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Tailwheel safety pilot with no tailwheel endorsement?

Asked by: 1620 views FAA Regulations

I have a friend who has their PPL with tailwheel endorsement and they own a c185 taildragger. They asked me to be a safety pilot while they wear foggles to log some approaches. I have my CPL but I do not have a tailwheel endorsement. If my friend is PIC and does the take off and landings can I log time while acting PIC as safety pilot? or how can this work? what time can I log? any feed back appreciated!

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1 Answers



  1. John D Collins on Sep 10, 2022

    You don’t need the endorsement to be the safety pilot, but you do need it to act as PIC. All a safety pilot requires is that they are at least private pilot rated in the class and category and because they are a required crew member, they need to hold a medical. To act as PIC for the C185, one also needs the endorsements for high performance and tail wheel. You must also be current IAW 61.57 for a tail wheel aircraft.

    According to the 2009-12-01 Glenn FAA General Counsel opinion you may log SIC for the portion of the flight you are the safety pilot, see the quote below:

    “When a pilot is operating an aircraft in simulated instrument flight, 14 C.F.R. § 91.109(b), in
    relevant part, requires that a safety pilot, who possesses at least a private pilot certificate
    with category and class ratings appropriate to the aircraft, occupy the other control seat.
    Accordingly, Pilot B may log SIC time for the portion of the flight during which Pilot B acts
    as safety pilot because Pilot B was a required flight crewmember for that portion of the
    flight under § 91.1 09(b).”

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