During many years of being an ATO on simulator instrument rating renewals, I have asked the candidates for their log books. Of course they were needed for the old "sticky labels, anyway - but not now under part 61 requirements.
It didn't take long to become quite cynical at the falsification of hours I observed. It varied. Command hours logged when plainly it was either dual instruction or co-pilot time. Hundreds of ICUS hours when it was clear it was co-pilot time. But mainly logging of claimed instrument (f)lying hours. Taxiing included in instrument flight time. The classic I will always remember was a former Australian domestic airline B727 first officer who of 5000 total hours had logged over 2500 instrument flight time including no doubt as he enjoyed his breakfast, lunch or dinner on his lap while twiddling the autopilot controls on "his leg".
To this day I am still not quite sure if an ATO is legally required to peruse the log book of IPC applicants since there is no requirement to enter a certificate or equivalent into an applicants log book anymore.
Last edited by Centaurus; 7th Jul 2016 at 14:35.