Yes, that’s how we do it too: Flight time for maintenance, block time for pilot’s total time
Then we get onto the debate of electronic logbooks for the aircraft Is there such a product which combines the two?
Mine is called a Google Docs spreadsheet. All flights are recorded in that and it functions as a journey log. I then enter personal logbook details into SafeLog.
Is there such a product which combines the two?
Yes, aircraftlogs.com. Unfortunately they are focusing on jet fleets and have just hiked their price so much that I have to give them up. It was incredibly useful to me to keep track of due items (from VOR checks to oil changes to service letters to 500h actions) on the same platform that was keeping my currency updated. I could easily pull up the entry for the last annual on my ipad or any other gadget and check what was done, or compression ratios etc. I’d be really keen to have the ability to add some form of “aircraft currency” to an electronic logbook.
For now I’ve transfered everything to a spdsheet, with some automatic warnings, but that won’t have the detail of the maintenance performed.
in Germany we log wheels off and wheels on (i.e. flight time) in addition to block time which is from off block (breaks off) to on block (brakes on).
The same in The Netherlands and as far as I know this is a requirement of EU.FCL 050
It’s all paper to me. I want to sum up several different times (FI, VFR night, Aerotow, Aerobatics). Most of them fr my own convenience. And I love browsing in the logbook and reading the remarks. It is the single most read book in my household, I guess.
As to lookbook.aero, I like it , but I have some (hopefully conceived in a constructive way) comments. Just brainstorming though.
I would miss to be able to differentiate between more flight times and landings. (TMG, Aerotow SEP, Aerotow TMG, Taildragger, instructing (where I act as an instructor) instructing (where i get instruction), Aerobatics, glider aerobatics, competition flights, parachute dropping, spraying … you name it). I think I would like a solution, where the user can define own fields, where he can categorize the flight time according to his needs and wishes. I think this would make me consider using the software and adding all my previous flights from time to time.
Then, I count all my total flight time as total – including gliding time and air work. I browsed the demo and did not find a total time in the dashboards.
Flight costs overview is depressing :-(
I like the license validity overview and alarm. Especially when you have so many different expiry dates to think of. (Language Proficiency, ZÜP, Medical, Class ratings, etc.) But for the instructor, you have to meet two out of three requirements – instructing time, a recurring training course and/or a flight evaluation. I don’t know, if this can be incorporated.
For aerotowing, you need 5 tows in the past 24 months to stay current. This could be checked, if the aero tows are counted.
You could also include a minimum hours / take off requirements that show you, what licenses you have the minimum requirements for. So if a pilot has his 30 hours after getting the license and his 60 landings, there would be a flag: “You can begin the aero tow course”. Or FI, banner tow, CRI, IRI respectively. Or a counter that you would need x hours and y take offs, z IFR time to be allowed on an IRI-course.
Last but not least, I think it would be great if one could include a curriculum for flight training organisations and an account that can have access to it’s students and instructors. You could sign off lessons online and comment them, once for the student to see, and once for other FI-eyes only. Depending on the data servers, the ATO could include information for the student to prepare for a lesson and upload debriefing material or pictures of the drawings and explanations of the instructor. Then, the ATO can monitor (as it is obliged to do) the instructors currency easily.
What about all those people who just use hobbs time for everything, or doesn’t that happen in Germany? It is very widespread in the UK, especially in syndicates where there is the obvious “trust” issue (and yes, the pilots are robbing themselves on TT while paying over the top for maintenance because on the average burger run you are moving on the ground so much as a % of TT).
We occasionally charter out our C172 and have a flight time meter, instead of a hobbs installed. Pretty much every aero club that I know does this, too. It has been noticed, that the engines last longer that way (i.e. the pilot can take his time to warm up the engine, since it’s not on his budget, you don’t penalize traffic circuits, don’t run them on too low RPM, and maintenance is scheduled after flight time anyway). Many of our aircraft (the tow plane or the TMG) don’t have any meter at all.
The same in The Netherlands and as far as I know this is a requirement of EU.FCL 050
FCL.050 (actually, the AMC to FCL.050) only requires logging of block time (for fixed-wing). There is no mention of airborne time.
I stand corrected
Do you have any means to link the google sheet entry with safelog ? One way or the other ?
No sadly. That would be very convenient.
I know about the endless discussions about what time to log but really there is nothing “wrong” about the pilot logging just airborne time.
I log approximately how long I was out flying, more or less, in a paper logbook. 
One of my ex-airline pilot buddies does the block time and flight time thing in a little X that he draws on his kneeboard. He’s done it for probably 50 years and says he enjoys it. Others with similar experience don’t to my knowledge log any time at all, any more than they log time driving a car. Probably they log the occasional noteworthy flight to meet legal requirements, I don’t know.
Paper logbooks are fun though, whether for plane or pilot. In the US long ago, a new plane (typically having no Hobbs meter or tach hourmeter) was supplied with one logbook for recording both flight time and maintenance. My old plane recorded 500 hrs logged in one summer, long ago before most of us were born. It was flown 4 or more hours each day.
