What is considered solo time?
Solo refers to time when the pilot is the sole occupant in the aircraft. Whenever you have a live passenger on board, you are not the sole occupant of the airplane. We’ll save “souls on board” for another topic! Therefore, even if you are taking your 2-year-old for his first airplane ride, you cannot log solo time.
Do I need to log solo time?
Yes, you should log in a “Solo” column all flights which are made where you are the sole, living, human occupant (no babies, but dogs are OK, and so are corpses [BTDT]). If you ever go for the Commercial-Airplane certificate/rating, you will need documentation of a number of solo flight requirements.
Is there a time limit for a solo endorsement?
The FAA explains that the express language of the subpart for student pilots “applies only to those persons who are seeking or hold a student pilot certificate.” The FAA goes on to clarify that “unlike solo endorsements for student pilots, § 61.31 (d) does not contain any time limitation for the endorsement.”
Do you need to re-endorse a solo flight?
You don’t need to re-endorse a student pilot certificate when you take over a new student, or when the student’s certificate expires. Any solo flight, whether local or cross-country, requires two basic endorsements identified in FAR 61.87:
What does the FAA say about solo endorsements?
In its recent interpretation, the FAA clarified that the solo flight time requirements and endorsements for pilots who hold a higher level pilot certificate and are seeking an additional category and/or class rating are contained in 14 CFR 61.63.
How long does a student pilot endorsement last?
While the student’s endorsement on their pilot certificate never expires, the original logbook make and model endorsement expires after 90 days. To solo anytime after that date, you’ll need to update the student’s logbook with another make and model endorsement. Think of this as a student pilot version of 90-day currency.