Lately, I’ve been getting the urge to flush hard-earned money down the toilet. In other words, get checked out at a local airport and burn holes in the sky. You know, in search of the $160 (current C172 / hr rental) hamburger. I’ve also been spending a bit of time on barnstormers and tradeaplane, which is stupid right? What do they say, if it floats, flies, or “smiles”, it’s far cheaper to rent? Or, “if you think boat ownership is expensive, let me introduce you to airplanes.”
To that end, I spent a 1/2 day searching for and then unpacking a box that I’ve not thought about since we moved 4 years ago. On the top written in Sharpie states, DAN’S OFFICE - FLYING GEAR. Inside I found assorted ASA and Jeppesen publications, one of my dad’s mechanical USAF E6Bs, 2 x digital calculator style E6Bs, two flight bags, an Icom IC-A6 handheld, 2 x David Clark H10-40 headsets, a 9 volt powered intercom, a plastic plotter, a couple of VFR sectionals from 2009, assorted flashlights, earplugs, wine bottle opener, fuel sump tester, 3 x kneeboards, a Private Pilot certificate, a 3rd Class Medical, AOPA membership card, and most importantly, a black book entitled PILOT LOGBOOK, modestly containing 34 pages of flight entries, BFRs, a high performance sign-off, a tailwheel endorsement, and the like.
It’s undoubtedly pitiful compared to that of the other members of this forum, but reviewing some of the entries brought back a number of memorable flights, especially one on 14 Feb 1987, when I took my dad flying in a C152. We rented it at the now closed Stone Mountain Memorial and flew over to Winder to have - wait for it - hamburgers and check out some OV-10s parked on the ramp. I guess that we were over gross in the front row, but somehow survived to tell the tale. I offered him what I’m sure was his last known landing, recorded nowhere but the logbook of my heart. The last time he had flown was 15 years earlier piloting an F-4E Phantom. He asked me one question, “What does she like over the fence?”, to which I replied 60 kts. Of course the wheels kissed the pavement imperceptibly when we returned to earth. Glancing his way I detected a smirk on one corner of his mouth, dad’s equivalent of dropping the microphone. Nothing was said between us, but his satisfaction filled that tiny cockpit. No matter the conveyance, clearly he was still master of his air domain. I was paying for the plane and the burgers, but this ■■■■■ was still his. I loved it.
As priceless as that moment was, what would have probably hurt more financially is if I had lost the logbook during our move. So I set about scanning it yesterday, something I had procrastinated doing for what, 3 decades? That went well, but it got me thinking about migrating to digital. I mean certainly pilots don’t carry little books around with them in the connected age? While there are some good online articles on the subject, I wondered what the Mudspike brain trust is using.
). Unfortunately I haven’t filled out my personal logbook since 2018-ish. If I ever apply somewhere else I might have to bring it up to speed, which would probably take a week! 
