Learn what a flight training logbook records, how to log dual, solo, cross-country and simulator time, and how to correct common errors.
A flight training logbook is the official personal record of a pilot’s training and aeronautical experience. You use it to enter each flight or approved training-device session, classify the time correctly, obtain required instructor signatures and endorsements, and prove that you meet the experience requirements for a licence, rating or review.
In Aviation & Real-World Flying, a logbook is a regulated training record, not the automatic flight history stored by a desktop simulator. Exact definitions vary between licensing systems, so follow the rules governing the licence or certificate you are pursuing.
What goes in a flight training logbook?
A complete entry identifies when and where the training took place, the aircraft or approved device used, how long it lasted and what kind of experience was gained.
| Field | What to record |
|---|---|
| Date | The date on which the flight or training session occurred. |
| Aircraft or device | Aircraft registration, type and any required category or class details; approved training devices should be identified separately. |
| Route | Departure, destination and intermediate landing points where relevant. |
| Duration | The legally loggable time, entered consistently as decimal hours or hours and minutes. |
| Capacity and conditions | Dual received, solo, pilot in command, cross-country, night, actual instrument or simulated instrument time, as applicable. |
| Operations | Take-offs, landings, approaches or other operations needed for training and currency records. |
| Remarks and authentication | The lesson content, instructor comments and any signature or licence details required by the governing authority. |
The aircraft’s Hobbs meter, tachometer and the school’s invoice may help establish duration, but billable time is not automatically the same as legally loggable flight time. Use the definition prescribed by your licensing system and the school’s approved recording method.
How do you fill in a pilot logbook correctly?
Make each entry promptly, while the route, exercises and operating conditions can still be checked against the aircraft record and your instructor’s notes.
- Set up your logbook: Use a paper or electronic format accepted by your licensing authority. Enter your identity and establish which format will be the master record. Our overview of the requirements before beginning flight training explains why the logbook should be ready from the first lesson.
- Copy the factual details: Record the date, aircraft registration and type, departure and destination points, and duration from the school or aircraft records.
- Classify the time: Put the duration in the correct dual, solo, pilot-in-command, cross-country, night or instrument columns. Leave a column blank when the flight does not meet its legal definition.
- Describe the lesson: Use the remarks field for specific exercises such as circuits, stalls, navigation, instrument reference or emergency procedures. A vague entry such as
training flightmay not demonstrate what was taught. - Have the instructor review it: Training entries should be checked and authenticated by the authorised instructor using whatever signature and certificate or licence details your jurisdiction requires.
- Total and protect the record: Reconcile column totals regularly. Back up electronic records and photograph or scan completed paper pages and endorsements.
A signed training entry and an endorsement are not necessarily the same thing. Solo flight, certain aircraft privileges, knowledge preparation and practical tests can require separately worded endorsements. Never assume that an instructor’s signature beside an ordinary lesson entry grants those privileges.
Which flight time can a student pilot log?
A student may log only the categories permitted by the applicable regulations, even if the school charged for the entire aircraft booking.
- Dual received or under instruction: This means training given by an instructor authorised for that aircraft, activity and licensing system. Flying with another qualified pilot does not automatically make the flight dual instruction.
- Solo or pilot-in-command time: The relationship between solo and pilot-in-command time differs by jurisdiction and qualification. A US student pilot may generally log qualifying solo time as pilot in command, but that rule should not be applied automatically to another licensing system.
- Cross-country time: A flight must satisfy the definition used for the particular licence, rating or privilege. Distance, landing and destination requirements can differ, so a flight may count for one purpose but not another.
- Night and instrument time: Record these only when their exact definitions are met. In some systems, the definition of night is not identical to the period used for passenger-carrying currency.
- Take-offs, landings and approaches: Count the operations actually performed, distinguishing full-stop landings where the rule requires it.
Several columns may describe the same period, so they are not always additive. A common mistake we see is adding total time, cross-country, night and instrument columns together even though those categories overlap. The breakdown of dual, solo and navigation training for a private pilot licence shows how these records support the wider course requirements.
Do simulator and ground-school hours go in the logbook?
Approved simulator or flight training device time may be entered and credited when the device, lesson, instructor supervision and record meet the relevant rules; ordinary home-simulator use is not aircraft flight time.
Enter device time in its designated simulator or training-device column rather than under aircraft total time. Record the device identification, session duration, exercises and instructor authentication. Our explanation of how FTD sessions are approved, used and recorded covers this distinction in more detail.
Online lessons, videos and self-study do not become flight time merely because they teach aviation subjects. Ground training may need its own record or instructor endorsement, but it remains separate from aeronautical flight experience; see the distinction between online study and loggable flying lessons.
Should you use a paper or electronic logbook?
Either format can work if it meets the governing authority’s requirements and preserves signatures, endorsements and an auditable history.
| Format | Strengths | Main risks |
|---|---|---|
| Paper | Simple, portable and well suited to handwritten instructor signatures. | Loss, physical damage, arithmetic errors and no automatic backup. |
| Electronic | Automatic totals, search, reports and easier off-site backups. | Dependence on software access, export quality and acceptance of electronic signatures. |
If you use both, nominate one as the master. Otherwise, duplicate entries and mismatched totals can become harder to explain than a single well-maintained record. Export electronic records periodically in a readable format that does not depend on one application remaining available.
How should logbook errors or lost records be handled?
Correct mistakes transparently and preserve the original information rather than erasing or overwriting it.
For paper entries, the usual safe practice is to draw one line through the error, add the correction and identify or initial the change according to local rules. Avoid correction fluid. In an electronic logbook, use the correction function that retains an audit history; material changes to an instructor-authenticated entry may need the instructor to approve it again.
If a logbook is lost, reconstruct it from reliable evidence such as instructor records, school training files, rental records and retained applications or test paperwork. Do not invent precise times from memory. Missing endorsements are especially significant and may need to be replaced by the instructor who issued them or handled according to the licensing authority’s instructions.
Although minimum retention rules differ, we recommend treating the logbook as a permanent career record. It may be needed years later to prove training, experience, ratings, reviews and operating currency.