In dealing with a couple of students of mine that had other instructors go through and completely destroy their pilot logbooks by giving them wrong information, scratching out hours and hours worth of training, white out, red lines, re-totals and all — and in a personal effort to clarify and illuminate the proper way of logging what many refer to as ‘sim time,’ I recently reached out to and had a conversation with a mentor of mine, who is a United Airlines captain and an FAA Designated Pilot Examiner. The verdict? A fairly simple answer, one that is often overcomplicated —
There are a few different types of simulators, but for the purpose of this post, I will focus on AATDs as these are probably the most common amongst both Part 141 and Part 61 flight schools.
Logging of AATD time spent training towards any rating, should be logged in students logbook and signed by CFII only as:
- ATD/SIM category time
- Instruction received. It is proper to log it as GROUND TRAINING RECEIVED, not as FLIGHT TRAINING RECEIVED (Differentiate… AATD time is ground training)
- Simulated Instrument for any and all time that was strictly by reference to instruments.
NOT AS:
- Total time
- ASEL/AMEL time
Once you have accumulated enough hours that are beyond that which may be applied to any certificate or rating, logging any instrument instruction received or solo (only allowed after passing IR practical and already IFR current) is redundant for all but Currency Requirements (FAR 61.67).
Letter of Authorization — The FAA
The LOA from the FAA is the overarching rule as to what you can count the time towards as far as ratings/licenses (see excerpt below) … this should be visible on display near the AATD that you are using, and you should keep a copy for personal records if you intend to use the time you’ve logged in one:
SOURCES:
- Part 60: Flight Simulation training device initial and continuing qualification and use
-
Part 61:
- 61.51(g) ……….. Logging Instrument Time (Pilot Logbooks)
- 61.159(a)(4)(i)&(ii) …………… Aeronautical experience: airplane category rating (ATP)
- …And more
- Part 142: Training centers
-
AC 61-136b — “FAA Approval of Aviation Training Devices and Their Use for Training and Experience”
ADDITIONAL LINKS:
- IFR Magazine — https://www.ifr-magazine.com/training-sims/logging-sim-time/
- FLIGHT SIM COACH — https://flightsimcoach.com/blog/how-to-log-flight-simulator-atd-time/