The following help text describes the use of the filter via the web-based portal at SafelogWeb.com. Use of the filter on other platforms is similar.

The filter is a powerful tool that allows you to zero in on specific sub-sets of your data. This allows you to see more or less of your data as you require.

Basic Filter Usage

The way it basically works is that you set the filter options along the left side and then click "apply filter" (in some platform versions of Safelog, the filter may work automatically without you needing to click "apply filter"). Only the entries corresponding to the filter options that you have chosen will then be displayed.

In regular logbook view, you can see the totals based on a filter by looking at the "totals" line at the last page of a filter set. For example, if you clicked "90d" to set the date filter to the last 90 days and clicked "apply filter", you could then look at the bottom of a given column, for example, "PIC", to see your pilot-in-command time for the last 90 days.

You can turn the filter off to see your entire (unfiltered) data set. In some Safelog platform versions, you can also hide the filter. This un-draws the filter from the left side of the screen though leaves any set filter conditions in place. This allows for more screen real-estate to see your filtered data set. A plain-text description of whatever filter condition you may have set is shown on most screens where filtered data is displayed. This allows you to verify that you are actually looking at what you think you set the filter to.

The filter varies slightly between platform versions: The filter varies slightly on platform versions. In certain desktop versions, for example, the filter may support "checkboxes" for items that allows you to, for example, select multiple specific items (such as multiple specific aircraft or aircraft types). If you are looking for such a query, besides trying the "totals" screen on whatever platform you are on (as the totals screen supports checkboxes on all platform versions), you may want to try a desktop version of Safelog to see if the filter there better matches your specific needs.

This help document refers to example fields such as "PIC", "Night" and "Cross Country" that you may or may not have in your specific logbook.

Specific Examples and Usage

Each of the below examples assumes that you click on "apply filter" as necessary. Additionally don't forget that in some cases you can combine filter conditions - for example, you can set a date filter and select a specific aircraft registration to see your flights in a specific aircraft within some date range.

Date Range Selector - the date-range selector should be straightforward. You select the starting and ending dates, inclusive, that you want the filter to cover. There are quick buttons to set all dates, the last 30 days, the last year, Year to Date (YTD) and so forth. When filtering flights by date, it's important to recognize that the times are generally based on when a given flight started. For example, if you logged a given flight as occurring on June 30th, 23:00 and having a duration of 4 hours (that is, until July 1, 03:00) and then set the filter to show only the flights from June, all four of those hours will indeed be counted as it is based on the start time of the flight or period. Consequently, this flight would not be included if you filter to only show July flights.

Filter Main Body - In several Safelog versions, the main body filter tree is a multilevel tree that opens up as you "drill down" to look for more and more specific data. We use "..." below to indicate you are "drilling down" a tree level. There's real power in this part of the filter but it takes a little experimentation to figure out how to get the most from it. Let's go section by section and use examples to show you how it works. As you'll see, there are sometimes multiple ways to get to the same desired result. As per the note above, the filter main body is often "nested" where when you choose a filter item, the entire filter is presented again, allowing you to drill down further with an "AND" search (for example, "Manufacturer = Cessna AND PIC Time > 0.")

• View Data Without Filters - Clears (nullifies) the central part of the filter. Does not, however, set the date filter to 'all dates' if you had it set to something else.
• Aircraft by Registration - this is useful for viewing your times in a single, specific aircraft.
  • My time in N123AB (a specific aircraft) - navigate the tree to Aircraft by Registration ... N123AB.
  • My time in G-BLIP (a specific aircraft) - navigate the tree to Aircraft by Registration ... G-BLIP.
• Aircraft by Make/Model - allows you to filter by aircraft manufacturer, type, or specific registration.
  • My time in Embraer aircraft - navigate the tree to Aircraft by Make / Model ... Embraer.
  • My time in Embraer E170 aircraft - navigate the tree to Aircraft by Make / Model ... Embraer ... E170.
  • My time in a Embraer E170 aircraft, N631RW - navigate the tree to Aircraft by Make / Model ... Embraer ... E170 ... N631RW.
• Aircraft Characteristics - filters your logbook based on the characteristics you have assigned to a specific aircraft. Remember: these are based on characteristics that you have assigned, so if you have accidentally specified that your B747 is a biplane, then it will appear as such in the system. Users who don't see the totals that they expect have often made errors in their aircraft characteristics. You can review and edit these under the 'aircraft' menu. Be very much on the lookout for any listings on the aircraft screen where there is an error or warning flag next to a given listing. This "aircraft characteristics" filter branch allows you to specify a single aircraft characteristic. If you want to specify more than one, use the 'multiple aircraft characteristics' branch.
  • My helicopter time - navigate the tree to Aircraft Characteristics ... Helicopter. This is an example of a single characteristic search.
  • My time in turbocharged Cessnas - navigate the tree to Aircraft Characteristics ... Turbocharged ... Cessna.
  • My time in NON-turbocharged Cessnas - navigate to Aircraft Characteristics ... Not Turbocharged ... Cessna. The "Not" keyword is used for negative characteristics.
• Multiple Aircraft Characteristics - similar to the single aircraft characteristics feature, but a bit more powerful.
  • My turbojet airplane time - navigate the tree to Multiple Aircraft Characteristics ... Airplane ... Turbojet. This is an example of a multiple characteristic filter.
  • My time in NON-simulator airplanes - navigate to Multiple Aircraft Characteristics ... Not Simulator ... Airplane.
  • My time in NON-simulator turbojet airplanes - navigate to Multiple Aircraft Characteristics ... Turbojet ... Airplane ... Not Simulator. Notice how we reversed the order of the selection from the previous example. This is completely arbitrary. You can select them in any order -- the results will be the same.
  • My time in Boeing NON-simulator turbojet airplanes - navigate to Multiple Aircraft Characteristics ... Turbojet ... Airplane ... Not Simulator ... Boeing.
  • My time in Boeing B737 NON-simulator turbojet airplanes - navigate to Multiple Aircraft Characteristics ... Turbojet ... Airplane ... Not Simulator ... Boeing ... B737.
  • My time in Boeing NON-simulator turbojet airplanes - navigate to Multiple Aircraft Characteristics ... Turbojet ... Airplane ... Not Simulator ... Boeing. And you can even further drill down from that to see any specific aircraft registration.
• Aircraft Airline (or Company/Operator in some cases) - allows you to filter on specific oprator. The "operator" field for the aircraft field must be filled out.
  • My time that I flew for British Airways - navigate the tree to Aircraft Airline ... British Airways.
  • My time that I flew Boeings for British Airways - navigate the tree to Aircraft Airline ... British Airways ... Airplane ... Boeing.
  • My time that I flew Boeing 777s for British Airways - navigate the tree to Aircraft Airline ... British Airways ... Airplane ... Boeing ... B777.
• Handling Role - this will only be visible if you have Airline Options ... Handling Role Field ... Display Handling Role checked under 'Setup.'
  • My time that I flew as PF (Pilot Flying) - navigate the tree to Handling Role .. PF.
  • My time that I flew as PNF (Pilot Not Flying) - navigate the tree to Handling Role .. PNF.
  • My time that I flew as PF (Pilot Flying) in Boeing Airplanes - navigate the tree to Handling Role .. PF .. Airplane .. Boeing.
  • My time that I flew as Examiner in Cessna C-172 Airplanes - navigate the tree to Handling Role .. Examiner .. Airplane .. Cessna .. C172.
• Time Elapsed Fields - these are useful to filter on specific "flight time" based fields of your flight. This filter is really powerful but should be used with precision and care. Remember - in general, you should be seeing all such fields anyway in the logbook table at right. So if your goal (continuing from the previous example in the last section above) is to see the sum of your PIC time in Boeing 777s that you flew for British Airways, you could navigate the tree to Aircraft Airline ... British Airways ... Airplane ... Boeing ... B777 and then read the bottom total value on the last page of the PIC column. Notice how the examples below, which are from this "time elapsed fields" section are a bit different:
  • All my flights where my night time is greater than zero - navigate the tree to Time Elapsed Fields ... Night ... >0. Notice how the "> 0" means "greater than zero." Let's think about this for a second. If you do this filter, you will be shown only flights where the night time logged is greater than zero. Will the "total duration of flight" column therefore show your night time? The answer is - it depends, though in this case probably not. Think about what we're asking here. We're asking to show only those flights where the night time is greater than zero. This would include flights that included both day and night time, so a 4 hour flight with 2 hours day and 2 hours night would add 4 hours to the filtered "total duration of flight" column.
  • All my flights where I flew cross country flights of greater than 1 hour. - navigate the tree to Time Elapsed Fields ... XC ... >X. It will then prompt you for a value for "X". Enter "1" for X.
  • All my flights where I logged PIC time of greater than 1 hour but less than or equal to 2 hours. - navigate the tree to Time Elapsed Fields ... PIC ... >X and <=Y. "<=" is shorthand for "Less than or equal to." It will then prompt you for X and Y. Enter 1 for X and 2 for Y.
  • All my flights where I logged both PIC time and XC time for that flight - navigate the tree to Time Elapsed Fields ... PIC ... >0 ... XC ... >0. This is an example of looking at more than one time elapsed field at a time.
  • All my flights where I logged PIC time but no XC time for that flight - navigate the tree to Time Elapsed Fields ... PIC ... >0 ... XC ... =0.
  • All my PIC time that was NOT also Flight Instructor time in Cessna C172s - navigate the tree to Time Elapsed Fields ... PIC >0 ... As Flight Instructor ... =0 ... Airplane ... Cessna ... 172. If you have multiple Cessna 172s listed as separate types (for example, C172N and C172R), you'd have to manually add the totals from the bottom in doing this filter twice in this case.
• Misc Numerical Fields - these are useful to filter on specific "whole number" based fields of your flight. This works similarly to the "time elapsed fields" filter branch described above. Again, remember that there's no need to be using this if all you want to do, for example, is to find out how many landings you had in the last 30 days - in that case, just select the date filter for 30d and look in the last row totals under the appropriate landings columns.
  • All my flights where I logged exactly two day landings - navigate the tree to Misc Numerical Fields ... Day Landings ... =X. When prompted, enter "2" for X.
  • All my flights where I logged at least one precision instrument approach - navigate the tree to Misc Numerical Fields ... Approaches Precision ... >0.
  • All my flights in turbojets where I logged at least one precision instrument approach - navigate the tree to Misc Numerical Fields ... Approaches Precision ... >0 ... Turbojet.
  • All my flights in Airbus turbojets where I logged at least one precision instrument approach - navigate the tree to Misc Numerical Fields ... Approaches Precision ... >0 ... Turbojet ... Airbus.
  • All my flights in Airbus A350 turbojets where I logged at least one precision instrument approach - navigate the tree to Misc Numerical Fields ... Approaches Precision ... >0 ... Turbojet ... Airbus ... A350.
• Crew, Monetary, and Custom - Depending on the crew, custom, and monetary fields you may have defined, you will find additional filter tree branches here. The below examples are typical:
  • All my flights where I was listed as Captain - navigate the tree to Crew Captain ... SELF.
  • All my flights where John Smith was listed as Copilot - navigate the tree to Crew Copilot ... John Smith.
  • All my flights where John Smith was listed as Copilot in Boeing Airplanes - navigate the tree to Crew Copilot ... John Smith ... Airplane .. Boeing.
  • All my flights where my custom field 'Mission Code' was listed as 'PIPELINE-8' - navigate the tree to Mission Code ... PIPELINE-8.

How to select multiple aircraft types, multiple aircraft registrations, multiple aircraft manufacturers, or multiple operators/companies using the filter: As of this writing, the filter 'natively' supports filtering by single aircraft types, registrations, manufacturers, or operators. Most of the time this is not a problem - if you are after your TOTALS for more than one aircraft type, registration, manufacturer, or operator, please read further below where there is a list of suggestions as to ho 'other tools in Safelog work better' for some things. Fortunately, however, there is a workaround to get you what you are after if you indeed want to filter your logbook on for example just two or three specific aircraft types, etc. And here it is:

• Go to SafelogWeb.com ... Setup
• Go to Fields Setup .. Characteristics (Custom Aircraft Characteristics)
• Add a "temporary" characteristic in one of the customizable slots. For example, you might call it "FILTERTEMP". If all of your custom characteristics slots are used up, you can just do the same thing by using a relatively obscure built-in characteristic, such as 'Firefighting' or something else that you don't ordinarily use. Make sure the new characteristic is enabled.
• Go to your aircraft screen. Assign this characteristic to all the aircraft in question.
• Now, filter by that characteristic The resultant list of flights will now reflect what you are after.

Airport Section - Using the airport selector, you can filter on specific flights that either went TO, FROM, or VIA an airport. This is convenient for example if you remember that you flew into Martha's Vineyard (KMVY) and want to find the specific flight. Put both an arrival and departure airport if you know both exactly. For example, if you put from KJFK to EGLL it will show ONLY those flights that originated at KJFK Kennedy International and terminated at EGLL Heathrow. If you're looking at this you may find it even more useful to look at the "Airport Reports" section under "Printing" as you can use that to generate totals of where you flew.

One cool thing you can do with the airport filter is this: set the FROM airport at your home base airport and apply the filter. Then, switch to MAP VIEW. This will allow you to see all the destinations that you flew from from that airport, graphically.

Text Filters - This allows you to search the comments that you have attached to your flights. This is basically a text search. You can either select a specific comments/notes field to search under or all of them if you leave this set to "all text fields." On some platform versions of Safelog there are also options to search text that only appears (or does not appear) at the beginning or end of text fields.

Thank you for reading through this! As you see, the filter is quite powerful, but it does have some nuances. We encourage you to experiment with it to see how it works. If you have any specific questions on filter usage not covered here, we're happy to hear from you via our helpdesk.

The filter is good for some things. However, for other things, other tools in Safelog work better. Here are some examples:

• To see your totals for multiple aircraft or aircraft types, use the TOTALS feature. Look for a mode that puts aircraft or aircraft types (whichever you're looking for) in the left column. Then, click checkboxes on the left side next to the ones you are interested in, and you'll see totals at the bottom for this. As far as the rows, this can be whatever you wish from the supported options, including logbook fields, dates, and more.
• You can also see totals for arbitrary groupings of your aircraft types / registrations (such as for example grouping all your 737-700 and 737-800 hours into a single "737" total) by using the grouping feature in Printing and Reports ... Career Summaries ... Career Summary by Aircraft on the web and desktop computer versions of Safelog.
• To see a month-to-month or year-to-year total of your flying, use the graphs feature and look at the totals table below that. The data in the table will reflect your graph selection.
• If you're filling out a form for career or regulatory purposes, try going to reports/printouts and then either the career reports of the regulatory reports. Safelog has a number of popular reports built in, meaning that we've done all the work for you. This includes everything from FAA Form 8710-1/IACRA to various EASA forms to various airline application helpers.
• If you're preparing for an FAA practical test or are otherwise interested in your regulatory status we likewise have tools that compute your aeronautical experience against FAA requirements. Please check under "currency" for this.