Welcome Guest. Sign in or Signup

3 Answers

PIC time for commercial

Asked by: 4377 views Commercial Pilot, FAA Regulations

Hello, I have a commercial certification with rotorcraft/helicopters wanting to add commercial single engine airplane. My question is do I get to act and log PIC time during my training with a appropriate CFI? What does approved pilot in command training program in 61.51 (e) mean?

Ace Any FAA Written Test!
Actual FAA Questions / Free Lifetime Updates
The best explanations in the business
Fast, efficient study.
Pass Your Checkride With Confidence!
FAA Practical Test prep that reflects actual checkrides.
Any checkride: Airplane, Helicopter, Glider, etc.
Written and maintained by actual pilot examiners and master CFIs.
The World's Most Trusted eLogbook
Be Organized, Current, Professional, and Safe.
Highly customizable - for student pilots through pros.
Free Transition Service for users of other eLogs.
Our sincere thanks to pilots such as yourself who support AskACFI while helping themselves by using the awesome PC, Mac, iPhone/iPad, and Android aviation apps of our sponsors.

3 Answers



  1. Bob Watson on Oct 03, 2011

    As I read it, you can’t log PIC time in an airplane unless you are rated in the airplane or flying it by yourself.
    In my case, that’s how I did it when I was taking ME lessons before my ME checkride (but the ME checkride was logged as PIC) and when I’ve gone up in a Heli for dual (I don’t have a heli ticket…yet).

    0 Votes Thumb up 0 Votes Thumb down 0 Votes



  2. CFI Academy on Oct 11, 2011

    CWillyE,
    No you can not log Airplane time as PIC unless you are SOLO or have already obtained your private at least.
    Bob Watson,
    You are right for the most part, but ME time during your ME add on to your existing Commercial ASEL was not logged as PIC does not mean that it was because of the same reason. If you were holding a Private Pilot ASEL, but were going for the commercial on a AMEL, you would have “logged” time on a ME airplane (even with an instructor on board). Please let me know if more clarification needed.

    0 Votes Thumb up 0 Votes Thumb down 0 Votes



  3. CFI Academy on Oct 11, 2011

    I have no idea how I managed to use that font and color in my above post. Apologies.

    0 Votes Thumb up 0 Votes Thumb down 0 Votes


The following terms have been auto-detected the question above and any answers or discussion provided. Click on a term to see its definition from the Dauntless Aviation JargonBuster Glossary.

Answer Question

Our sincere thanks to all who contribute constructively to this forum in answering flight training questions. If you are a flight instructor or represent a flight school / FBO offering flight instruction, you are welcome to include links to your site and related contact information as it pertains to offering local flight instruction in a specific geographic area. Additionally, direct links to FAA and related official government sources of information are welcome. However we thank you for your understanding that links to other sites or text that may be construed as explicit or implicit advertising of other business, sites, or goods/services are not permitted even if such links nominally are relevant to the question asked.