AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2014 - 93

P&E

DOGFIGHT

Tell a Better Story

Continued from page 91

records, fuel receipts, and my own faulty
memory.
My own slippery slope comes when I
fail to make a few entries in a timely way,
realize I'm behind, but am too lazy to
face up to it. Finally, I get disgusted and
catch up all at once with a flurry of staccato entries that provide only the bare
minimums.
An electronic logbook gives a much
richer picture of your flying experiences,
preserves sights and sounds, and enhances
sharing. My favorite feature is that it provides a graphic depiction of all your flights
in one multicolored, mind-bending map-
and that alone is worth the tedium of
going back and keying in your flight data.
I haven't entirely abandoned my paper
logbooks just yet. Old habits die hard.
But the legacy logbook I'm filling out
now is almost certainly the last I'll do in ink.
And if I ever miss having a paper logbook,
one tap of the Print button will provide a
complete, tangible record.
AOPA
EMAIL dave.hirschman@aopa.org

Pen, Paper, Perfection
Continued from page 91

I also don't care. I'm not a professional
pilot and I'm long past the point of tracking my total multi time to the tenth.
They also say electronic logbooks are
more secure than a paper logbook, which
is hogwash. I would put money on my
digital life being hacked long before my
house burns down, and not because all
my passwords just happen to be "password." Keep your logbook in your car and
all bets are off, though.
The biggest problem with a digital logbook is that it misses the point.
Keeping a physical record of your aerial adventures isn't required every time
we fly, but most of us do it because we
want to. The act of putting pen to paper
is worth the time and effort, and it says
something about how you approach flying-not to mention that your grandkids
will thank you.
AOPA
EMAIL ian.twombly@aopa.org

www.aopa.org/pilot AOPA PILOT | 93

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AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2014

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2014