Updated October 2026
14 CFR 61.51 requires you to log the training time and aeronautical experience you use for a certificate, a rating, a flight review or a recent-experience requirement. Each entry records the date, the total time, where you departed and arrived, the aircraft type and registration, the kind of time (solo, PIC, SIC or dual received) and the conditions: day or night, actual or simulated instrument.
That is the whole rule in two sentences, and students still get it wrong every week. Usually it is the PIC column, the cross-country column or the night column, because the regulations define each of those words more narrowly than everyday English does. This page goes through 61.51 paragraph by paragraph, checked against the current eCFR text in October 2026, with sample entries from the kind of week our students fly at Van Nuys.
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What 61.51 Requires You To Log
Paragraph (a) is narrower than most pilots think. It covers the time you use toward a certificate, a rating or a flight review, plus the time you use for recent flight experience, recorded in a manner acceptable to the Administrator. Nothing in 61.51 makes you log a Sunday afternoon flight you will never count toward anything. Almost everyone logs every flight anyway, because the one you skipped is always the one you later need.
Paragraph (b) then sets what each entry contains.
| Group | Items | Paragraph |
|---|---|---|
| General | Date; total flight or lesson time; departure and arrival points (or where a simulator lesson took place); type and identification of the aircraft or device; name of the safety pilot if 91.109 requires one | 61.51(b)(1) |
| Type of experience or training | Solo; pilot in command; second in command; flight and ground training from an authorized instructor; training in a full flight simulator, flight training device or aviation training device from an authorized instructor | 61.51(b)(2) |
| Conditions of flight | Day or night; actual instrument; simulated instrument in flight or in a device; night vision goggle use | 61.51(b)(3) |
Paragraph (c) says what logged time is for: applying for a certificate, rating or privilege, and meeting recent experience rules. Paragraph (i) says who may ask to see it. On reasonable request you must present your logbook to the FAA, the NTSB or any federal, state or local law enforcement officer.
PIC Time: Acting Vs Logging, And The Sole-Manipulator Rule
Acting as pilot in command and logging pilot-in-command time are two different things, and the regulations treat them separately. Acting PIC is defined in 14 CFR 1.1: the person with final authority and responsibility for the flight, designated as PIC, holding the ratings for it. Logging PIC is a Part 61 bookkeeping rule in 61.51(e), and it allows some pilots to log PIC time without acting as PIC, and the reverse.
A sport, recreational, private, commercial or airline transport pilot may log PIC time under 61.51(e)(1) in four cases:
- When they are the sole manipulator of the controls of an aircraft for which they are rated.
- When they are the sole occupant of the aircraft.
- When they act as PIC of an aircraft, or under rules, that require more than one pilot (not available to sport or recreational pilots).
- When a commercial or ATP holder performs PIC duties under the supervision of a qualified PIC in an approved training program, with the supervisor's logbook attestation.
Paragraph (e)(3) adds the one instructors care about: a flight instructor may log all flight time as PIC while acting as the authorized instructor. So on a lesson where you, a private pilot, fly the Arrow for your complex endorsement, you log PIC as sole manipulator while your instructor also logs PIC as the instructor. Both entries are correct.
Dual Received, Solo And Student Pilot Entries
Training time is logged under 61.51(h). Your instructor must endorse each entry legibly with a description of the training and its length, plus their signature and certificate number. The entry also carries their certificate expiration date or, under the newer instructor rules in 61.197, the date their recent experience runs out. An entry without those items is a record of a flight, not of training.
Solo has a strict definition. Under 61.51(d) you log solo time only when you are the sole occupant of the aircraft. A friend in the right seat makes it PIC time, not solo time, even if they never touch anything.
Student pilots get one more rule. Under 61.51(e)(4), a student may log PIC time only when they are the sole occupant, hold a solo endorsement under 61.87, and are training for a certificate or rating. The solo endorsement itself is for a specific make and model and needs renewing every 90 days under 61.87(n) and (p). On a solo cross-country, 61.51(i)(2) requires the student to carry the logbook with those endorsements in it.
Your first entry is often a discovery flight. Flown with an authorized instructor, it goes in the dual received column and counts toward the 40 hours and 20 hours of instruction that 61.109 requires for a private pilot certificate.
Cross-Country, Night, Instrument And Hood Time
Cross-country time is defined in 61.1, and there are several definitions. The general one is any flight with a landing at a point other than the departure point, navigated by pilotage, dead reckoning or navigation aids. For the private, commercial and instrument requirements, the flight must also include a landing more than 50 nautical miles in a straight line from the original point of departure. For sport pilot it is 25 nautical miles.
From Van Nuys that line falls in an awkward place. Our planning sheet puts Camarillo at about 30 nautical miles, so a flight there and back is cross-country time in your logbook but not toward the private pilot requirement. Santa Barbara, at about 68 nautical miles direct, qualifies. Catalina is roughly 48 nautical miles direct, just short. Our cross-country requirements page covers the routes that work.
Night has three meanings, and the logbook uses only one of them.
| Period | What It Controls | Source |
|---|---|---|
| End of evening civil twilight to beginning of morning civil twilight | Logging night time, and the night training in 61.109 | 14 CFR 1.1 |
| One hour after sunset to one hour before sunrise | Night passenger currency: three full-stop takeoffs and landings in 90 days | 14 CFR 61.57(b) |
| Sunset to sunrise | Position lights must be on | 14 CFR 91.209(a) |
Instrument time is in 61.51(g). You log it only for the time you fly solely by reference to instruments, in actual conditions (cloud) or simulated ones (a view-limiting device). An instructor may also log instrument time while giving instrument instruction in actual conditions. For currency under 61.57(c), each entry must show the location and type of every approach and the safety pilot's name when one was required. On a June morning the marine layer over the Valley gives our instrument students genuine actual time on the way out, and the foggles we lend free on every lesson cover the simulated hours.
Safety Pilot Time And How Both Pilots Log It
Flying under a hood or foggles in an airplane requires a safety pilot under 14 CFR 91.109(c). That is a pilot with at least a private certificate and the category and class ratings for the airplane, sitting in the other control seat. They need adequate vision forward and to each side, and the airplane needs working dual controls.
The pilot under the hood logs PIC as sole manipulator under 61.51(e)(1)(i) and logs the time as simulated instrument. Because 91.109 requires the safety pilot, the safety pilot is a required crewmember and may log SIC time under 61.51(f)(2). If the two of you agree before the flight that the safety pilot is acting PIC, the safety pilot may log PIC under 61.51(e)(1)(iii) instead. Agree it on the ground and write the safety pilot's name in the entry, as 61.51(b)(1) requires.
Only the time under the hood counts for the safety pilot. A 2.0-hour flight with 1.4 hours of hood work gives the safety pilot 1.4 hours, not 2.0. Our time building guide works through how two pilots share the cost.
Simulator Time That Counts, And How To Enter It
Simulator time is not flight time. 14 CFR 1.1 defines flight time as pilot time from when an aircraft moves under its own power for the purpose of flight until it comes to rest after landing, and a simulator never moves. It is pilot time, though: 61.1 counts training received from an authorized instructor in a full flight simulator, flight training device or aviation training device. Log it in a separate column so it never inflates your total flight time.
Two paragraphs of 61.51 decide whether the device session counts.
- Toward a certificate or rating, 61.51(g)(4) requires an authorized instructor to be present, and to sign your logbook or training record to verify the time and content.
- For instrument recency, 61.51(g)(5) needs only a record of the device, the time and the content.
Then the certificate rules cap the credit. A private pilot applicant may credit up to 2.5 hours in a full flight simulator or flight training device under 61.109(k)(1). An instrument applicant may credit up to 20 hours in an advanced aviation training device or 10 in a basic one under 61.65(i). Outside a Part 142 course, all devices together are capped at 20 hours. Our Redbird MCX is an FAA-approved advanced aviation training device on full motion, and our instrument rating course uses it for 20 of the 40 dual hours. The detail is on simulator hours that count.
Sample Entries From A Training Week At Van Nuys
These are illustrative entries of the kind our private pilot students make, written the way we teach them. Times are examples, not records.
| Flight | Aircraft | Columns Used | Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|
| Discovery flight, VNY local | Piper Warrior N3034Q | Total 1.0; dual received 1.0 | Instructor describes the lesson and signs with certificate number |
| Pattern work, VNY to VNY | Cessna 162 N60225 | Total 1.2; dual received 1.2; day landings 8 | Signed training entry |
| First solo, three landings | Cessna 162 N60225 | Total 0.4; solo 0.4; PIC 0.4 | Solo endorsement for the make and model already in the logbook |
| Dual cross-country, VNY to SBA and back | Piper Warrior N6312C | Total 2.0; dual 2.0; cross-country 2.0; simulated instrument 0.3 | Landing more than 50 NM from VNY, so it counts toward 61.109 |
| Simulator lesson, approaches | Redbird MCX | Training device 1.5; simulated instrument 1.5 | Device named, instructor signature, approaches listed |
Paper Vs Electronic Logbooks And Fixing Mistakes
61.51(a) asks only that the record be kept in a manner acceptable to the Administrator. A paper logbook works, and so does an electronic one, which adds the columns for you and catches arithmetic errors. If you go electronic, export a backup every month and make sure your instructor's endorsements carry a signature, certificate number and date in the format your app records.
Mistakes happen, usually in the arithmetic. Draw a single line through the wrong figure, write the correct one beside it and initial it. Do not erase, tape over or tear out a page; an airline records check years later will treat a clean-looking page with suspicion. Deliberately false entries are a separate matter. Since November 2025, 14 CFR 3.403 has prohibited fraudulent or intentionally false statements in any record kept to show compliance with the regulations, and that includes your logbook.
Related Reading
- Simulator hours that count: device credit for each certificate, and the Part 142 caveat.
- IFR currency requirements: the six approaches, holding and tracking, and how to log them.
- Time building in Los Angeles: safety pilots, cross-country routes and rates.
- Your first solo flight: the endorsements that go in the logbook first.
- Foggles and view-limiting devices: simulated instrument time in the airplane.
- Private pilot cross-country requirements: the 50-mile rule in practice.
Logging Flight Time FAQ
Can A Student Pilot Log PIC Time?
Yes, but only when the student is the sole occupant of the aircraft, holds a solo endorsement under 61.87 and is training for a certificate or rating, under 14 CFR 61.51(e)(4). Every dual lesson is logged as dual received instead.
Do I Have To Log Every Flight?
No. 61.51(a) requires you to record the time you use for a certificate, rating, flight review or recent experience requirement. Most pilots log every flight anyway, because hours that were never logged cannot be counted later.
Can I Log A Discovery Flight?
Yes, as dual instruction received, when it is flown with an authorized instructor. It counts toward the 40 hours of flight time and 20 hours of instruction in 14 CFR 61.109 for a private pilot certificate.
What Counts As Night Time In A Logbook?
The time between the end of evening civil twilight and the beginning of morning civil twilight, as defined in 14 CFR 1.1. Night passenger currency under 61.57(b) uses a stricter window, from one hour after sunset to one hour before sunrise.
Can The Safety Pilot Log The Time?
Yes, for the time the other pilot is under the hood. The safety pilot is a required crewmember under 91.109(c) and logs SIC under 61.51(f)(2), or PIC under 61.51(e)(1)(iii) if agreed before the flight to be acting pilot in command.
Is An Electronic Logbook Legal?
Yes. 14 CFR 61.51(a) requires only that records be kept in a manner acceptable to the Administrator, and electronic logbooks are widely used. Keep a backup, and make sure instructor endorsements include the signature and certificate details 61.51(h) requires.
How Do I Fix A Mistake In My Logbook?
Strike the wrong entry through with a single line, write the correction beside it and initial it, so the original stays readable. Never erase or remove pages, and never enter time you did not fly: 14 CFR 3.403 prohibits intentionally false statements in required records.
Start Your Logbook The Right Way
Your first logbook entry can be a 60-minute discovery flight from Van Nuys for $229, flown from the left seat and signed as dual instruction. It is credited in full toward training if you enroll within 24 hours. If you already fly and want help sorting out your PIC, cross-country or simulator columns before a checkride, an hour of ground instruction is $110. Book a free consultation to plan a course, or call (818) 330-1318, 9 AM to 9 PM every day. We are at 7900 Balboa Blvd, Main Terminal Unit 108, Van Nuys, CA 91406.
Book A Discovery Flight — $229 Book A Free Consultation Call (818) 330-1318
