Be thorough and accurate
There are numerous regulations pertaining to the logging of flight time, and sometimes they are confusing to even the most experienced pilot or flight instructor. It's important to accurately and completely document flight instruction and flying. Occasionally, a logged entry is scrutinized by someone in authority, such as an examiner before a checkride or an FAA inspector during an investigation. Sometimes during this scrutiny, problems with logging are identified.
Let's start with the basic requirement that a log of time and experience be made. Federal Aviation Regulation (FAR) 61.51 states:
(a) Training time and aeronautical experience. Each person must document and record the following time in a manner acceptable to the FAA administrator:
(1) Training and aeronautical experience used to meet the requirements for a certificate, rating, or flight review of this part.
(2) The aeronautical experience required for meeting the recent flight experience requirements of this part.
This regulation sets out the minimum of what you are required to document and record. The FAA has interpreted this language to mean that a pilot may enter flight time in his or her logbook as the pilot sees fit, so long as that specific flight time used to meet a Part 61 certification or experience requirement is logged in accordance with Section 61.51. In fact, we recommend that a pilot maintain a record of all pilot "activity," with each entry containing a note of whether or not that activity is logged in accordance with Section 61.51.
This is why you may hear pilots talk about the difference in time that they have actually flown as compared to the time that they have written down. The only time that the FAA can require you to document is the flight time needed to show eligibility for additional ratings and certificates and the flight time necessary for currency. Still, you are encouraged to log all of the time that you can log; total time can help lower insurance costs.
FAR 61.51 also sets out the requirements for what the logbook entry must include. That is,
(b) Logbook entries. For the purpose of meeting the requirements of paragraph (a) of this section, each person must enter the following information for each flight or lesson logged:
(1) General--
(i) Date.
(ii) Total flight time or lesson time.
(iii) Location where the aircraft departed and arrived, or for lessons in a flight simulator or flight training device, the location where the lesson occurred.
(iv) Type and identification of aircraft, flight simulator, or flight training device, as appropriate.
(v) The name of a safety pilot, if required by FAR 91.109(b) of this chapter.
(2) Type of pilot experience or training--
(i) Solo.
(ii) Pilot in command.
(iii) Second in command.
(iv) Flight and ground training received from an authorized instructor.
(v) Training received in a flight simulator or flight training device from an authorized instructor.
(3) Conditions of flight--
(i) Day or night.
(ii) Actual instrument.
(iii) Simulated instrument conditions in flight, a flight simulator, or a flight training device.
Again, this is the minimum information that your entry must contain. If information is missing, it may be a reason to deny you a checkride when the time comes. And incorrect information may invite the FAA to take action against your certificate for an entry that is false. You may choose to include other information, such as "Flight to visit AOPA Headquarters--shook hands with Phil." For many pilots, the logbook is a memoir of some of the best times of their lives.
Kathy Yodice is an attorney with Yodice Associates in Washington, D.C., which provides legal counsel to AOPA and administers AOPA's legal services plan. She is an instrument-rated private pilot.
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