SkyJournal is a free electronic pilot logbook implemented with Google Sheets. It has the following features:

• • Ability to track/calculate everything which Jeppesen FCL050 logbook does, namely:
    • Flight log pages with summaries (18 entries per page)
    • Yearly pilot summaries (by month)
  • Ability to calculate night time automatically
  • Available both on Desktop (Windows, Linux, Mac) as well as mobile (Android, iOS)
  • Ability to store/export data in a common user-friendly format
  • Ability to specify totals from pre-existing logbooks
  • Usable with no Internet connection (provided that Google Sheets app is installed)
  • FREE for personal use

Getting Started

To start using skyJournal you must have a Google account. Open the latest SkyJournal and make a copy of the spreadsheet into your own Google account (File->Make a copy) and finally tick ‘Available Offline’ so that the spreadsheet remains usable even without an active Internet connection.

The spreadsheet comes with a few entries in the log for example purposes. Delete existing data in green cells and start logging! Be mindful not to enter any values into cells with non-green background though.

Configuring before use

Each log entry is entered against an aircraft registration (or ID) as well as a departure and arrival aerodrome. The aircraft must be configured in order for the spreadsheet to make time allocation correctly (e.g. single or multi pilot time) but adding aerodromes is optional. Aerodrome data is used only for the purpose of automatic night time calculation while night time can always be specified manually.

Prior to logging your first entry head over to Aircrafts sheet and add your aircraft registration against one of the aircraft types.

The spreadsheet comes pre-loaded with a limited number of common aircraft types thus if the aircraft type is not yet configured head to Types sheet and add it there.

Adding a log entry

When both aircraft type and aircraft are configured you should be able to add a log entry in the Log sheet. Enter flight data into cells with the green background. Once block OUT/IN times are entered most of other times should be populated automatically, apart from instruction times (PPL/CPL/ATPL) and IFR/SIFR times which have to be specified manually if required.

If the departure/arrival is from a known aerodrome (those configured in Aerodromes sheet) which has latitude and longitude specified, the night time is calculated automatically where applicable.

Logging PIC time

PIC time can be logged by entering “SELF” in the PIC column under CREW section.

Logging Multi-Pilot DUAL and PICUS time

First of all, when and why would anybody want to log DUAL time on a Multi-Pilot aeroplane, you might ask? The answer is simple – during the Base Training, of course! PICUS logging is much more common, and the majority of freshly minted first officers log those for the purpose of acquiring the necessary “PIC” time in order to unfreeze their ATPL in the future. The PIC was put in quotes for a reason. The advice here is not to log your PICUS hours in the PIC column, as PICUS time most definitely does not count as actual PIC but only as “PIC time required for the purpose of the ATPL issue.” This will save you a great deal of explaining and logbook fixing in the future.

SkyJournal allows logging both DUAL and PICUS time by adding #dual or #picus tags to the remarks section, as shown in the example below:

The Page sheet has a tick box that can be enabled so that PICUS time gets shown.

PICUS page entries will be shown in parenthesis and are not counted towards PIC time. Instead a dedicated column at the bottom of the page will keep track of PICUS times separately.

Spreadsheet

Scripting

SkyJournal does not require Google Scripts to be enabled in order to be fully functional. Having scripts enabled will allow for certain optional extra features such as the ability to move back/forward a page by clicking on a corresponding cell in Page and Totals sheets.

Colour legend

Across all sheets a colour-coding is used to provide visual cues on the nature of the cell content:

Structure

The spreadsheet consists of 7 accessible sheets plus a hidden sheet required for technical purposes.

Log

Contains log entries. This is where all flight details are to be entered. Entries on this sheet must be ordered in an ascending order by date/time with no gaps in-between.

Log sheet can be extended to accommodate new entries when necessary. When extending the sheet (adding new rows) a warning might be shown indicating that the sheet should not be modified. This warning can be ignored.

Page

Simulates one of the most popular logbook formats – Jeppesen FCL050 with 18 entries per page. Useful for cross-checking calculations with existing physical logbooks, verifying calculations prior to filling out the physical book or for printing out the data in this widely recognisable format.

The required page can be selected by entering the page number into the A25 cell. It is also possible to enter the date of the desired first entry of the logbook into A25 cell in which case the page will be populated with the first 18 entries starting from the selected date.
When in online mode and with Scripting enabled Previous/Next page navigation can be achieved by ticking the corresponding checkboxes below the page number.

Printing

To print the FCL050 logbook page correctly:

• 1. Press CTRL-P or select File->Print in the menu
  2. Set Orientation to Landscape
  3. Set “Scale” to “Normal (100%)”
  4. Under “Formatting” deselect “Show grid lines” and deselect “Show notes”
  5. Under “Headers and footers” deselect “Repeat frozen rows” and deselect “Repeat frozen columns”

Totals

Simulates Pilot Yearly Summary section of one of the most popular logbook formats – Jeppesen FCL050. Also contains Grand Totals which is a flexible querying mechanism allowing to calculate totals only for those logbook entries which meet the specified criteria. Useful for cross-checking calculations with existing physical logbook, verifying calculations prior to filling out the physical book or for printing out the data in this widely recognisable format.

The required year can be entered into the A2 cell.  When in online mode and with Scripting enabled Previous/Next year navigation can be achieved by ticking the corresponding checkboxes below the year number.

Grand Totals

At the bottom of the sheet rows 20 to 22 are used to calculate grand totals up to and inclusive of the selected year. Grand Totals offer the possibility to show the totals only forthose logbook entries which meet the specified criteria. The criteria can be customised by ticking/unticking the corresponding checkboxes and entering data into the cells with the green background.

For example, to show how much total non-simulator multi-pilot time has been accumulated on jets or turboprops with MTOW of 20 tons or more the following selections need to be made:

The same applies to other Grand Total sections – checkboxes of interest need to be selected for the corresponding data to be included in the Grand Total value(s). Continuing with the example above, if the selections shown were made then the number of landings, approaches, IFR, cross-country and instructor times would also have been filtered to show data only for non-simulator multi-engine jet/turboprop with MTOW of 20 tons or greater.

Aircrafts

Contains aircraft registrations as well as pre-existing totals for each aircraft. In case of migrating to SkyJournal from other logbooks this sheet allows for a possibility to specify existing totals without the need of importing every entry. If per aircraft totals are not available, data can be entered against arbitrary aircraft as long as it is of the same class/type, but naturally certain Grand Totals might not be completely accurate in this case.

Types

Contains aircraft types.

Aerodromes

Contains aerodrome data such as longitude and latitude which is required for automatic night time calculation.

Help

Contains usage instructions.

System

Holds various look-up data, such as approach types and various runtime logbook stats used by formulas. This sheet is hidden and should not be modified.

Night time calculation

Night time is calculated based on civil twilight times which are in turn defined as the period after sunset or before sunrise ending or beginning when the geometric centre of the sun is about 6 degrees below the horizon. In order for night time calculation to be available the departure/arrive aerodrome must be configured and its geographical location specified in the Aerodromes sheet.

It is important to note that due to the limitations of the platform the route is not taken into account when calculating night time hence the night time is approximated. The way it is done is as follows:

• 1. The total flight time is split into two halves
  2. The night time of the first part is calculated based on the night time as if the aircraft was stationary at the departure point
  3. The night time of the second part is calculated based on the night time as if the aircraft was stationary at the arrival point
  4. Times from #2 and #3 are added together to get the final night time

Hence as can be seen the calculation is far from perfect especially if the flight is taking place between points of significant difference in latitude. For example, if a hypothetical long-haul flight was to take off from Norway during a polar night and then proceed south to South Africa all of the first half of the flight would have been counted as night time. In this case automatic night time calculated would have been greater than the actual night time.

Change Log

Latest version: 1.5.1

Get the latest copy of SkyJournal for free HERE.

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