FlyingHollander From Netherlands, joined Jul 2011, 210 posts, RR: 0 Posted (1 year 9 months 3 weeks 3 days 4 hours ago) and read 3676 times:
Hello everyone,
This is my first post on Airliners.net, so please bare with me. I'm not entirely sure if this is the right forum to post this is in, if it isn't please feel free to say so.
I am currently 16 years old and in recent years have developed a love for commercial aviation. To be able to look back at my flights I want to start logging them like so many of you out here on Anet. My question is: What information should I note and put into my log? Of course the obvious things like: Flight#, Airline, Dep./Arr. Times/Airports, Aircraft Type, Reg# and Seat Number. What other information should I include?
Another question I have is: Is there any way to trace which flights I have been on the last 16 years? I think I could go back 'till '05 looking at bills, confirmation e-mails and my SkyMiles (DL) account. However, I assume that going back all the way to '95 is a lost cause? Assuming I won't be able to go back that far I think I will make a fresh start and log flights from now on (since I haven't flown since my b-day I can say since my 16th).
AirCanada787 From Canada, joined Nov 2010, 260 posts, RR: 0 Reply 1, posted (1 year 9 months 3 weeks 3 days 3 hours ago) and read 3664 times:
First off, welcome to Airliners.net!
Personally I found I had the same problem when I started to track my flights, most of the flights I took before I was 15 I didn't really have many details about. Somethings I managed to look up information on various websites and often on here many people will be able to provide answers to your questions. The information I currently save I put into my FlightMemory.com profile which allows me to track/save/update my past and future flights. I log the airline, flight number, arrival and departure times, aircraft type and reg, class, seat number, I think that's it. It also allows me to give star ratings to many aspects of my flight and then calculates averages for each airline/aircraft/airport that I have flown on or too.
I like FlightMemory.com since then it saves all the information for you and you can search it. It also generates a map for you that shows all your flights. I know someone that has also created a spread sheet for this information on their computer. Personally I like having the information online since I cam update it easily even when travelling without my computer.
Good luck!
The mind, like a parachute, functions only when open.
Quoting FlyingHollander (Thread starter): My question is: What information should I note and put into my log? Of course the obvious things like: Flight#, Airline, Dep./Arr. Times/Airports, Aircraft Type, Reg# and Seat Number. What other information should I include?
"Distance".
As mentioned by AirCanada787 FlightMemory.com (or its original Flugstatistik.de) is a good option to keep record of one's flights.
As my electronic record keeping is even older I am using a ACCESS-Database that not only has the details of my flights, but also is holding the information of the entire vacation (including surface trips).
Once the information is in tabular format, it should be easy to retrieve all the usual and unusual statistics from it.
While specifics like airline or aircraft type might be difficult to find out, it can be assumed that the older folk in your family should be able to recall the flights they had taken you onto. This should provide you then with the airports involved; if unsure about airline, enter a Dummy. If unsure with dates, select the First of a suitable month, and so on.
-HT
Carpe diem ! Life is too short to waste your time ! Keep in mind, that today is the first day of the rest of your life !
Eltomzo From United Kingdom, joined Feb 2009, 60 posts, RR: 0 Reply 3, posted (1 year 9 months 3 weeks 1 day 23 hours ago) and read 3574 times:
I will third the recommendation for flightmemory.com
In addition, I keep a spreadsheet (266 flight entries so far!) of all my flights, with the following headings: date, to/from airports (IATA and ICAO), distance, duration, airline, a/c type, reg, a/c date of manufacture, a/c age at time of travel, a/c range, % of range capability used on flight and a link to a pic of that a/c.
Of course, most of those things can be derived from the information you enter into flightmemory - I find that only reg and seat number need to be logged at the time of flying - the rest can be found in your e-ticket/email confirmation and derived from that.
AA AF BA BE BR CA CI CX CZ EZY FR HU HX GA GS IT J2 KL LH MK MU NH OZ QR SQ TG TK TCX UN UX VN VY WY W6
FlyingHollander From Netherlands, joined Jul 2011, 210 posts, RR: 0 Reply 4, posted (1 year 9 months 3 weeks 1 day 11 hours ago) and read 3530 times:
Thanks for the replies!
I've added 31 flights to FlightMemory.com so far (with little or no info), and I've probably been on about 75 more flights. Most of the missing flights will be from AMS via XXX to SEA/PHX/ORD. Thus I should be able to figure out the outbound flights by looking at passport stamps and then the next flight out to my final destination on that day. The way back is the problem, as there is no outbound immigration check. I think I'll try to dig up as much info as possible just for fun! But I'll start my log from now on.
I have one last question about the Arr./Dep. Times: Do you log the scheduled times or actual times? And if you log the actual times what is considered Dep./Arr. time?
bgm From United Kingdom, joined Sep 2009, 123 posts, RR: 0 Reply 5, posted (1 year 9 months 3 weeks 1 day 3 hours ago) and read 3511 times:
I use OpenFlights (www.openflights.org) to log my flights - I find it much better than FlightMemory. Interactive map, more statistics, nicer interface etc.. but all down to personal preference.
HT From Germany, joined May 2005, 6471 posts, RR: 27 Reply 6, posted (1 year 9 months 3 weeks 1 day ago) and read 3499 times:
Quoting FlyingHollander (Reply 4): I have one last question about the Arr./Dep. Times: Do you log the scheduled times or actual times? And if you log the actual times what is considered Dep./Arr. time?
I do not care about arrival or departure times - or even flight duration..Only in case of extraordinary delays some words go into "Comments".
Probably will do the job well, too, but looks a bit less intuitive to me. Maybe this is due to being in self-proclaimed "Delta"-testing mode ...
Independently from the website chosen, it should work with ICAO-codes for the airports, not just IATA-codes.
And, ideally, it should allow to add "locations" on your own, like logging "the helicopter flight taking off from behind Superstore XYZ making a scenic flight" ... Hardly any website will cater for this, but self-programmed tools will.
-HT
Carpe diem ! Life is too short to waste your time ! Keep in mind, that today is the first day of the rest of your life !
B747forever From United States of America, joined May 2007, 16574 posts, RR: 11 Reply 7, posted (1 year 9 months 3 weeks 22 hours ago) and read 3488 times:
This is how I log each of my flights, starting from 2006. Before that I never logged any flights.
Flight: KL 603
From: Amsterdam Schiphol AMS Terminal E
To: Los Angeles LAX Terminal 2
Distance: 8977km/5578mi/4847nm
Depart Schedule: Friday 1 July 2011 12:20
Depart Actual: Friday 1 July 2011 13:09
Airborne/Runway: 13:32/ RWY: 36L
Arrive Schedule: Friday 1 July 2011 14:20
Arrive Actual: Friday 1 July 2011 15:19
Touchdown/Runway: 15:09/ RWY: 24R
Duration Schedule: 11 hours
Duration Actual: 11 hours 10 minutes
Taxi time: 33 minutes
Flight time in air: 10 hours 37 minutes
Aircraft: Boeing 747-400M (747-406M)
Registration number: PH-BFM (Mexico City)
Seat: 43A
Travel Class: Economy Class
Operating Airline: KLM Royal Dutch Airlines KL
Notes:
The departure/arrival times are when the a/c leaves from the gate and arrvies at the gate
Register for free and you will be able to find flight information about flights all over the world at least from 2005 onwards. The aircraft types are not always 100% accurate, but most of the time they are.
Personally, I don't include registration numbers on my log, only the aircraft type. There reason for this is that sometimes I don't have time to write down the number when boarding or exiting the plane or something is blocking the view to the plane and having flights with missing information would make me very upset It's painful enough to be missing aircraft types for a few flights in the 1990s and early 2000s.
I do though like to separate aircraft types very precisely. For example I always find out about ER and non-ER versions and all those various versions of E-jets.
FlyingHollander From Netherlands, joined Jul 2011, 210 posts, RR: 0 Reply 9, posted (1 year 9 months 2 weeks 6 days 23 hours ago) and read 3432 times:
Quoting EricAY05 (Reply 8): and having flights with missing information would make me very upset
That's exactly the reason why I think I'm gonna start my log from now on!
The only problem I have with the sites to log flights, especially FlighyMemory.com is that the maps get very crowded, they just become red blobs. Shouldn't it be possible to include interactive maps on a site like that so that you can select certain flights only to show on the map?
B747forever From United States of America, joined May 2007, 16574 posts, RR: 11 Reply 10, posted (1 year 9 months 2 weeks 6 days 15 hours ago) and read 3416 times:
Quoting EricAY05 (Reply 8): I do though like to separate aircraft types very precisely. For example I always find out about ER and non-ER versions and all those various versions of E-jets.
I am the same. I also make difference between wingletted a/c and non wingletted a/c.
HT From Germany, joined May 2005, 6471 posts, RR: 27 Reply 11, posted (1 year 9 months 2 weeks 6 days 15 hours ago) and read 3416 times:
To display selected flights on a map there always is the option of www.gcmap.com - or its older version http://gc.kls2.com/ which I find easier to fill with flight path data.
-HT
Carpe diem ! Life is too short to waste your time ! Keep in mind, that today is the first day of the rest of your life !
airbuseric From Netherlands, joined Jan 2005, 4015 posts, RR: 52 Reply 12, posted (1 year 9 months 2 weeks 6 days 12 hours ago) and read 3410 times:
You can try flightdiary.net also, which can be linked to your facebook page (if you have/like it), and you can zoom in/out on the flight maps. Plus, flightdiary.net fills out the forms partly automatically when you enter date and flightnumber (yes, it even puts in the correct a/c type and registration for most of my flights).
"The whole world steps aside for the man who knows where he is going"
SRQKEF From Iceland, joined Jun 2011, 692 posts, RR: 1 Reply 13, posted (1 year 9 months 1 week 6 days 5 hours ago) and read 3201 times:
I'm 13 and I have 152 flights (logged them with my dads help, he works in the industry so he remember the flights on our vacations and I can trust his knowledge on airlines and aircraft) I don't use any website, I just log them in my iPad and a book. I only have flight 111-152 (Oct 2009-Aug 2011) logged with reg and flight nr, others are just in the total flight directory where I write down airlines, aircraft series and subtypes.
This is how I log my flights (use my last flight as a example):
My 152nd flight
Airline: Icelandair (82nd flight on FI)
Aircraft: Boeing 757-200 (86th flight on 757, 76th flight on 752)
Reg: TF-LLX (2nd flight since Oct 2009)
Sched. dep/arv time: 23:40/1:40
Actual dep/arv time: 0:51/2:59
Flight nr: FI 597
From: Barcelona (BCN LEBL)
To: Keflavik (KEF BIKF)
Date: 31st July 2011
tan1mill From United States of America, joined Mar 2007, 68 posts, RR: 0 Reply 15, posted (1 year 9 months 2 days 17 hours ago) and read 2930 times:
I've just recently begun using FlightMemory.com but am having trouble looking up old information. Where can I go to find the registration number of a/c I flew on in the past? I've seen some sites mentioned but don't know where to go on those sites to find the information.
I also have a list of routes with the associated a/c registration, but don't have the flight times or flight numbers they were.
Anyone have any favorite site they use to find this information from the past? I would greatly appreciate the help.
Love many, Trust few, Always paddle your own canoe.
CrimsonNL From Netherlands, joined Dec 2007, 1615 posts, RR: 42 Reply 16, posted (1 year 9 months 1 day 8 hours ago) and read 2875 times:
AIRLINERS.NET CREW CHAT OPERATOR
Welcome to anet! I keep a flight memory account, but also a personal log which is far more extensive, I pulled a random flight to show you how I log it.
Date: 24-NOV-07
Origin: AMS
Dest: LCY
Operator: VLM
Flight: VG209
Type: F27 Mk050 (F-50)
Reg: OO-VLV
Built in: 1989
Age (when flown on it): 18
Winglets: N
Engines: 2 PWC PW127B
Construction number: 20160
Remark: "Isle of Jersey"
TCASAlert From , joined Dec 1969, posts, RR: Reply 18, posted (1 year 9 months 1 day 2 hours ago) and read 2852 times:
Quoting tan1mill (Reply 15): I've just recently begun using FlightMemory.com but am having trouble looking up old information. Where can I go to find the registration number of a/c I flew on in the past? I've seen some sites mentioned but don't know where to go on those sites to find the information.
I also have a list of routes with the associated a/c registration, but don't have the flight times or flight numbers they were.
When/where were the flights from?
You can get registration info from a variety of sources, including ACARS, SBS1 (flight24/libhomeradar), movements logs etc.
If in the USA, you can get actual wheels off/wheels on times from the FAA on time data, along with registrations.
Post what you're after and we can try and find the information from the web
Shnoob940 From Australia, joined Sep 2008, 162 posts, RR: 0 Reply 20, posted (1 year 9 months 14 hours ago) and read 2821 times:
I have an iPhone app called LogTenSim, not sure if it is still available. It is a very easy to use app which can install all your data of the flight. I think it is meant for Flight Simulator, but it works just as well for real flights.
EIDAA From Ireland, joined Oct 2006, 821 posts, RR: 16 Reply 22, posted (1 year 9 months 10 hours ago) and read 2800 times:
Quoting tan1mill (Reply 19): Where on the FAA page do I go to get this?
It is actually the Bureau of Transportation Statistics that provides the data. Search for their site and you will find the data. Unfortunatley I can't post a link here.
Your flight looks like it was #893 (Scheduled Dep 09:10 - Scheduled Arr 11:17)
Carrier Code 9E
Date (MM/DD/YYYY) 12/15/2009
Flight Number 0983
Tail Number 92009E (N200PQ)
Destination Airport ROC
Scheduled Departure Time 09:10
Actual Departure Time 09:05
Scheduled Elapsed Time (Minutes) 0127
Actual Elapsed Time (Minutes) 0125
Departure Delay (Minutes) -5
Wheels-off Time 09:34
Taxi-out Time (Minutes) 29
tan1mill From United States of America, joined Mar 2007, 68 posts, RR: 0 Reply 24, posted (1 year 8 months 4 weeks 1 day 20 hours ago) and read 2757 times:
Awesome. Thanks a lot for the info guys! I'll let you know if I need more help.
Love many, Trust few, Always paddle your own canoe.
25 FlyingHollander: It's good to see that the thread has gone on while I've been away! I just flew back from STN yesterday, so this will be my first flight in my log. I'v
26 CrimsonNL: This is how the first entries in my log look like. The construction number in blue is a hyperlink to either the airliners.net page with photo's of the
27 tan1mill: The BTS website says the registration number for one of my flights was 85989E. What does that number mean and does it correspond to the N number in an
28 dumbell2424: BTS isn't perfect. It claimed N90511 was N511AA once before when I knew for a fact I was on N90511. Haha
Sponsor Message: 
From Netherlands, joined Jul 2011, 210 posts, 
From Canada, joined Nov 2010, 260 posts, 
From Germany, joined May 2005, 6471 posts, 
From United Kingdom, joined Feb 2009, 60 posts, 
From United States of America, joined May 2007, 16574 posts, 
From Finland, joined Sep 2010, 77 posts, 
It's painful enough to be missing aircraft types for a few flights in the 1990s and early 2000s.
From Iceland, joined Jun 2011, 692 posts, 
From , joined Dec 1969, posts, 
From Australia, joined Sep 2008, 162 posts, 
From Ireland, joined Oct 2006, 821 posts, 
Printer friendly format 
