Logging a trial flight
 

Hi folks.

Quick question about logbooks. I've got just under 30 hours now, making nice progress towards my PPL, and I'm totting up my hours in the logbook to keep all the admin in order.

My first logbook entry was for a trial flight I took at Land's End back in the summer of last year, when I was on holiday there. It's pencilled-in with aircraft, PIC's name, and times. But is that adequate to confirm it for counting towards my total training hours? I thought that all hours to be counted for training had to have an instructor's signature next to them - and the instructors at my local flying school presumably can't vouch for an instructor at a different school.

Does anyone have any wisdom to share on this?

cheers!
mtw

As long as the PIC for that first flight was an instructor, then you can log it as PUT.

I think!

Sam.

I had the same situation and my school was keen for me to add the time from my trial lesson taken at another school (very decent of them I thought)

No probs at all as long as the instructor was a licenced instructor. No signatures required. Got !!!! all to do with whatever school you are at now either.

VFE.

Flight training under the UK system doesn't require a signature so as advised elsewhere in this post, you absolutely can count it towards your PPL assuming of course that the trial lesson was with an instructor.

Flight training under the FAA (American) system requires every entry to be signed by the instructor who must include his licence number and also the date of expiry of his instructors rating.

Generally, when a school completes your application, they will stamp 'hours certified as correct' into your logbook for all the flights completed at that RF/FTO. There can be a problem if you are applying with exactly 45 hours (unlikely!), as this stamp will not cover the trial lesson.

It's only a technical point, so I wouldn't worry about it, although I have had applications returned for not meeting this requirement.

XO

Thanks very much, folks. Helpful as always!

cheers,
mtw