8710 Question

Baronman

Well-Known Member
When filling out the hours section of an 8710, the FAA asks for totals of "SOLO" time.

Is Solo when a pilot is alone in the aircraft, without passengers/pets/etc?? Or do they consider SOLO anytime you're the only pilot in the plane?

I have almost no solo time!! Hundreds of hours of PIC with students and pax!!
 
Edit--> ALONE in the plane <--Edit

I bet the only reason it's there is for students to prove they've met the solo time requirements.... but since everyone uses the 8710, we all have to suffer through counting solo time hour by hour. However you only have to fill out what's required for the aeronautical experience for whatever you're applying for.

Anyways if you use a computer logbook or the free one online at www.logshare.com it does it for you.
 
Thanks! So I do have some solo time after all
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Wait I meant to say alone in the plane.... sorry!

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man I'm gettin old
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When you think about it, it kind of makes sense because of the very few requirements for 'solo' time instead of PIC time, such as the ones for student pilots and the cross country for commercial applicants. Still, it's a pain to total if you don't keep running totals already and / or don't use a computer logbook.
 
[ QUOTE ]
passengers/pets/etc??

[/ QUOTE ]

Quite frankly I don't think the FAA would mind if you logged solo time if you took your dog/cat/boa constrictor with you. :)

So long as there's no human on board....which brings up another point....just make it sensible, and another point, it really doesn't matter. I don't even bother logging solo anymore. The only time the FAA is interested in solo time is pre-private.

Ray
 
Yeah you only fill out what's required for the test you're taking - I've left that section blank on all of the type rating checkrides I've taken since there isn't a specific amount of time required for type ratings.

As a follow up - I have an MEI ride coming up - does anybody know for sure if the flight time grid has to be filled out for instructor ratings - I'm dreding going thru my logbook to figure it all out.

Jason
 
agreed. i am also told by some folks that if you lose your logbook that the hours listed on the 8710 can be used as a legal source for time. I dont know this for certain.

As we all know, the boxes of hours on the 8710 arent the same as in most of our logbooks. What I do is about each three or four pages of my logbook, I add up the hours that arent represented in my logbook (ie: night PIC) and write them in the margin. This helps me keep track so that near a checkride I am not digging too many pages pulling my hair out.
 
If you get a computer logbook like LogbookPro, you can actually have it print out a replica flight time section of the 8710 form. Its pretty cool, I just wish I had gotten it before I got all my ratings!
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[ QUOTE ]
Edit--> ALONE in the plane <--Edit

I bet the only reason it's there is for students to prove they've met the solo time requirements....

[/ QUOTE ]There are also solo requirments for the commercial certificate.

And yes, you're right. It means alone (or at least the only person) in the airplane.
 
Man...I got all exited that I had all that solo time....I guess not!! I hope they'll give me a new license.....hehe
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I was worried you'd go and total all your time up... only to come back here and find out it's wrong!
 
[ QUOTE ]
As a follow up - I have an MEI ride coming up - does anybody know for sure if the flight time grid has to be filled out for instructor ratings - I'm dreding going thru my logbook to figure it all out.

[/ QUOTE ]Maybe not since there aren't any specific hour requirements for the add-on (at least I don't think so).

But there are two good reasons to go through the process anyway, whether or not it's required.

1. A lot of DPEs expect to see it filled out.
2. It becomes an official record of your hours as of that date. Not a bad thing to have in case of a lost or destroyed logbook.
 
[ QUOTE ]
There are also solo requirments for the commercial certificate.

[/ QUOTE ]To wit, 14 CFR § 61.129(a)(4): [ QUOTE ]
4) 10 hours of solo flight in a single-engine airplane on the areas of operation listed in § 61.127(b)(1) of this part, which includes at least --

(i) One cross-country flight of not less than 300 nautical miles total distance, with landings at a minimum of three points, one of which is a straight-line distance of at least 250 nautical miles from the original departure point. However, if this requirement is being met in Hawaii, the longest segment need only have a straight-line distance of at least 150 nautical miles; and

(ii) 5 hours in night VFR conditions with 10 takeoffs and 10 landings (with each landing involving a flight in the traffic pattern) at an airport with an operating control tower.

[/ QUOTE ]
 
Solo: sole occupant of the aircraft.
There is though one exception, where you can log solo time AND an instructor is on board...
Who will find it??
 
When the student pilot is performing the duties of PIC in an airship requiring more than one pilot flight crewmember. FAR 61.51(d).
 
[ QUOTE ]
Yeah you only fill out what's required for the test you're taking

[/ QUOTE ]

That all that is required, but it is recommended that you fill in all appropriate colums with your current times.
 
61.51(e)(4)(i) is permissive. Read together with 61.51(d), the implication is that both solo and PIC time may be logged under those conditions, despite the presence of the instructor.

61.51(d) seems quite clear that the "airship" situation is the only exception to the "sole occupant" rule for solo. If you are referring to some other exception, please point out where it's at in the regs, I'd be interested to know.
 
[ QUOTE ]
61.51(e)(4)(i) is permissive. Read together with 61.51(d), the implication is that both solo and PIC time may be logged under those conditions, despite the presence of the instructor

[/ QUOTE ]It's more than just an implication.

I'm be curious to see what Say Speed has in mind also.
 
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