Quote:
Originally Posted by Bowersbum
cheers to that......And doing it that way makes filling out an 8710 easy.
"Easier" is the key word here.
And multipilot has it right.
There's no question that time flying instruments in an FTD is simulated instrument time that may be counted toward instrument time requirements. 61.51(g)(4).
There's also no question that instruction received in an FTD is training time. 61.51(h)(1).
But there is also no question that time in an FTD is not "flight time". Take a look at the definitions of "flight time" and "aircraft" in FAR 1.1 and you'll see it.
I think the reason people get into so many arguments about this is that, once you get past those basics, how you put those numbers in a logbook is a
bookkeeping issue not a regulatory one.
As Bowersbum suggested, at that point it becomes what is easier, and the only real rule is that the method you use is consistent, so that there is never any question, looking at your logbook, that you chose, for example, to list all your training in the "dual received" column, all your non-actual instrument time in the "simulated instrument" column and all of your "pilot time" (see FAR 61.1(b)(12)) in the "total time" column, and will deduct the number in the FTD column whenever asked to give "flight time" totals in those categories. (one way to show it would be to deduct the word "flight" from those columns if it appears).
Two notes to that:
1. Most find it easier to reserve the "dual received", "simulated instrument" and "total time" columns for "flight time" entries. Most questions about time involve flight time, whether it be the FAA's 8710, an insurance application, or a job application. So for most people that's the better bookkeeping choice. And the use of phrases such as "hood" and "total duration of flight" in many published logbooks suggest that this is the more widely-used method.
2. The choice of bookkeeping method belongs to the pilot, not the instructor. The worst case scenario is the CFI who tries to change a pilot's bookkeeping method to the CFI's own "right" way. You want to change my method? Convince me that it makes more sense for me or let me onto your computer so I can mess around with your Quicken categories and see how well that works for you.