Logging of flight time (FCL.050)

Logging of flight time (FCL.050)

Your personal logbook is the legal proof of your flight experience. It is what the authority, the examiner and the flight school look at when you apply for a licence or rating, revalidate your SEP class rating, or want to carry passengers. For the exam you must know exactly what has to be recorded, in which capacity time may be logged, and — a classic trap — the precise definition of "flight time".

Legal basis

ICAO Annex 1 (Personnel Licensing), §1.2.5 requires licence holders to keep a reliable record of their flight experience and to produce it to the State on request.

In the EU this is implemented by FCL.050 of Regulation (EU) No 1178/2011 (Part-FCL): the pilot shall keep a reliable record of the details of all flights flown, in a form and manner established by the competent authority. The format and content are detailed in AMC1 FCL.050. Both a paper logbook and an approved electronic logbook (with permanent, tamper-resistant storage) are acceptable.

Flight time, block time and air time

These definitions are the single most examined point of this lesson — and they are often taught wrongly, so learn them precisely:

Example: You taxi out for 10 minutes, are airborne for 55 minutes, and taxi in for 5 minutes. You log 1

What every entry must contain

Per AMC1 FCL.050, each flight is recorded with:

• Date
• Aircraft type and registration mark
• Departure and arrival aerodrome, with off-block and on-block times
• Total flight time
• Function on board (capacity)
• Number of landings (day and night separately)
• Operational conditions (night, IFR)
• Type of exercise on training flights
• Name of the instructor on dual flights
• Remarks / endorsements

In which capacity may time be logged?

• PIC time — the pilot acts as pilot-in-command. A student flying solo logs PIC time.
• SPIC time (Student Pilot-in-Command) — student acts as PIC with an instructor on board who only observes; relevant to integrated/instrument training.
• PICUS time (PIC under supervision) — co-pilot performing the duties of PIC under supervision (multi-pilot context).
• Dual time — instruction received from an authorised instructor.
• Co-pilot time — second pilot in multi-pilot operations.

Keeping and producing the record

• FCL.050 sets no EU-wide retention period; the record must simply be kept reliably and produced to the competent authority on request (national rules may add details on form and manner).
• Entries are certified by the pilot; dual instruction time is countersigned by the instructor (electronic logbooks: an appropriate digital equivalent).
• False entries are a serious matter: they breach FCL.050, can lead to suspension or revocation of the licence, and may be prosecuted.

Germany

EU law applies directly. The LBA (Luftfahrt-Bundesamt) and the state aviation authorities inspect logbooks in connection with licence and rating actions (e.g. instructor certificate renewals, rating revalidations). If a logbook is lost or stolen, obtain written confirmations of your experience from your flight schools and aircraft operators to reconstruct the record.

Exam essentials

• Flight time (aeroplanes) runs from the moment the aircraft first moves for the purpose of taking off until it comes to rest at the end of the flight — block to block.
• Take-off to landing is called air time, not flight time.
• Flight time as logged under FCL.050 is what counts for EASA experience requirements.
• FCL.050 requires a reliable record of all flights in a form and manner established by the competent authority; paper and approved electronic logbooks are both acceptable.
• There is no fixed EU retention period — the record must be kept reliably and produced on request.
• A solo student logs PIC time; dual time must be signed by the instructor.