When using an FTD (ASA On-Top Software), how is this logged?? I am under the impression that it can't be logged as total time, but I was told by my flight school to log it as flight training, and also total time. I searched through the FAR/AIM and couldn't really find a clear answer on this, the closest I could find was 61.51. If this is true, i'm going to be upset, considering I am counting all of these hours that aren't supposed to be logged!
You did a great job trying to figure it out. I'm serious, not being sarcastic. 61.51 is =the= rule on logging time.
as ananoman pointed out, time, unless the FAA upgraded it to another level, On-Top, when used for training with an instructor is not an FTD. It's a PCATD.
When it comes to ground-based trainers, there are different categories. Since you have your FAR open, take a look at the definitions of "simulator" and "flight training device" in 61.1. You won't find a definition for a PCATD in the FAR.
The PCATD is a different creature. It is neither a "flight simulator" not a "flight training device". It falls under 61.4(c) which authorizes the FAA to approve devices other than simulators and FTDs.
What a PCATD can be used for and what can be logged is the subject of AC 61-126 - Qualification And Approval Of Personal Computer-Based Aviation Training Devices. In general, they can be used to =partially substitute= for the requirements for a certificate or rating that can be done in a flight simulator or FTD. For example,
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7. ACCEPTABILITY OF PCATD's FOR USE UNDER PART 61
a. To be acceptable for use in part 61, a PCATD must:
(1) Be capable of providing training in all elements for which it will be used. Those elements should be specified in a curriculum.
(2) Meet the description and criteria established in this AC.
b. The PCATD should be used in a curriculum which will provide for:
(1) A scope and content which should be in general compliance with part 141.
(2) Not more than 10 hours of flight instruction in a PCATD in lieu of 10 of the 20 hours of flight instruction allowed for a flight simulator or FTD. The 20-hour allowance for a flight simulator or an FTD and the 10-hour allowance for PCATD's are not additive. If a PCATD is used for the maximum of 10 hours, that 10 hours shall be a part of the 20-hour maximum allowance for a flight simulator or flight training device.
(3) Instructional materials for flight events.
(4) An outline of stage (phase) checks and criterion levels of performance.
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The logging of this stuff is part regulation and part preference. The regulation part is all in 61.51 as supplemented by definitions that appear in either Part 1 or Part 61.
One of the problems is "total time." We talk about it all the time but there's no such thing. The regs talk about total "flight" time and total "pilot" time" but not just "total time." Flight in a sim or FTD (but =NOT= a PCATD) can be counted toward "pilot time" (see the definition in 61.1(b)(12)). But, if you look at the definitions of "flight time" and "aircraft" in FAR 1.1, you will see that no simulator, no matter how sophisticated, counts as "flight time."
The logbooks I've seen don't have a column for "total time" or "total pilot time". They do have a column for total "flight" time or "Total duration of 'flight'" and sim or FTD time doesn't belong there. Want to track total pilot time? Add a column and go ahead. It counts for something.
The preference part for sims and FTDs comes mostly in the area of simulated instrument time. If you look at 61.51, you'll see that sim and FTD time can be counted as simulated instrument time. Some pilots choose to include it along with hood time in their "simulated instrument" column. Others choose to reserve the column for simulated instrument "flight" time and leave the ground trainers out. It's mostly about how you want to total things for the 8710, which separates aircraft from device time.
There seem to be two ways that people are logging FTD time, which by definition is not flight time or sim/FTD time. One is to just give it its own column. The other is logging it like sim/FTD time, knowing that it will have to be backed out of some totals.
That was probably, as one of my classes used to say to our teacher, "clear as mud."
