Flight Log Software in 2020

[AtmosphericArts]

I've been flying under Part 107 for over a year and using Kittyhawk as my main flight logging platform, but there are some bugs and quirks that have been present the entire time (software crashing hard on iOS, not associating batteries to flights even though they do associate flights to batteries ?‍, only logs one I2 battery per flight, clunky interface). These issues aren't a deal-breaker for me now, but I suspect this will only become more of a problem as my business grows (planning on getting an M600, and it'll be a PITA to manually link all six batteries to every flight). I currently only fly through Go4 right now, but will be needing Litchi and DroneDeploy integration down the road.

I know there are a lot of competitors (and threads) out there, but curious to see what this community is using in 2020. AirData UAV seems to be pretty feature-rich, but I'm iOS based and their app doesn't seem to have been updated in 2 years. Skyward seems promising but it seems optimized for bigger businesses. Should I just stick with Kittyhawk and hope everything gets fixed or do any of you recommend an alternative?

 

[BigAl07]

We use Airdata and have for years (all on iOS platforms here).

 

[R Martin]

DroneLogBook here since I began. Took a little work to configure and customize but I'm really happy with it now. We also all keep personal paper logs as well, just in case.

 

[Fred Garvin]

AirData UAV + Paper logbook. Had a bad experience with Kittyhawk and won’t be returning.

 

[mfabo]

AirData UAV + Paper logbook. Had a bad experience with Kittyhawk and won’t be returning.

I agree - I use AirData, but also a logbook with Excel spreadsheet of flights and data.

 

[AtmosphericArts]

AirData UAV + Paper logbook. Had a bad experience with Kittyhawk and won’t be returning.

I generally like Kittyhawk's mission planning and overall feature set (except for lack of Litchi logging since its a competitor of their own flight planning software), but have experienced some crashes and bugs that make me hesitant to invest more into it. What was the issue you were having?

 

[Fred Garvin]

...What was the issue you were having?...

A while back, they cut off advanced mission planning with LAANC for free users. This caused quite a stir. I was just getting my business off the ground and intended to grow into a paid account. Having only 2 aircraft and “maybe” a job or two a week, I just didn’t have the volume yet.

They made it so you couldn’t get LAANC approval in advance of ANY timeframe, not even an hour. I wrote to them saying that this was an issue, as we normally get everything in order for a mission at least 24 hours in advance, usually more. They returned my email saying sorry, but the free users were taking up too many resources, and besides I was doing it wrong anyway. Just get LAANC approved right before you fly, like checking NOTAM’s and TFR’s. Get LAANC then. I replied that it was poor business sense and unprofessional to show up at a job site unprepared to fly and with little ability to resolve any airspace issues, rescheduling issues, etc. No, my workflow of being prepared in advance was the better way. The next response was no, you’re wrong. Just get LAANC approval right before you take off, or PAY MONEY for an upgraded account.

I was so turned off by this, I just went with the other FREE options, and now have GROWN INTO a PAID AirDataUAV account. So KittyHawk lost me. I’ve noticed however, that they have re-enabled advanced planning for free accounts. I SO WANTED to write that jackass back and point this out, but even that required more effort than I was willing to give them.

 

[Airmapper]

I use the DJI Go app to help grab some flight particulars to record, but got a real paper logbook as my end all be all log.

For example I flew a mapping mission with Pix4dcapture and that didn't log into the DJI app. But I wrote it in my paper logbook.

Just remember, the logbook isn't really yours, it's the FAA's. You may find it useful for different things, but it's not for you.

 

[R.Perry]

Airdata, it works