Decades past it was a regulatory requirement to log instrument flight time as actual or simulated. By simulated it meant under a hood so you cannot see outside. We all cheated occasionally by tilting the hood if the instructor didn't see you. Instrument flight time was only logged if you were in IMC (in cloud or pitch black night). It was considered extremely bad form if you logged instrument flying while on automatic pilot. What is the point in doing that, anyway. Logging of automatic pilot time in IMC has no meaning as instrument flying skill is not involved in any way.
In later years the tail started wagging the dog and it became legal to log automatic flight in IMC and this degraded the original principle of logging of instrument flight time which was meant to be a reliable measure of instrument flying ability. Not anymore of course. Going a step further some regulatory authorities I am told approve logging of all IFR flight plan flights as instrument flying.
As with all instrument flight time, it is left to the integrity of the pilot to log instrument flight time honestly. Frequently that does not occur and wholesale forging of instrument flight time is quite common especially as only the pilot knows if he is cheating. There is no audit trail which means the whole idea behind logging of instrument flight time is shot to pieces. It is meaningless in reality but regulatory authorities still insist on it. But logging of a take off and a landing? Seems a bit of a leg-pull?
Last edited by Centaurus; 31st Dec 2012 at 11:54.