December 1998

Features

Logbooks

Logbooks

Keeping Careful Records

One of a pilot's most prized possessions is his (or her) logbook. Condensed in its pages is the sum total of his training and experience, measured in tenths of hours, and highlighted by brief remarks. Without a logbook, a pilot has virtually no record of his experience, and may find it difficult to earn a new certificate or rating, or to land a flying job. But a poorly kept logbook is not much better. Whether we fly for fun or aspire to a career as a pilot, keeping careful records of our flight experience and training should be a top priority.

Before we can log our experience, it helps to know what we're logging.

As defined by Federal Aviation Regulation Part 1, "flight time" commences when the aircraft moves under its own power for the purpose of flight, and ends when the aircraft comes to rest after landing. You can record it by noting the time on your watch, or you can use the aircraft's Hobbs meter, which usually starts ticking off the time when you start the engine. You can also use the hour meter in the tachometer, but this timer doesn't record accurate time unless the engine is turning at cruise power. At reduced power settings, it records time at a slower than real-time rate.

Part 61.1 defines flight time used for earning certificates and ratings. "Aeronautical experience" is flight time obtained in an aircraft, flight training device, or simulator (as appropriate) for the purpose of meeting the requirements of a certificate or rating. A student solo cross-country flight is "aeronautical experience."

Flight training time is received from an instructor in an aircraft, and the CFI endorses this time by signing our logbooks. An instructor also must endorse ground training time, which we also record in our logbooks.

General Requirements

Keeping a record of your flight time isn't just a good idea, it's a requirement. According to FAR 61.51, a pilot must log the flight time required to show that he meets the requirements for any new pilot certificate or rating. The logbook must also include any flight time or endorsements necessary to establish that the pilot meets the recent flight experience requirements to act as pilot in command or to fly under IFR. Regulations aside, you'll encounter plenty of other reasons, such as landing a flying job or meeting insurance requirements, why you need to log your flight time.

The FARs give the basic information your logbook entries must present. The general information includes the date, total flight time or lesson time, departure airport (location for simulated flights), and the type and identification number of the aircraft, flight training device (FTD), or simulator.

The entry must also include the type of experience or training - solo, pilot in command, second in command, flight or ground instruction received from an authorized instructor, or training received in an FTD or simulator from an authorized instructor. Finally, the entry must include the conditions of flight: day or night, actual instrument, simulated instrument conditions in flight, in an FTD, or simulator.

Remember, your logbook not only records your flight and sim time, but also your ground instruction time, because these may also constitute a part of the requirements for pilot certificates and ratings. And although the regulations provide the basic guidance we need for filling out a logbook, we need a whole lot more to document our time accurately and completely.

Currency

Because logged time establishes currency and eligibility for additional certificates and ratings, the way we log our time should reflect those requirements. For example, keeping track of takeoffs and landings is important because we must make three takeoffs and landings within the preceding 90 days to carry passengers legally. Additional currency requirements exist for night flight and tailwheel aircraft, so it's important that we record night flight and time in tailwheel aircraft in separate columns.

Remember, too, that specific endorsements may, in part, establish our currency. In the back of most logbooks you'll find pages for written endorsements. Here an instructor can document flight reviews and instrument competency checks. Also, he can write endorsements for high performance aircraft, tailwheel aircraft, high altitude aircraft, and participation in the FAA Wings program.

Actual, Simulated, or Simulator?

Log carefully any flight time that applies to instrument currency. To meet the recent experience requirements for IFR, a pilot, within the previous six months, must have flown at least six instrument approaches, performed holding procedures, and completed "the interception and tracking of courses through the use of navigation systems." To prove (if asked by an FAA inspector, for example) that we've met these requirements, we keep track of our approaches in a column labeled "instrument approaches." In the "remarks" column, we can add additional information such as when we performed holding procedures. Although it's difficult to imagine flying an instrument approach without "the interception and tracking of courses through the use of navigation systems," it might be a good idea to document such activities in the "remarks" column as well.

When we fill out our logbooks, we must be careful to understand the subtle distinctions between the types of time. For example, simulator time may apply toward an instrument rating or ATP certificate, but we shouldn't include it in a "total flight time" column. It's simulator time, not flight time. Likewise, we log time flown while wearing a view limiting device (hood) as "simulated instrument," as opposed to "actual instrument" time. "Actual instrument" time is flown in instrument meteorological conditions (IMC).

PIC Versus SIC

Every logbook I've seen has columns for PIC (pilot in command) and SIC (second in command). To log PIC, a pilot must be the sole manipulator of the controls, and have a pilot certificate for the category and class of aircraft he's flying. That is, we must be fully qualified and certificated to fly the airplane. You should know, however, the subtle distinction between "logging" PIC time and "acting" as PIC. While giving instruction, the instructor is the "acting" PIC. That is, the CFI is the final authority on the safe operation of the aircraft, and he assumes that responsibility.

By regulation, the pilot receiving instruction is allowed to log PIC time as long as he's flying the aircraft and is rated to fly it. For example, a private pilot flying a Cessna 172 can log PIC time for the instruction he receives for a commercial pilot certificate. During the flight, however, the CFI is usually the acting PIC.

Second in command (SIC) flight time is a category some pilots find illusive. By regulation, many turbojet and transport category aircraft require two pilots - a PIC and SIC. If we're qualified and sitting in the right seat while flying one of these aircraft, it's appropriate to ink that flight time in our logbook's SIC column.

Even if we're flying a two- or four-seat trainer certificated for single-pilot operations, we can sometimes log right seat-time as SIC. For example, if we're flying under FAR Part 135 in an operation that requires two pilots (e.g. IFR in an aircraft with no autopilot), the time is legally logged as SIC. Likewise, a pilot with at least a private pilot certificate and the appropriate category and class ratings can log SIC time when acting as a safety pilot while the other pilot practices instrument flying in VFR conditions. In this circumstance, the safety pilot is required by regulation (FAR 91.109)(b)), and may legally log the time as SIC (FAR 61.51)(f)(2)).

Cross-Country Time

Historically, one of the most confusing, convoluted, and misunderstood categories of flight time has been that logged in the "cross-country" column. When the FAA revised FAR Part 61 in 1996 it clarified the meaning of cross-country flight time. The importance of cross-country flight time lies in the requirements for earning a new pilot certificate or rating. Oddly, the definition of cross-country time spelled out in FAR 61.1(b)(3) changes depending on the category of aircraft and the certificate under consideration.

To log cross-county time in its simplest form, FAR 61.1 requires a person to hold a student pilot certificate or higher and conduct the flight in the appropriate aircraft (the one he's certificated to fly). The pilot must make at least one landing at an airport other than the one he departed from and use some form of navigation such as pilotage, dead reckoning, or electronic navigation aids.

If the pilot wants to log cross-country time to meet the aeronautical requirements for a private certificate, commercial pilot certificate, or an instrument rating, he must meet the basic requirements above. And he must land at an airport that has a minimum straight-line distance of 50 nautical miles from the original point of departure - unless the pilot is flying a rotorcraft. For helicopter and gyroplane pilots the minimum straight-line distance requirement is 25 nm.

Naturally, the FAR has some exceptions to cross-country basics. Excluding rotorcraft pilots, applicants logging cross-country time for an airline transport pilot certificate, or military pilots who qualify for a commercial certificate, must meet the basic 50-mile requirements - with one important difference. They don't have to land at that "50-mile" airport. They just have to fly that straight-line distance from the original point of departure.

But the private and commercial pilot cross-country requirements have their own modifications of FAR 61.1's cross-country qualifications.

To earn a private pilot certificate, FAR 61.109 requires a student to make a solo cross-country flight with a minimum total distance of 150 nm, with full stop landings at a minimum of three different airports. The modification is that one leg of the flight must have a straight-line distance of at least 50 nm between the takeoff and landing locations.

For example, a student departs from his home airport and flies to an airport 40 nm to the north. After a full-stop landing, he flies directly to an airport 40 nm south of his home airport, lands, and then returns to his home airport. Neither the north or south destinations have a 50-nm straight line distance, but because the straight-line distance between the north and south airports is 80 nm, and the total flight distance is 160 nm, the student satisfies the private cross-country requirement.

The FARs give an exception to students earning a private certificate on small islands. FAR 61.111 says students don't need to meet the cross-country requirements if to do so they have to fly more than 10 nm from the nearest shoreline. But if the student can fly to other airports that allow civil operations without having to fly over water for more than 10 nm, he must make two solo, round-trip flights between the two airports that are the farthest distance apart.

In either case, however, the student still hasn't met the private pilot cross-country requirements, which means his certificate will carry an endorsement that prohibits him from carrying passengers on flights of more than 10 nm from the appropriate island. The FAA will remove the endorsement when the pilot meets the unfulfilled private pilot cross-country requirements.

The commercial pilot certificate (airplane) requirements further define the minimum time, distance, and conditions of cross-country flights. FAR 61.129 requires "one cross-country flight of at least 2 hours... in day VFR conditions consisting of a total straight-line distance of more than 100 miles from the original point of departure." It requires the commercial applicant to meet the same cross-country requirements at night.

The commercial solo cross-country flight is a geometric mindbender. It must have a total distance of at least 300 nm, with landings at a minimum of three different airports. One of the landing airports, however, must have a straight-line distance of at least 250 nm "from the original departure point." Pilots who earn their commercial certificate in Hawaii get a break because their "longest segment need only have a straight-line distance of at least 150 nautical miles."

Insurance & Rental Requirements

Keeping our logbooks current and accurate is important if we want to rent an aircraft. Usually, the first time a pilot rents an aircraft from an operator where he didn't learn to fly, the FBO or school scrutinizes his logbook to ensure the pilot has met the current experience requirements and any specific requirements laid out by the operator's insurance policy.

Depending on the aircraft you rent, insurance companies often require minimum experience levels before they will cover the rental of aircraft such as those with retractable landing gear. It might be worth devoting a column in your logbook to retractable-gear time, but few logbooks provide a convenient method for tracking make and model information. For this kind of detail, think about using a computerized logbook.

Job Qualifications

A potential employer usually wants specific information relevant to a job application. For example, to be a Part 135 PIC, a pilot needs 100 hours of cross-country PIC flight time, and 25 of those hours must be at night. If a 135 job might be in your future, you should keep a record of night cross-country flight time. Because the regulation doesn't specify any distance requirements for this cross-country time, any flight that takes a pilot to another airport is generally considered a cross-country flight.

Employers often post minimum flight experience requirements, and the more detailed our accounting, the easier it is to show that we meet the requirements. Once I filled out a federal job application that required a breakdown of "instruction given" into categories of "primary," "advanced," and "instrument." It took me hours to sift through my logbook entry by entry, and figure out how to categorize each flight. Then I had to add up the hours in each category. Here again, a computerized logbook may provide the answer to providing such detailed accounts of flight time.

CFI Records

The FARs place an additional record-keeping burden on CFIs. They must endorse the logbook of each pilot to whom they give flight or ground instruction. Instructors also must keep a record of each person they endorse for solo, an FAA knowledge test, or a checkride. These records must include the date, and the results (pass/fail) of those endorsed for knowledge and practical tests. CFIs must keep these records for at least three years.

As a matter of liability, instructors should keep detailed accounts of the instruction they give to pilots. Because the "remarks" section of logbooks is often limited, instructors sometimes use shorthand notation or coded entries to indicate the maneuvers performed in training, and then define these codes or notations in the back of the logbook.

A CFI can log PIC flight time any time he legally gives instruction in an aircraft for which he is rated. Remember that CFIs must meet additional requirements beyond simply being rated in an aircraft before they can give flight instruction legally. For example, to give the multiengine instruction required for the issuance of an initial multiengine pilot certificate, the instructor must have at least five hours in the make and model of twin he will instruct in. The same applies to helicopters and powered-lift aircraft.

A Clear Record

Regardless of our flying aspirations, keeping a clear, concise, and legible flight log is important. Whether it's the FAA, a flight school, an FBO, a potential employer, or an insurance adjuster looking at our logbook, a neat logbook inspires confidence whereas sloppy entries are suspect. Make entries neatly in ink, with an initialed single strike through erroneous or mistaken entries. Correction fluid (whiteout) may look more professional to some, but can be seen as suspicious in the eyes of others. Totals at the bottom of the page may be in pencil so errors in addition can be corrected more easily. When completed, each page should be signed in ink.

If your logbook doesn't have all the needed columns, it may be time for a new logbook. Otherwise, modify your current logbook to record the necessary information. For example, some logbooks have separate columns for day and night. Because a flight not conducted at night has to have been flown in daylight, the daylight column is superfluous. Go ahead and change the heading and use the column for something more pertinent to your record keeping needs. To keep track of day and night landings, put a "/" across the column and record day landings on top and night landings on the bottom.

Finally, make sure your logbook is accurate. A pilot who intentionally falsifies flight experience or training in his logbook may lose all of his certificates and ratings and be fined up to $10,000. Perhaps more importantly, without the proper training and experience, you can seriously shortchange your own safety, as well as the safety of others.

A pilot's logbook is not only a prized possession, but also an important legal document. The entries might not begin to describe the feelings of joy and accomplishment that come with flying, but it goes a long way toward defining those accomplishments.

Paper or Digital

Federal Aviation Regulation 61.51 doesn't specify the type a pilot must use, it only wants a record "acceptable to the Administrator." In most cases, either form is acceptable if the logbook records the necessary information.

Paper and digital logbooks have their own unique strong and weak points. For example, paper logs don't need a power supply, are portable, and make it easy for instructors to make endorsements. But tallying a specific category of flight time, such as in retractable-gear aircraft, is labor and time intensive, and subject to inaccuracy if you miss an entry. They also are subject to unintentional math errors.

If the pilot enters the numbers correctly, a computer logbook takes care of all the necessary computations without error. Sorting out the records to tally a specific type of flight time is as easy as creating a simple filter or query, if it's not already part of the program. Also, most computer logbooks are easy to customize to record specific types of flight time, such as instruction given, and their note fields give pilots more room to record the details of the flight.

Recording an instructor endorsement is difficult. Usually, you have to print out an endorsement sheet, which you must keep in a notebook. A computer logbook isn't as portable as a paper log, especially if you load the program on a desktop machine, and portability is required by regulation. To show proof of the proper endorsements, student pilots must carry their logbooks on all solo cross-country flights. For the same reason, recreational pilots must carry their logbooks on all solo cross-country flights that exceed 50 nautical miles, in airspace that requires ATC communication, take place at night, and when they are flying an aircraft for which they don't hold the appropriate category or class rating.

The easiest solution to overcoming the weak points - and enjoying the benefits of both forms - is to use both types of logbooks. Record your flight time in the paper log, then enter it in the computer, and use the computer to figure the paper log's page totals. Your paper log records all your endorsements, so you don't need to print out a separate sheet.

Perhaps the most valuable benefit of keeping a paper and a digital logbook is that you have a duplicate record. And to make this duplicate complete, photocopy the endorsements in your paper logbook.

The worst thing that can happen to a pilot is to lose his logbook. In effect, your logbook is a birth certificate and detailed history of your life as a pilot. Without it you essentially cease to exist because you have no record to substantiate all the knowledge and experience you've acquired to earn the ratings stamped on your pilot certificate. You can recreate it, but this is a daunting task, especially if you've been flying for a while. A staple of aviation safety is redundant systems, and I see no reason it cannot apply to the most important book a pilot has - his logbook.

By Robert N. Rossier