Thanks for the comments!
@Silvaire:
When I say EASA Part NCO.GEN.150 is “fine” I mean it’s not a big deal to comply with, as mandatory stuff goes, and the data is mostly stuff that either goes into the pilot log book at the same time anyway or is used to track hours to next check, reconcile Hobbs, etc, (it’s a group aircraft).
@Bookworm: thanks for that explanation, it looks like we can pick and choose what we want outside 1-12 in the EASA list.
What would the police check the journey log against?
The mandatory flight plan of course 
Hmmm
Seriously, what is a journey log supposed to achieve? The purpose can only be to achieve an incrimination of the pilot or operator, but nobody will put in there any illegal activity. I can see cabotage angles but I would think anybody illegally carrying paying passengers will know about that bit.
Peter wrote:
Seriously, what is a journey log supposed to achieve? The purpose can only be to achieve an incrimination of the pilot or operator, but nobody will put in there any illegal activity.
I guess it expands the potential scope of incrimination to include falsifying an official record, for when they can’t gather enough evidence to nail him for the real crime?
There’s consistency in a ‘Journey Log’ being ICAO required for international flights and flight plans being generally required for international flights. The two could then be compared. Seems to me a regulatory remnant from a worse time.
For practical use of aircraft by their owners, I think its a bizarre concept.
Well. My Lake has one Bordbuch and it serves for flight entries aswell as for tech entries, releases after 50/100h checks, oil changes, fuel and oil quantities filled up and such things. On this ground it is a nice log format and serves for the Prop, Engine and airframe. In a club environment it serves as communication tool, too. The mechanic knows about oil and fuel consumption, the pilot knows about due periodic checks and defects and who you need to teach that aircraft need to be cleaned after flight and not hangared with full tanks..
Everything could be done in other ways but an aircraft log isn’t that bad.
The problem is that any logs required for maintenance should never be carried on board. For that one has, normally, three logbooks: airframe, engine, and prop.
The journey log is obviously carried so it can be produced to police.
What I don’t understand (and I am sure we had multiple threads on this) is the point of it, since nobody will put anything incriminating in there (nor will they file a flight plan for any such activities).
Well the log isn’t the only document. The Befud- und Arbeitsbericht, other maintenance documents are stored in the aircraft file. No need to have three more logs.
I have trawled through, as best I can, Parts ORO and NCO, and I don’t think this Journey Log needs to be an actual log book.
So I think this low-tech, backed-up, system would be compliant, and could work well for a group:
1) Paper sheets for the current month, carried on the aircraft, in any compliant format that is useful.
2) Prior months’ sheets are scanned and saved as PDFs to cloud storage, accessible online.
3) For convenience, copies of these historic PDFs could also be carried on-board on laptops, tablets, phones, etc.
References below:
AMC1 ORO.GEN.220(b) Record-keeping
GENERAL
(a) The record-keeping system should ensure that all records are accessible whenever needed
within a reasonable time. These records should be organised in a way that ensures traceability
and retrievability throughout the required retention period.
(b) Records should be kept in paper form or in electronic format or a combination of both. Records
stored on microfilm or optical disc format are also acceptable. The records should remain legible
throughout the required retention period. The retention period starts when the record has been
created or last amended.
GM1 NCO.GEN.135(a)(8) Documents, manuals and information to be carried
JOURNEY LOG OR EQUIVALENT
’Journey log or equivalent’ means that the required information may be recorded in documentation
other than a log book, such as the operational flight plan or the aircraft technical log.
AMC1 NCO.GEN.150 Journey log
GENERAL
(a) The aircraft journey log, or equivalent, should include the following items, where applicable:
(1) aircraft nationality and registration;
(2) date;
(3) name of crew member(s);
(4) duty assignments of crew members, if applicable;
(5) place of departure;
(6) place of arrival;
(7) time of departure;
(8) time of arrival;
(9) hours of flight;
(10) nature of flight;
(11) incidents and observations (if any); and
(12) signature of the pilot-in-command.
(b) The information or parts thereof may be recorded in a form other than on printed paper.
Accessibility, usability and reliability should be assured.
Canada is one country which requires a journey log. If you are the sole owner, I always found it a bit onerous, because you have to make multiple entries in different books.
The flight also has to be entered in your personal log and the aircraft tech logs (which are not carried in the airplane and are divided into three sections; one each for the airframe, engine, and propeller). We would normally do the tech logs once a month or so (not after every flight), but it definitely was a bit of a pain.
I think this is a case of commercial aviation filtering down to GA. You can see how it could be useful if a crew finds a snag. They write it in the journey log and then the next crew will know immediately (because the log is in the airplane). Same thing if you sell or swap a component (i.e. the engine tech log goes with the engine).
Despite the extra paperwork, I found it useful when operating airplanes as a group or other shared arrangements. That way you have a direct way of seeing when the airplane was last used, and although not required by law, most group members would comment, ‘topped air in tires, added 1qt oil, charged battery, etc’. Thus you could see if there was a slow leak in the tubes, or the oil consumption was abnormal. Our mechanic would also use the journey log to tally the flight times for maintenance, he would just look in the book with the plane. All very useful.
As others have mentioned, it does have a negative aspect. For example, one of the group members messed up the border crossing procedure between the US and Canada. The US border guard eventually got in contact with their Canadian counterparts and wanted to see ‘who was flying the aircraft’ on said date. Great if it exonerates you in a shared ownership situation, but unfortunate for the person flying…
In the UK I have been part of syndicate that doesn’t have a journey log and I realize I actually miss it. I liked have the direct knowledge of how and when the last plane flew and if anything was noted; for example if the airplane hasn’t flown for a month, I might do a really super duper pre-flight and pull out the tire pressure gauge. In contrast, if the tires look good and it was flown yesterday, I might not bother.
In the future, I would probably keep a brief notebook on what is happening…
