Originally Posted by
Twin Wasp
Looking in an old reg book from 1974 (with both the old and new Part 61s) the prior to 01Nov74 61 has nothing about high performance or complex. The "new" 61.31 (e) says, "A person holding a private or commercial pilot certificate may not act as pilot in command of an airplane that has more than 200 horsepower, or that has a retractable landing gear, flaps, and a controllable propeller, unless he has recieved flight instruction from an authorized instructor who has certified in his his logbook that he is competent to pilot an airplane that has more than 200 horsepower, or that has a retractable landing gear, flaps, and a controllable propeller, as the case may."
Interesting. Yes that is the language but apparently the reg in 1974 didn't have a heading for 61.31(e). In my later dated copy, the reg has a heading:
"(e)
High performance airplanes. A person holding..."
Looks like that heading was added later.
It wan't until the 1997 revision that the term high-performance or complex appears in the body of the reg itself.