Sport Pilot Talk

Quick question, when the CFI writes what we did in the logbook for a particular lesson, is it okay for him to write only what is the main topic of the flight lesson, or does he have to write down everything we did, including "overhead" topics such as straight and level flight for flying to the practice area to do the main topic lesson, preflight, and other topics that are not part of the main lesson?

Assuming that the flight school maintains a more thorough form of student documentation, then an abbreviated logbook entry is acceptable. I use the Gleim Sport Pilot Training Record book (http://www.gleim.com/products/productdetails.php/SPTR?GHPSESSIONwwwgleimcom=a1fdde2af834f907150ad40d4bf649dc), which lays out a structured, sequential curriculum, allows very detailed records to be kept as to exactly what was done on each lesson, lists objectives and PTS criteria for each operation, keeps the student and the CFI on the same page, and provides contemporaneous documentation which is transferable, should you ever change flight schools or instructors. All at a modest cost of $9.95.

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The opinions expressed in this post are those of one CFI, and do not necessarily represent the position of the FAA or its lawyers.
Prof. H. Paul Shuch, Ph.D., CFII, LSRM-A/GL/WS
AvSport of Lock Haven
http://AvSport.org fly@AvSport.org

I wrote whatever I wanted to document. That was almost always the main objective of the lesson and any things I wanted to bring attention to. As I got further along, I wrote more. I used many abbreviations and symbols to save space. Better documentation is probably better than the way I did it.

The regs call out for must have items by saying must receive and log ground and flight training in these areas. I always make sure I have those items written down, and throw in what ever extra I feel like adding that day.