Logging cross-country time

[fatsportpilot]

Private pilots can log x/c time as long as one leg is at least 50nm but sport pilots can log time as long as one leg is at least 25nm. A private pilot can't legally log a 40nm flight under x/c but a sport pilot can. But does a sport pilot have to log a 40nm trip as x/c or can they choose to only log >50nm flights as x/c like a private pilot?

The rules were made for very very slow LSAs that would take ages to go very far but many modern LSAs are so fast that they'd go 50nm faster than a Cessna 150. Keeping in the spirit of the rule I want to log only x/c time when one leg is at least 50nm because logging when it's only 25 feels like cheating when you're cruising as fast as a 172. Do the FARs say anything about this or can I choose to not log x/c time if I don't want?

[3Dreaming]

You are confusing logging time with meeting the requirements for a rating. Any flight where you land at a different airport can be logged as cross country. They just can't be used for meeting the cross country requirements for private pilot, the instrument rating or commercial pilot. They can however be used for the ATP.

[fatsportpilot]

But is the converse true? Can I choose to only log >50nm legs or must I log everything that counts as cross-country?

My home airport is awfully bumpy so I never practice there, but I don't think that means that almost all of my hours not in the pattern are also x/c hours. From what it says in the FARs something has to be beyond 25nm for sport or 50nm for private to be "legally logged as cross-country time".

[drseti]

From what it says in the FARs something has to be beyond 25nm for sport or 50nm for private to be "legally logged as cross-country time".

I don't find the words "legally logged" anywhere in the FARs. What I do find is what the minimum requirements are to qualify to earn the various ratings. Since 50 mile XCs meet the minimum requirement for SP (50 nm is, after all, greater than 25), if you choose to only log 50 nm legs as XC, that's your decision. Just make sure you have enough of them to satisfy the PTS requirements for the SP rating.

[3Dreaming]

But is the converse true? Can I choose to only log >50nm legs or must I log everything that counts as cross-country?

My home airport is awfully bumpy so I never practice there, but I don't think that means that almost all of my hours not in the pattern are also x/c hours. From what it says in the FARs something has to be beyond 25nm for sport or 50nm for private to be "legally logged as cross-country time".

Here is the FAA definition of Cross Country,
Cross-country time means—
(i) Except as provided in paragraphs (ii) through (vi) of this definition, time acquired during flight—
(A) Conducted by a person who holds a pilot certificate;
(B) Conducted in an aircraft;
(C) That includes a landing at a point other than the point of departure; and
(D) That involves the use of dead reckoning, pilotage, electronic navigation aids, radio aids, or other navigation systems to navigate to the landing point.

Any flight that meets these criteria is a cross country flight and can be logged as such. The regulation goes on to say that to be used for a sport pilot rating it must include a landing at an airport more than 25nm from the original point of departure, for a private, instrument, or commercial it must have a landing at an airport more than 50nm from the original point of departure.

To answer you question about flying to an other airport to practice, yes all of the flight time is cross country. That is a trick that is useable for the instrument rating. Fly to an airport 50nm away, do an approach, and then the whole flight practicing approaches, even if they are at your home airport, can be logged as cross country.

As for what you choose to log is entirely up to you. As a rated pilot you are not required to log every flight, you only need to log what is required to show currency. That being said it is best to get into the practice of logging everything. What you might want to consider is adding an extra column in your logbook, so you can have one for cross country, and a second for greater than 50nm cross country.