of your flying.
You can also digitize the paper entries
manually (or pay someone else to do it).
But let's say you have not been backing
86
up your paper logbook with an electronic
record, and one day the paper logbook goes
missing. Is all lost? No. The FAA provides
guidance for reconstructing lost airman
logbooks in Volume 5, Chapter 1, Section
8 of Order 8900.1. The FAA allows the
airman to provide a signed statement of
previous flight time. You should substantiate
your statement to the extent you can,
and to do that you will need documents
that support your statement.
Start with your most recent FAA Form
8710-1, Airman Certificate and/or Rating
Application, and most recent medical certificate
application. Copies of these can be
obtained from the FAA.
Other sources include aircraft logbooks;
receipts for aircraft rentals; and
statements of flight operators. For example,
go to your flight school and obtain a
copy of your records. You may want to
have the flight school notarize the copy.
This will safeguard you in the event
something happens to the flight school.
Similarly, statements from previous
flight instructors would work for this
purpose. Although not required to carry
these documents with your new logbook,
remember to keep them in a safe place in
case you are asked to substantiate your
reconstructed logbook.
You'll notice that each page of a paper
logbook includes the statement: " I certify
that the statements made by me on
this form are true, " and a place for your
signature. By signing off on each page of
your logbook, you are creating a legal document
verifying your flight hours.
You'll also want to document your most
recent flight review and takeoff and landing
currency for the purposes of carrying
passengers; instrument proficiency; and
any additional endorsements you may have
earned such as for high-performance, complex,
tailwheel, and pressurized aircraft
with a service ceiling or maximum operating
altitude, whichever is lower, above
25,000 feet msl. Look to flight instructors
and flight schools for supporting documentation.
If this supporting documentation
simply can't be found, you may need to
obtain those endorsements again. Ouch.
If you don't have any sort of digital
backup-and this can be as simple as taking
a photo of each page with your cellphone
or tracking those hours in a Microsoft
Excel spreadsheet-now's the time. You'll
be glad you did-especially if you're on a
career path. jill.tallman@aopa.org
http://eaa.org/tickets
AOPA Pilot Magazine - June 2024

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