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5 Answers

Friend Rents a FBO Plane then Uses Me As CFI….Can I log?

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FAA Regulations, General Aviation

Simplified version 

Flight instructed a friend in a plane he rented. Cant find FAA regs saying I can't log  and sign his book  if I actually did teach him.  

He would just log it elsewhere and not show the School right? Back log later when he leaves there.

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Long version

Im a CFI . My buddy has his private and wanted help on Night XC and Towered airports (he came to me).  I agreed to go along and help him for free. I'm sure there was a rental agreement he signed saying only authorized instructors can instruct in the planes but I can't find a FAR saying it would be illegal to log.

 I did teach him and he did really well..... so technically instruction was given. I could sign a separate piece of paper and he could stick it in his logbook and not show the FBO.

I was there only for the weekend and will never rent a plane there so I would be happy putting it in mine.

 

 

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5 Answers



  1. Mark Kolber on Nov 23, 2016

    “Not show the FBO” suggests there is an (common) agreement or rental policy in place that requires CFIs be approved by the FBO in order to provide instruction.

    The FAA doesn’t really care. So if you and your friend think it is perfectly alright for him to breach the agreement, put his rental privileges at risk, violate the owners right to decide who flies (and teaches) in its airplane, expose the FBO to rejection of an insurance claim in the event of damage, cheat the instructors who work there, among other potential effects, that is your call.

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  2. Russ Roslewski on Nov 23, 2016

    I agree with Mark.

    You’re a CFI. What does 61.189(a) say about logging instruction?

    “A flight instructor must sign the logbook of each person to whom that instructor has given flight training or ground training.”

    So, if you actually provided instruction, you must log it in your friend’s logbook. Come on, you know this. it was probably a whole block of instruction when you were working on your CFI.

    The school’s policies aren’t referred to in the FARs because, why would they? The FAA has no interest in school policies of this nature. Who is allowed to fly in the airplane is a business practice, not a regulatory concern.

    But Mark is absolutely correct. IF the school has such a policy about non-approved CFIs instructing in their airplanes (and yes, they likely do), then your friend has already violated the school’s terms and rental contract, and they would be well within their rights to no longer rent to your friend.

    However, since he already in a certificated pilot, if the two of you just went flying as friends and you gave some helpful pointers along the way, then there’s probably no problem. That wouldn’t necessarily be instruction. But, in your post, you do explicitly say you instructed him, so he has already violated the agreement.

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  3. Kris Kortokrax on Nov 23, 2016

    Another interesting thing is that if you look up the individual who made the post on the FAA airman database on http://www.faa.gov, you will see that he only has a Private Pilot certificate. It sounds more like the private pilot who received the instruction has made the post and not his instructor.

    Otherwise I completely agree with the previous comments.

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  4. Mark Kolber on Nov 24, 2016

    BTW, I guess the specific “can I log the time” question has not been answered. So here goes:

    The answer is yes. I am not aware of any FAR that prohibits logging time that qualifies as loggable flight time under FAR 61.51.

    If, for example, someone steals an airplane in which he or she has the applicable ratings, he or she can certainly log the PIC time. It’ s generally considered form, though, to put evidence of a felony in one’s logbook 😀

    Happy Thanksgiving all!

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  5. Mark Kolber on Nov 24, 2016

    Oh, just in case someone gets the wrong idea, no, I am not equating theft with the scenario described by the OP.

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