Builder's Log Requirements?

[G-force]

I just bought one of those black and white speckled composition books and write downthe date, hours spent, and what I did every day. And take plenty of pictures.

[jcoloccia]

My camera (as do most camera) embeds the date/time in the header of the JPEG image, therefore I have no written log except what I happen to put on the website. I just snap pictures. That's it.

Writing the date next to the step works wonderfully for the empennage. Problem is by the time you get to the wings/fuselage, the instructions start reading like this:

Step 1: Build the firewall
Step 2: Build the rest of the fuselage and mount the wings
Step 3: Paint if you'd like. Go fly!

Building an airplane's enough work as it is. Don't lock yourself into a rigid "system" or you'll find yourself avoiding the building process just because you don't want to make a log entry.

[Ironflight]

There are two kinds of people - those that like to log, and those that don't......Oh, and the then us engineers that don't necessarily like it, but do it out of tradition....

Since I had a computer in the shop, I just had an Excel spreadsheet with a column for date, a column for hours worked, and one for comments. Typed in what I did before ending each session. I also took lots of pictures, but for some reason, they are never of the things that people ask me for now that it is finished....

Paul

[jcoloccia]

Paul:

Since my Bearhawk doesn't have instructions, per se (just plans) and there's still no comprehensive hardware list for it, I'm doing WORSE than logging. I'm tracking EVERY nut, bolt, cotterpin, washer etc that goes into the airplane.

Tell me THAT'S not nutty

[FredMagare]

I keep my log in the garage, er, I mean, "workshop". It's nothing more than a spiral bound notebook and a digital camera. I simply keep track of what I do that session, take some pics, and scribble the number of hours I spent working. When I finish a component, I download the photos to my computer, in a folder for that part and transcribe the notes into a Word Document making sure to throw-in a couple of the photos. (Not all photos are used in the document but all are available for review. I'll probably just print out thumbnails on a seperate sheet of paper.) It takes a little more time to transcribe but it allows me to scribble in my notebook quickly.

Fred

[David-aviator]

Originally Posted by pilot28906

Thanks for the info. I will probably keep a written log and take some digital photos. I do like the idea of writting the dates in the manual.

John

John,

Another simple way to do it is use a computer spread sheet. It takes about 2 minutes to log what was done each day - date, page and paragraph xxxx, worked on or completed, and estimated hours.

Its about the same method as writing in the manual, just different.

It is interesting to go back and look at the effort later, whether in your manual or some other method. Sort of like the chronicle of a major battle...

[N8RV]

I've been keeping a pretty accurate, hand-written log of my building activities for the last 10+ years. I've taken a lot of pictures, too. However, when I started this project, DIGITAL CAMERAS DIDN'T EXIST! Most of those pics from the early years were 35mm and the prints are -- well, I have no idea!

Just another thing to keep in mind if you're gonna take more than a couple of years building ...

[roadrunner20]

If you're keeping a log to satisfy the FSDO, don't waste too much time with it.

Log hours with date & basic task description.
Include some pictures of yourself in the build process.
That's it.

They never looked at mine during my repairman interview.
I asked them if they'd like to see it. They didn't care.
Your FSDO may vary. Ask them what they want.

Do the log to satisfies your own needs.

Keep building and get it finished!

[TJoyner]

Is there a requirement to actually log the time in the shop..? My times so far are not really accurate and I don't really care either way...

[Mel]

There are no time log requirements. As far as the FSDO looking at the log, they usually don't, but you have to be ready. When I do an airworthiness inspection, I issue a letter of recommendation to the FSDO. This usually satisfies them.