61.189, Flight Instructor Records

[Goose Egg]

Hey folks,

Just a quick question for you all. FAR 61.189 states that a flight instructor must maintain a record that contains the following:

"The name of each person whose logbook or student pilot certificate that instructor has endorsed for solo flight privileges..."

Does this include sign-offs for solo cross countries, or is it just the initial solo?

Thanks
-Goose

 

[nosehair]

solo priveleges includes solo x/c privilege, new a/c check out, other airport, etc, all solo endorsements.... uuuh, all solo priveleges that require a cfi endorsement.

 

[Goose Egg]

Gotcha. Just checkin'.

-Goose

 

[minitour]

*edit*
Nevermind...it took a while for the context to register in my head.

Nothing to see here.

-mini

 

[avbug]

As a side bar, I always strongly recommend that an instructor keep better and more detailed records than the regulation requires. You never know when it will save your bacon.

A lot of instructors don't log ground training in their student's logbooks and sign it off, even though they are required to do so. If at any future time someone questions the instruction you gave, having that simple statement in the student's log may be more than enough to exhonerate you and demonstrate that you did your duty.

Likewise, keep track in your own records. If I were to have lunch with a student and discuss aeronautical decision making and flight in ice, I'd be sure to include in my own records all the details of that talk. Not just that we talked about ADM and ice, but what specifics we discussed. All aspects of icing, what types of decisions, go-no go decisions, etc. I'd also be very keen on putting that information in the student's log.

Most all instructors sign the student's log and their own for flight time, but ground training is very often ignored. It shouldn't be. It can be charged (and in many cases, should be), but that aside, it's a big part of what an instructor does. You spend every flight session with a student doing a prebriefing and debriefing. A record of what was covered should be kept. By the time I'm done leading a student through initial training to a private certificate, for example, his logbook will have a written record that he's been instructed in every topic and subject matter, itimized and listed, in the back of the book, with my signature beside it. No room for doubt. It's paid off for me in the past.

The same for your own records. Yes, keep a record of every endorsement you make. Every signature you make, and every word you say. If you spend fifteen minutes before the flight briefing the flight and answering questions, and then fifteen minutes after the flight, you have spent a half hour providing instruction. Keep a record of it. If you discussed other things, such as subject material pertaining to the next lesson, make a note of it, especially in your own records. It needn't be fancy; a three ring binder with blank sheets of paper for each student, kept like a long diary or logbook, is enough. Just so you have a record. The more detail, the better. Most instructors don't do this, but it doesn't mean you can't.

I should add that I've found in the past when instructing regularly that such records are useful places to keep personal information about the student. Student likes, dislikes, family names, birthdays, etc. A good instructor, one who is serious about making a living and keeping students coming in, will interact with the students by sending out a birthday card, commenting on an aniversary, calling the student when lessons are missed or delayed (or a new certificate or rating is due to be started). It's all about follow-up. If you haven't seen Student A in six months but have a lunch appointment to discuss him starting an instrument rating, that record might be the thing that reminds you he doesn't like Itallian, but loves The Sandwich Hut...it also might remind you that today is his aniversary, and you can call him for that, but not to set up a meeting. You get the idea.

I used to do a lot of introductory flights. A 45 minute intro lesson at a reduced price, a way of getting a foot in the door. I kept detailed records of each flight, and I'd follow up with the individuals involved. A note thanking them for their business, and even a call three or six months later to see if they'd been thinking about flying some more. They might not, but they may have friends. If you kept notes of your intro flight when they mentioned the friends names, you'll be impressive when you call and ask about the friends by name. Just a way of being a little more professional...for those of us who can barely remember our own name without a checklist.

 

[minitour]

avbug -

I've gotta say...I'm impressed.

That is incredibly insightful...I'm making a file right now for just that.

Thank you!

-mini