The true definition of "Solo" flight
 

There is a lot of discrepancy in this subject, but flying "Solo" according to F.A.R 61.87 applies towards students and does not mention licensed pilots. But it states that you must be the sole occupant of the aircraft to classify being solo, even though your girlfriend or your dog does not know how to fly the airplane.

Does anybody know about this? Can you log solo time if your passenger does not have a clue as to how to fly the airplane? :confused:

You must be the sole occupant. It's actually defined in 61.51(d) Logging of solo flight time. "...a pilot may log as solo flight time only that flight time when the pilot is the sole occupant of the aircraft." Your dog doesn't count, but your girlfriend would, even if she doesn't know anything about flying.

Hey my dog is actually pretty good
:D

You can be the only one in the plane. If you're a student pilot, it's illegal to have anyone else in the plane. (and unethical, I think)(and the insurance company wouldn't pay)(and if you were my student, I'd drop you like rock).

There is something about logging solo in a twin even though your CFI is onboard, I think, for insurance reasons.

I have heard a few commercial students as well as a CFI at my school mention that during their commercial training when they were supposed to be on solo cross countries, they stopped and picked up friends/family at small airstrips along the route...is this technically against the rules?

Are you hinting at logging solo even though you have your PPL? The only time to ever log anything in the solo column is solo flight, before you are a licensed pilot. It's not cool to carry folks before you are supposed to. It certainly has been done before but shows a lack of maturity and judgment.

Agreed...only a complete jack-ass would carry passengers as a student pilot...i was referring to folks with at least a PPL picking up people to share the experience of the cross-country flight required for training, and then logging it as a solo flight...

Thanks. I guess I would have found that out if I would have just turned back a few pages :D

Sorry, I was referring to post # 1. My point being (PhantomAir)if you already have a PPL there's no reason to ever use the solo column to log time in powered fixed wing airplanes.

You can log it as solo (provided you are indeed alone), but like Slice said, it doesn't really have any value.

I'm pretty sure if a student pilot did that your ticket would be in jeopardy so you could "drop them like a rock"....but prob still have some issues with Miss Marion.

I've heard of the 2nd topic you've mentioned...from what I understand it is called a "supervised solo"...more or less ridiculous if you ask me.

To answer your last question first, yes, it's against the rules, if they logged it as solo. Solo, as was answered before, is all the time where the pilot was the only person onboard the aircraft. So they could log the initial part of the flight as solo, but then the part with passengers as only PIC. Which, for a commercial, is just as good as solo (With the exception of the flight for 61.129(a)(4))

Also as was said before, it's really only used for student pilots. With that in mind, though, FAA Form 8710 (Application for an airman certificate) has spaces for "solo", "cross country solo" with separate columns for PIC time. So even if you have your private, you would need to figure out your total solo times if you ever apply for another certificate or rating. It really sucks, especially if the PIC and Solo columns in your logbook are the same (this I know from experience. grrrrr...)

Ummm...maybe I am not understanding what you wrote but I have done much training since my PPL to include ATP and 4 types. I've never logged any solo beyond my student pilot time and it's never been a problem. This includes my F-16 time which is solo 99.69% of the time.

Bottom line, don't log solo after your PPL unless your training towards Gliders or Rotary Wing aircraft. Nobody cares if you are by yourself once you are rated.

Aeronautical experience required for the commercial pilot certificate states that you need 10 hours of SOLO FLIGHT TIME which consists of the long cross country and night flight with 10 takeoffs and landing. That would be 61.129 (a)(4) if you want to see the actual verbiage.

But I do agree that there is no reason to put it in the solo column of the log book. I just made a notation in the remarks so that I could show the examiner where each of these qualifying flights were in my logbook.

It depends. Talking part 61, you need 250 hours, including 20 hours of commercial dual, and 10 hours of solo. The remaining 230 hours (minus what you had from PPL training) can be either dual OR solo.

If you are just building time solo cuz it's cheaper than having a cfi along, you can legally take pax...UNLESS you are logging that flight towards the actual required 10 hours solo, or the required solo XC or night pattern work. The flight school may or may not be cool with it, but it's FAA legal as long as you did the required solo flying by yourself.

Basically if you take PAX or a CFI, don't log solo.

Exception: If you are doing your initial commercial in a twin, you can bring your instructor along for the "solo" work as long as you perform the PIC duties.

Slice: you do need some solo time for the commercial, but after that I can't think of any reason to log it either. If you converted your military rating to a commercial you may not have known that.