Personally...

I'm doing both. Some day my blog will probably cease to exist, and the hardcopy may be all that remains. Not to mention, if some day you decide to sell, the next owner may appreciate marked up drawings and a detailed construction log. My $0.02, YMMV.
 
It's a good idea to have a hard copy. There is no rule that says what format is has to be in, but it would be handy to show to your inspector and to the FAA when it comes time to get the repairman certificate.
 
Ask your DAR directly

Rivethead said:
Mel, a question along this line. I have a very good photographic record of my build but a rather sketchy written record. I'm wondering if I should go back to my photo record and written notes and create a written record that is a bit more rounded out? By the way lots of shots of me working on the plane.
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I always encourage people to connect with their DAR early on. I had a very poor written record and quite a few pictures but none with me in them. However, my DAR knew me and knew it was my build, so he never even looked at any of them. He also told me that he could tell if someone actually built the airplane within a few minutes with just with a few questions.
 
More is always better.

Rivethead said:
Mel, a question along this line. I have a very good photographic record of my build but a rather sketchy written record. I'm wondering if I should go back to my photo record and written notes and create a written record that is a bit more rounded out? By the way lots of shots of me working on the plane.
Click to expand...

Better to have too much than not enough. Info is not critical as long as you can show chronological order.
And like the man says, we can tell with a few minutes conversation whether or not you built the aircraft.
 
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rfchisholm said:
Will an internet BLOG work as a record of the build, or do I need to have a paperlog as well?
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A DAR is authorized to issue an Airworthiness Certificate, not so the Repairman's Certificate. The latter comes under the purview of the FAA. While it seems no two FSDO's interpret the regs in exactly the same way, in my case the STL FSDO issued the Repairman's Certificate on both separate occasions based upon nothing more than me offering up a couple of photo albums filled with detail photographs and a looseleaf binder filled with purchasing invoices. The materials were barely thumbed through. They were far more interested that the forms be filled out absolutely correctly. One such form took me three tries to get it right because erasing or crossing out the slightest error was disallowed.
 
Maybe this will help.

There are a few "gotchas" on the repairman certificate application. Form 8610-2

1/ Enter "Experimental Aircraft Builder" in specify rating block.
2/ Name is FIRST, MIDDLE, LAST. (not last name first)
3/ Height is in inches. (not feet & inches)
4/ Block M is ANY FAA airman certificates you have including pilot certificate.
5/ In section III(B) under type work performed enter;
Make.......Name of builder as shown on registration
Model......Model as shown on registration
Serial #...as shown on registration
Certification date of aircraft......09/09/2009
Do not sign until in front of FAA inspector.
 
Back to your original question,

I've been using the KitLog Pro software.

It's a relatively inexpensive logging program that after each post you can post to the internet. The folks that sell the program host your web site at no additional charge.

You can attache pictures to each log entry and you can print them out as well. The prints are a pretty nice format showing all your text, Hours spent, etc. along with your prictures.

The program pretty much covers all your concerns. It did mine. I've many friends that log on to my site regularly to check out my progress.

I have no affiliation with those folks, I just like the program. Real painless.
 
I used Expercraft. Nice free program that allows you to attach photo's. I printed it as I went and ended up with a nice hard copy as well as the online log. The Minneapolis FSDO inspector seemed to be impressed with the hard copy when I went to apply for my repairmans certificate.
 
Mel said:
There are a few "gotchas" on the repairman certificate application. Form 8610-2
Certification date of aircraft......09/09/2009
Click to expand...
I got mine yesterday and even on the date that you sign the form, has to be in the xx/xx/xxxx that is 2, 2, 4 digits format. I did "9/1/ opps, you need to add zeros in front of the month" and I had enough room to add the zeros. Lucky I had not gotten to the year or I might not have had enough room for the '20'.
Also, you should be able to down load the PDF format of the form from the FAA web site. You can fill it out and print it. Problem is that if you don't have the Professional copy, you can't save your changes.
I was able to save my filled out form. I called ahead and talked to the person that was to handle my certificate and emailed my filled out form. Paperwork wise, all I had to do when I got there was show him my drivers license and sign the form. He had all his portion of the work done before I got there.
Unless they are stressing out over work that day, a call ahead really helps. Find out exactly what they want as far as work verification, set up a time and the rest SHOULD be painless.
 
I went to the Denver FSDO with the URL to my builders website in hand and also my laptop (with a backup of the website in case they had internet access issues). They looked at the website on their computers and said, "good enough, sign here." Done.
 
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