majority of pilots pencil whip??

[corky]

Pilot friend is getting a type via WIA and plans to make it an ATP ride as well. Problem is I know he is at least 300 shy of ATP mins. So he pencil whipped the rest. He claims 90% of the pilots do it. I don't believe it. I think it's his rationalization to sooth his conscience. What do you think? Do most pencil whip?

 

[Hawker rider]

I honestly doubt that there are a lot of pilots that pencil whip their books, as all of them know that if you get caught it's the end of the game.

Most people have sunk too much money in their education to be able to take a risk like that. Exagerating over a beer is one thing, but really put it on paper with the FAA, nobody can be that ignorant.

By the way, airlines are mostly very good judges of character, and the ycan tell if you have the experience that you stated on their applications anyway, you cheat...you're out!

M

 

[bigD]

Well according to the Logbook Padding Poll on the FAR board, 85% of the pilots here wouldn't do it. Some could be FOS, but it's a confidential poll, and I think it's probably reasonably accurate. At least accurate enough to refute your buddy's 90% statement.

Personally, I put a lot of pride into the flying I've done, and I don't think I could bear the thought that my logbook was misrepresentative of the time I've flown.

 

[vclean]

I don't. I believe most do not. It's a matter of personal integrity. Those who pencil-whip their logs probab;y also view rules & regulations with the same contempt. It's all about karma, everything eventually balances out. Your friend may successfully lie his way into the training, but someday an interviewer, FAA investigator, insurance investigator, etc, will learn of it. Perhaps he may not be able to lie when asked during a routine interview or disgruntled friend may turn him in. There is almost always a paper trail somewhere to reconstruct logs.

Convince him to get the 300 hours and go about this in a professional manner. When you are approved for WIA, it is valid for at least a few months. I doubt the training is that time-critical that a short wait is going to cost him a job in today's market.

 

[Whirlwind]

Personally, I have flown every hour in my logs. I see no point to make it up. You can't fake enough time to really matter, and if you did, it would be obvious to someone with more time that you do not know as much about flying as your time would indicate.

In other words, you might be able to fake 5%, but is that 5% worth risking your entire career for? If you pad the books 30%, that will be easy to detect by most employers.

Besides, 20 years from now when you have thousands of hours, you won't be able to look back with pride and know that your books are accurate.

I take great pride in my flying and in my records, I think it is a crying shame that some people have so little honor. Personally, I think padding logbooks should result in your certificates being pulled.

Jason

 

[JediNein]

Or the friend that knows about the cheating becomes a chief pilot on an interview board somewhere. . .

"Sorry Bub, you are still my friend, but my company doesn't operate that way. We can not hire you."


And that situation may be 10 years down the road.

Fly SAFE!
Jedi Nein

 

[LearLove]

Don't know much about pencil whipping personal flight time log books but around my company whipping the times (out and in) is whide spread due to moral. Also many guys pulling off 10 or 15 late due to this or that and still calling it on time or even 5 early. Not to even mention the guys flying around at 50 to 60 percent power. Pretty pathetic if you ask me. Then they're the guys who scream the loudest when the company turns around and $rews us.

 

[Timebuilder]

No.

Maybe it's because I was a kid in the fifties. Maybe it's because of the academy motto I lived by, shown below. Maybe it's because to add anything to my logbook that shouldn't be there is just plain wrong.

I find it difficult to imagine the pressure of the culture of moral relativism in which younger people have been raised. I don't envy you, not one iota.

 

[bigD]

I'm not sure that the kids of today are necessarily more morally bankrupt than those of the 50's. Although I'm certainly biased in my opinion!

The job market is very, very competative, and it's bringing out the worst in some people. Who's to say how this market situation would have affected pilots from that generation?

 

[UPS DC8]

What goes around comes around. All the pilots that I know that have pencil wipped in order to get ahead of the next guy have fallen on their faces. Trust me, turd floats to the top. One other thing to remember, it's not where you are at the end of your career, it's how you got there.