Greetings!
As I make this endeavor into professional piloting, it became obvious about a month ago that it would come in handy to have an electronic logbook in which to log all my flight time and experience. It seems every year that the insurance companies request all sorts of different combinations of information, or the FAA Form 8710 does in order to apply for a new rating. I don’t know about you, but I dread having to sit down with my paper logbook and add up all my time in type, solo cross counrty, various times within the last x months……ahhhhhhhh!!
So, I recently invested in a program called LogBook Pro by NC Software. It was $69.99, which is a lot of money for a full time flight instructor – A LOT OF MONEY. However, I’ve been experiencing this real warm fuzzy feeling lately regarding my logbook. I am about 2/3 of the way through entering all my flight time. But it is really cool to know that if I lost my paper logbook somewhere, I wouldn’t totally be screwed. Furthermore, I can run instant reports of all kinds of combinations of info. I can tell at a glance whether I am instrument current or night current, what class my medical is currently at, etc. My plan is to finish the last 1/3 of time entries today. Even though it has taken me the better part of a month (being busy and all), I should have it up to date and ready to go by the end of today.
At the rate I am logging time, it is great to be able to see a real time picture of my progress. In terms of a jet career (show me the $$$, because flight instructing ain’t where it is), like I said in the previous post, multiengine time is going to be the toughest challenge. I have a few tricks up my sleeve, but there are no guarantees.
I have one single flight today with a student. The last two weeks have been slammed, but the business is sort of cyclical it seems. I took yesterday off, and have one student flight today at 3pm. Perhaps something will book up in the evening – truth be told, I hope something does. I need to keep my ass in the air and keep the money coming in as much as possible.
I trully can’t complain though. I’ve been flying a lot lately and deserve a bit of a rest. However, things will turn around in a day or so I am sure. I believe the weekend will be busy and lucrative for me. My plan is to stay with the flight school through the end of this year. I really think that come Sept or Oct, I will be burnt out on teaching full time and at the rate I am currently flying, I’ll pass 1000 hours TT around Aug or Sept. I really enjoy helping students learn, but it does drain me down a good bit after a while. After the 83rd touch and go, I’ve about had it. 