Unsigned, Uncounted, and Unprepared: The Missing Logbook Totals
Oct 24, 2025There’s a moment every pilot dreads — the examiner flipping slowly through your logbook, page by page, eyes scanning every line. The room is quiet. You can hear the pages turning. And then comes that pause… the kind of pause that means something isn’t right. For too many students, that silence costs them more than their nerves — it costs them time, money, and a shot at their check ride.
At H.O.G.S., we’ve seen it over and over again. A student shows up feeling confident and ready to fly, but they haven’t touched their logbook in weeks or even months. Pages are missing totals, old entries are unsigned, and endorsements are scattered like confetti. It doesn’t seem like a big deal until the examiner opens that book. What should have been a quick glance turns into a forensic audit. And that’s not how you want to start your check ride.
Kenny Keller, founder of Helicopter Online Ground School, warns pilots about this exact mistake — because he’s seen what happens next. One pilot brushed off the reminder to “catch up and sign every page.” His reasoning? “Nobody does that.” Fast-forward a few hours and that same pilot was sitting on the hangar couch, calculator in hand, trying to total his hours while the meter ticked — $950 a day. Half that day wasted, not in the air, but in a pile of math and regret. That’s an expensive lesson for something so simple.
It doesn’t matter if you’re a brand-new private pilot or working toward your commercial or CFI — your logbook is a legal document and a reflection of your professionalism. Examiners know it, instructors know it, and employers definitely know it. When you hand over that logbook, you’re saying, “This is who I am as a pilot.” If it’s sloppy, unsigned, or incomplete, what does that say about your attention to detail in the cockpit?
So here’s the checklist before your next check ride:
✅ Go through every single page and total your hours.
✅ Sign each page clearly.
✅ Separate your helicopter and airplane time.
✅ Highlight or tab key entries like night flights, instrument training, and cross-countries.
✅ Print your cross-country routes from ForeFlight, mark the distances, and tape that printout right inside your logbook.
✅ Make sure every endorsement — solo, cross-country, or final sign-off — is in there, legible, and dated.
Your examiner will notice. In fact, one of the first questions he’ll ask is, “Where’d you go on your cross-country?” When you’ve got the route printed, distances measured, and endorsements marked, you’ll hand that answer over with confidence. No fumbling. No guessing. No panic. That’s the kind of detail that separates the prepared from the grounded.
If this all sounds like tedious prep, that’s because it is — but it’s also the difference between showing up as a student and showing up as a professional. Helicopter training is expensive enough without paying hundreds of dollars to fix what could’ve been done at home for free. Do the work now, total your pages, sign your logbook, and you’ll save yourself both embarrassment and cash.
🚁 Your Free Resources from H.O.G.S.
If you’re reading this and thinking, “Man, I’ve still got a lot to figure out before my check ride,” — good news. That’s exactly why we built Helicopter Online Ground School (H.O.G.S.): to make sure you never walk into a check ride unprepared again.
At www.HelicopterGround.com you can start a FREE 24-Hour Test Flight inside any of our courses — Private Pilot, Instrument, Commercial, or CFI. No credit card. No pressure. Just real lessons, real videos, and the tools that have helped thousands of pilots worldwide pass their check rides with confidence.
And while you’re getting your logbook in order, grab the free tools every pilot should have before their next check ride:
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🧭 Download the Free Helicopter Maneuver Guide at www.HogsGuide.com — packed with visual references, tips, and insights straight from real training.
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📘 Get your copy of Private Pilot 101 – A Helicopter Training Blueprint at www.PrivateBlueprint.com . This free download breaks down the exact steps from day one of training to your check ride.
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🏁 Grab the Top Ten Check-Ride Tips at www.HogsTopTen.com — a no-fluff checklist that has helped hundreds of pilots pass with confidence.
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✈️ And when you’re ready to finish your training strong, visit www.FinalApproachCourse.com to learn about the H.O.G.S. Final Approach Course, where pilots from across the country come to complete their check ride prep in person with Kenny Keller and the team.
Each of these free resources was created to eliminate overwhelm, boost your confidence, and help you walk into your check ride 100% prepared — just like the pros who’ve trained with H.O.G.S.
Got questions while you study? Visit www.AskHogs.com and chat directly with Kenny’s AI clone — built from over 24 years of flight instruction and thousands of real-world student questions. Whether you’re struggling with cross-country planning, logbook endorsements, or aerodynamics, AskHogs gives you instant, personalized answers, 24/7.
You’ve got free tools, lifetime resources, and an entire H.O.G.S. community backing you. Don’t let something as small as a missing signature be what grounds you. Preparation isn’t just part of the process — it’s the foundation of every successful pilot. So total those pages, sign those lines, and show up ready to fly. Because at the end of the day, professionalism starts before takeoff — it starts with your logbook.
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