Logging XC Time

[mrmarcus81]

I was told that once you get your commercial you can log XC under 50nm as long as it is airport to airport. I believe is because part 135 XC is airport to airport. Has anyone else heard this and if so do you know if the airlines care when they look at your log book.

 

[IFlyGC]

For pt.135 purposes yes, anytime you land at a different airport regardless of distance it counts as x-country but I personally wouldn't log it. Everything else needs the 50-mile rule (except for the ATP ticket you don't need to land 50 miles away, just overfly is OK) so just log that. By the time your ready for a 135 IFR job (1200 hours, etc...) you'll have 500 XC easily.

As for the airlines, they're back to hiring the 600-1 wonders again so XC time really won't matter too much. They're more interested in good actual IMC time.

I just noticed you're a CFI....have a student look through this stuff with you in the FAR's. It makes for a great hour of ground instruction!

 

[JeffSKDTW]

The ability to ~log~ XCs between two airports under 50NM is not limited to just Part 135--it is legally permissible. In fact, the only requirements are:

Part 61.1(b)(3) Cross-country time means—

(i) Except as provided in paragraphs (b)(3)(ii) through (b)(3)(vi) of this section, time acquired during flight—

(A) Conducted by a person who holds a pilot certificate;

(B) Conducted in an aircraft;

(C) That includes a landing at a point other than the point of departure; and

(D) That involves the use of dead reckoning, pilotage, electronic navigation aids, radio aids, or other navigation systems to navigate to the landing point.

Obviously, if you want to use the time toward a certificate, you must meet the distance requirements, but otherwise you can legally log it.

There is a lot of debate about whether you ~should~ log it, however. That is up to you. If you can easily track the different types, log them all. If you use an electronic logbook, such below-50 XC's are easy to parse out.

 

[mrmarcus81]

Hey guys thanks, I have been logging any airport to airport as XC regardless of distance and I don't want to go to an 121 interview and have them give me a hard time because of how I log XC time.

 

[PropsForward]

As for the airlines, they're back to hiring the 600-1 wonders again so XC time really won't matter too much. They're more interested in good actual IMC time.

What is a 600-1 wonder?

 

[IFlyGC]

A 600-1 (600 TT/100 multi) wonder is a term used to describe low time pilots who haven't gained sufficient experience before moving on to bigger and better things. Now before I get flamed, YES - people with 600 hours TT can sucessfully operate jet aircraft and do a d*mn good job of it. The problem is there are just as many who haven't experienced a lot that aviation has to offer.....poor wx, icing, hard IFR conditions. These people often make the captain think "I 'wonder' how on earth they got here"........

Do I have to explain what a spotted dick is as well?

 

[midlifeflyer]

Hey guys thanks, I have been logging any airport to airport as XC regardless of distance and I don't want to go to an 121 interview and have them give me a hard time because of how I log XC time.

That's the issue. It's sort of like logging PIC in that Piper Meridian because the owner let you handle the controls for an hour - legitimate under the FAR but deadly if you try to pass it off as "experience" at an interview.

Same with cross country time. Put yourself in an employer's shoes for a moment. You look at a resume that simply says "1000 hours cross country PIC time." What's your expectation of how experienced this pilot is? Pretty experienced in dealing with the navigational, weather change, and other issues that come up in cross country flight, right? So you give the guy an interview, only to find that 950 of those 1000 hours involve flying to and from Todd Field [46IA] where he hangars his airplane and Ankeny [IKV] (3.9 NM) for lunch.

That doesn't mean don't log it. It does mean that when you are presenting information to show experience, decide which parts of the data are really relevant. Don't apply for a position in a bank by listing your tenure as a cashier at McDonald's as "financial experience"

 

[KeroseneSnorter]

Are the applicants being interviewed at regionals so low time that this is really an issue now?

Other than my first part 135 single pilot job at 1200 hours, I cannot remember a single 121 employer that cared what my X-C time was. It never even appeared on any of the applications or hiring records that I did for the various airlines I worked for. The first regional I worked for wanted info on actual IFR time during the interview, but past that all anybody else cared about was TT, Multi, PIC, and Turbine.

 

[IFlyGC]

Well I know ExpressJet is looking for a good mix of everything. A friend of mine was turned down because he had insufficient actual IMC time. Apparently they were looking for a minimum of 37 hours. Why 37 hours? who knows.........

(he went to find some clouds and gave them a call.....he's now on the line)

 

[100LL... Again!]

You can log airport-to-airport XC BEFORE you become commercial.

Obtaining a certificate does not change whether a flight is XC or not.

If you fly 3nm to another airport as a pvt, log it as XC.

You cannot count it towards a certificate or rating, but it DOES count for 135.

MAKE SURE you get that 500 XC by the time you get 1200 hours. You do NOT want to get passed over for a 135 job because you didn't make enough airport to airport flights.