The flights were logged, just not indicated as solo in any way. Receipts would not help since the issue wasn't whether the flights occurred, but whether they were solo.
I agree. It should definitely have been caught by his instructor.
My logbook does not have a solo column. I am just in the habit of logging in the remarks either solo or who is in the aircraft with me. If nothing else, looking back through it helps me to remember what that flight was.
My five logbooks have columns for solo, but nothing is logged in any of them, because I never needed it for anything.
QB changed that to PIC time, and now it appears they are going to lower the requirement to 300 hours.
There was a time, back maybe in the 30s and 40s or so, when "solo" meant basically the opposite of "dual", meaning without an instructor on board. In other words, you could have dual OR solo time, those were the two options. Any time without an instructor was "solo", whether or not other people were on board. I don't have the reference for this, but I saw it in some old version of the FARs, probably in 61.51 or equivalent.
I did some research on the history of logging PIC and found several variations of "solo," including this one from the 1942 CAR.
I'm quite sure you must have posted that sometime in the past and it's what I (mostly) remembered.
The regs were much, much, simpler then.
And yet, we still find nonexistent weeds.
Requires a sign off for preflight planning only. No postflight signature needed.
Yes, that's what I meant and should have clarified.
It's not a flight school policy either.So what you have learned:Soooo... before executing the XC with the prescribed route, he happened to be taking a new incoming CFI on a tour of the facilities. I asked them both and they BOTH told me they believe that's what CFR specified. I said that I reviewed the regs and the 3 take-offs and landings at towered airports were separate from the Long XC, and both they said were sure but they would review it anyways.
Nevertheless, his actual rationale for the route was that it was easy to navigate, and the destinations was very likely to have low enough levels of traffic so I wouldn't have to burn fuel practicing endless 360s waiting for a spot in the pattern. Smart.
When I flew the prescribed route (KLZU KAHN KGRD KAHN KLZU), I also found there were plenty of ditching points. I got flight following (talked to Atlanta Satellite Approach, Greer Approach, and ZTL Ultra-Low), found and logged my visual references, scanned for emergency fields, got some pictures. Overall, I enjoyed the route despite it being an out-and-back. I reminded myself, I'm not up there to give myself a scenic tour.
I later realized that despite the CFIs being incorrect about the towered airport requirement on Cross-Country Flights, he helped me save some time... on the Commercial rating! Our training flight to prep the Long XC also satisfies 14 CFR 61.129(a)(3)(iii). We also did our night cross country (KLZU KAGS KLZU) to satisfy 14 CFR 61.129(a)(3)(iv).
So there I was… 2 touch and gos, 4 traps. USS Eisenhower, T2-C Buckeye. Initial CARQUAL.
I'm based out of Sanford Florida (KSFB). I rounded up and instructor and we flew to St. Simons Island (KSSI) landing shortly before dark. Day handled. We had dinner and then dawdled around a short bit to be 1 hour after sundown, flew home. Night x-country knocked out. Made sure to refrence the 61.127 stuff in the log book entries so there was no confusion.
Unless you are logging for night passenger-carrying currency, it does not have to be one hour after sundown. You can log night time after the end of evening civil twilight and before the beginning of morning civil twilight.
Absolutely correct, and a nuance that many people do miss.
In fact, CFIs often miss this and tell their students they have to wait until an hour after sundown for night training, when the flight is for training, not for night currency. Since they have to get ten night takeoffs and landings, they invariably do get current for carrying passengers at night.
Or they tell their students they have to wait until an hour after sundown to get the full effect of flying at night.
One of the fun things about flying is trying to figure out panel lighting. There are all sorts of different methods and I'm not sure what you have.I don't know if it's good or bad, but my PPL flying that just started at the 141 school (finally got a CFI) has to be at night on the weekends given my schedule. It will be interesting when getting to chart a course with visual refs.
One question I have is do most Cessna 172s have no instrument lighting at night? It's been flashlight-fumbling for me to read instruments and a bit disconcerting. I've only been in a couple 172s many years before my training and those IPs lit up like a Broadway show (steam guages) compared to my school's planes.
There are many different lighting setups in 172s. I always remember the first time I had a night return on a cross country from Superior, Wisconsin to Eau Claire, and discovered the only instrument lighting was an overhead flood light. I sure did not like that, especially since Superior is remote and there were very few ground lights to help. Fortunately, it was clear, and I could see the lights from the Twin Cities many miles to the southwest.One question I have is do most Cessna 172s have no instrument lighting at night? It's been flashlight-fumbling for me to read instruments and a bit disconcerting. I've only been in a couple 172s many years before my training and those IPs lit up like a Broadway show (steam guages) compared to my school's planes.