A pilot logbook is the record of training and flight experience that 14 CFR 61.51 requires for every flight or lesson you use toward a certificate. Each entry shows the date, flight time, route, aircraft, the kind of time (dual received, solo, or pilot in command) and the conditions (day or night, actual or simulated instrument), and your instructor signs every lesson. It also holds the endorsements that authorize your solo flights and your FAA tests.
Part of our Student Pilot Certificate guide. Start logging at your first lesson, even before the student certificate you apply for in IACRA arrives: dual instruction counts toward your private pilot minimums.
What 14 CFR 61.51 requires you to log
Under 14 CFR 61.51, you must record, in a manner acceptable to the FAA, the training and experience you use for a certificate, rating, flight review, or currency. For a student, the required entries come down to:
- General details: date, total flight or lesson time, departure and arrival points, and the type and identification of the aircraft or training device.
- Type of time: solo, pilot in command (PIC), or training received from an authorized instructor.
- Conditions: day or night, actual instrument, or simulated instrument.
Your instructor must endorse each lesson with a description of the training, its length, and their signature, certificate number, and certificate expiration date or recent experience end date (61.51(h), 61.189). Instructor certificates issued on or after December 1, 2024 have no expiration date (61.19(d)), so newer endorsements may show an RE end date instead.
What each logbook column means
Column order and extras vary by logbook, but the core columns trace to 61.51 and to the private pilot minimums in 61.109. Cross-country, night, and instrument time are portions of the total, not additions to it.
| Column | What to enter | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Date, aircraft, route | Date, make and model (for example C172) with the N-number, and departure and arrival identifiers | Solo endorsements are tied to a make and model |
| Total duration | Flight time from when the airplane moves under its own power for flight until it comes to rest after landing (14 CFR 1.1) | At least 40 hours for the private certificate |
| Dual received | Training from an authorized instructor | At least 20 hours |
| Solo | Time as the sole occupant (61.51(d)) | At least 10 hours |
| Pilot in command | For a student, solo time only, with a current solo endorsement (61.51(e)(4)) | Dual lessons never go here |
| Cross-country | Flights that land away from the departure airport using navigation; for private pilot credit, the flight must include a landing more than 50 nm in a straight line from the original departure point (61.1) | 3 hours dual, 5 hours solo, and one 150 nm solo trip |
| Night | Time from the end of evening civil twilight to the beginning of morning civil twilight (14 CFR 1.1) | 3 hours of night training |
| Actual instrument | Flight solely by reference to instruments in actual instrument conditions (61.51(g)) | Only with an instructor, since a solo student must keep visual reference to the surface (61.89) |
| Simulated instrument | Flight solely by reference to instruments under a view-limiting device | 3 hours of instrument training |
| Day and night landings | Number of landings, noting full stops | 10 night takeoffs and full-stop landings, 3 solo full-stop landings at a towered airport, and passenger currency later (61.57) |
| Remarks | What you practiced, stops along the way, and the instructor’s signature block | Documents your training (61.51(h)) |
How to log a dual lesson and a solo flight
A typical dual lesson
Say you fly 1.4 hours with your instructor in a Cessna 172 from your home airport and back, including 0.3 hours under a view-limiting device and five landings. Enter the date, C172 and the N-number, your home airport as departure and arrival, 1.4 in total duration and dual received, 0.3 in simulated instrument, and 5 day landings. Your instructor describes the lesson in the remarks (for example slow flight, stalls, and pattern work) and signs. The solo and PIC columns stay empty.
Solo and solo cross-country flights
A 0.8-hour solo in the pattern gets 0.8 in total duration, solo, and PIC, plus your landings. The solo entry needs no instructor signature, because 61.51(h) covers training received. A solo cross-country also goes in the cross-country column; list each stop in the remarks to document the three full-stop landings 61.109 requires on your long solo cross-country.
Student pilot endorsements, in the order you receive them
Endorsements are your instructor’s written authorizations. The FAA’s recommended wording is in Appendix A of AC 61-65K, Certification: Pilots and Flight and Ground Instructors, issued November 14, 2025, which replaced AC 61-65J. Instructors adapt the wording to each student. The typical order for an airplane student:
| Endorsement | What it certifies | Rule (14 CFR unless noted) | AC 61-65K |
|---|---|---|---|
| U.S. citizenship | Proof of citizenship shown before training (schools may keep document copies instead) | 49 CFR 1552.15(c) | A.14 |
| Pre-solo knowledge test | You passed your instructor’s test on Parts 61 and 91, your solo airport’s airspace and procedures, and your airplane, with missed answers reviewed | 61.87(b) | A.3 |
| Pre-solo flight training | You were trained on, and are proficient in, the pre-solo maneuvers in that make and model | 61.87(c) | A.4 |
| Solo flight | Solo in a specific make and model, renewed every 90 days | 61.87(n), (p) | A.6, A.7 |
| Night solo (if authorized) | Night training at your solo airport within 90 days | 61.87(o) | A.5 |
| Nearby airport solo | Solo takeoffs and landings at an airport within 25 nm where you trained | 61.93(b)(1) | A.8 |
| Solo cross-country | Cross-country training complete for the category and the make and model | 61.93(c)(1), (2) | A.9 |
| Each solo cross-country | An instructor reviewed your planning and weather for that flight | 61.93(c)(3) | A.10 |
| Repeated route within 50 nm | A specific route you flew both ways with an instructor | 61.93(b)(2) | A.11 |
| Class B (if needed) | Solo in a specific Class B area or at an airport inside it, dated within 90 days | 61.95 | A.12, A.13 |
| Knowledge test | Ground training or home study complete and ready for the written | 61.35(a)(1), 61.103(d) | A.36 |
| Practical test | Training logged within the 2 calendar months before the month you apply, ready for the checkride, missed knowledge test areas reviewed | 61.39(a)(6), 61.103(f) | A.1, A.2, A.37 |
The 90-day solo clock
Your 61.87 solo endorsement covers one make and model and must come from an instructor who trained you within the 90 days before the flight; to keep soloing, an instructor renews it every 90 days. It belongs in your logbook, not on your plastic student pilot certificate (AC 61-65K, paragraph 20.1). You can hold that certificate at 16 for airplanes (61.83); see our age requirements guide.
Cross-country endorsements stack up
The 61.93 rules apply before any solo that lands away from your departure airport or goes more than 25 nm from it, with narrower rules for the nearby-airport and repeated-route endorsements. Each solo cross-country needs the general solo cross-country endorsement plus one for that flight, written after an instructor checks your planning and confirms the flight can be completed under VFR. That per-flight endorsement does not have to come from your regular instructor (AC 61-65K, paragraph 20.6). Our cross-country planning guide covers the planning they will review.
Class B and test endorsements
Solo flight in Class B airspace, or at an airport inside it, requires ground and flight training in that specific area or at that airport and an endorsement dated within 90 days (61.95). You may not solo into the Class B airports listed in Part 91, Appendix D, Section 4, because the pilot in command there must hold at least a private pilot certificate (91.131(b)(2)). For the knowledge test, an instructor’s logbook endorsement or signed statement works, including a home-study course graduation certificate signed by the course’s instructor (AC 61-65K, paragraph 10.2); see our written exam guide. The practical test endorsements come last, and your logbook goes with you to the checkride.
Before every solo, check the dates on your solo endorsement and any Class B endorsement. Each lasts 90 days, and once one lapses you may not make that flight until an instructor renews it.
What to carry on a solo cross-country
Section 61.51(i)(2) requires a student pilot to carry these on every solo cross-country flight as evidence of the required endorsements:
- Your pilot logbook
- Your student pilot certificate
- Any other record 61.51 requires
Section 61.3 adds a photo ID and your medical certificate on every solo. A U.S. driver’s license replaces the medical only if you qualify for BasicMed, which requires, among other things, having held an FAA medical certificate after July 14, 2006 (61.23(c)(3), 61.89(d)); see the FAA medical certificate guide. You must also show your logbook on reasonable request to the FAA, the NTSB, or a law enforcement officer (61.51(i)(1)).
Paper or electronic logbook: what the FAA accepts
The FAA does not require a paper book. Section 61.51 asks only for a record kept in a manner acceptable to the FAA, and the FAA’s Office of the Chief Counsel has stated that a logbook can be a bound book, computer-generated log sheets, or any other record from which the FAA can determine your training, experience, and currency (legal interpretation, December 22, 2008).
For electronic signatures and records, the current guidance is AC 120-78B (December 11, 2024). It covers pilot logbooks and says Part 61 electronic records need no formal FAA approval, but the FAA recommends its guidelines and may question records that ignore them: a signature unique to the signer and under their sole control, and no editing a signed record without a new signature. Falsification rules apply either way. 14 CFR 3.403, which replaced 61.59 on November 3, 2025, covers documents in any format, and an intentionally false entry can lead to suspension or revocation of your certificates or a civil penalty.
A practical approach: keep a paper logbook for instructor signatures and endorsements, and mirror it in an app for running totals and a backup. Choose one with columns that match 61.51 and room for endorsements, and compare pilot logbooks at PilotMall.com.
What you'll need
Paper pilot logbooks that keep your training record and endorsements in one place, all from PilotMall.com.
Logbook best practices
- Log before you leave the airport, and get your instructor’s signature the same day.
- Use ink and correct cleanly: one line through the error, then the correction and your initials.
- Total every page and carry totals forward, checking them against the private pilot requirements as you go.
- Write specific remarks (maneuvers, stops, conditions) so an examiner can see each requirement met.
- Photograph new pages and endorsements and store the copies outside your flight bag.
- Log only approved device time. Home simulator time without FAA approval does not count; see what simulator time counts.
Frequently asked questions
What do I have to write in my pilot logbook?
For each flight or lesson you use toward a certificate, 14 CFR 61.51 requires the date, total time, departure and arrival points, aircraft type and identification, the type of time (solo, pilot in command, or training received), and the conditions (day or night, actual or simulated instrument). Your instructor also describes and signs each lesson.
Can a student pilot log pilot in command time?
Yes, but only while you are the sole occupant of the aircraft, hold a current solo endorsement, and are training for a certificate or rating (61.51(e)(4)). Dual lessons are logged as dual received.
How long is a solo endorsement valid?
90 days. It must come from an instructor who trained you within the 90 days before the flight, and an instructor must renew it every 90 days for you to keep flying solo (61.87(n) and (p)).
Is an electronic pilot logbook legal?
Yes. Section 61.51 requires only a record kept in a manner acceptable to the FAA, and AC 120-78B says electronic records and signatures under Part 61 need no formal FAA approval, though the FAA recommends following its signature and recordkeeping guidelines.
What do I need to carry on a solo cross-country flight?
Your pilot logbook with the required endorsements, your student pilot certificate, and any other record 61.51 requires, plus a photo ID and your medical certificate (or a U.S. driver’s license under BasicMed) under 61.3.
Where are the official sample endorsements?
In Appendix A of AC 61-65K, issued November 14, 2025, which replaced AC 61-65J. Instructors adapt that wording to your training.