Logbook Differences

Converting Military Flight Time To A Civilian Logbook

Pay very close attention to your logbook conversion.

Your application MUST match your logbook or military flight records. Expect that your records will be thoroughly examined and compared to your application to find inconsistencies. Getting this correct could be the difference in a good or bad first impression. My advice… pay the $200ish for a company to do the conversion for you and there will be no questions or inconsistencies to worry about.

Conversion Factor?

As most military pilots know, our flight time doesn’t begin until airborne, whereas commercial pilots time is from brake release until back in the chocks. For this reason, the conversion factor is used to even the playing field for military pilots.

This factor is based on the number of sorties flown and is generally divided up by PIC, SIC, and Instructor sorties. The factor is often an additional 0.2 or 0.3 of flight time per sortie added to your total time. This is different based on the airline you are applying for, so don’t apply conversion factors to your time unless asked to do so. You can bet if the application is asking for the number of military sorties flown, they will be making the conversion for you on your application.

Primary, First Pilot Or Pilot Time To PIC Time

According to 14 CFR 1.1, Pilot-in-command means the person who:

Has final authority and responsibility for the operation and safety of the flight;
Has been designated as pilot-in-command before or during the flight; and
Holds the appropriate category, class, and type rating, if appropriate, for the conduct of the flight.

According to 14 CFR 61.51(e), your military flight time can be considered PIC time if:

(1.i.) You were the sole manipulator of the controls of an aircraft you were rated.
(1.ii.) You were the sole occupant of an aircraft (i.e. Solo).
(1.iii.) You were acting in the role of Aircraft Commander (designated by competent authority as being in command of the aircraft) of an aircraft requiring more than one aircraft.
(1.iv.) You were the “acting” Aircraft Commander while in an upgrade program and supervised by an instructor who is also acting as the primary Aircraft Commander.
(3) You were the qualified instructor during the flight. All Instructor time is considered PIC time.
(4) As a student pilot you were the sole occupant of the aircraft, or acting as an Aircraft Commander in a training program.

In summary, if you were the acting Aircraft Commander, you can log all the time. If you were not acting as the Aircraft Commander but logged primary/ first pilot time, you can log that time (per FAA, but not according to most airlines). Any time you logged Instructor time, you can claim that time regardless of if you were the acting Aircraft Commander. Evaluator time can be logged as Instructor time, and thus as PIC time.

IMPORTANT:

Commercial Airlines generally have more stringent requirements for reporting your time. They ONLY accept time to be logged as PIC is if you signed for the aircraft and were the acting Aircraft Commander. They will also accept Instructor and Evaluator time as PIC time but pay attention to the application site rules as to whether or not you include your Instructor time in your reported PIC time.

Secondary Or Copilot Time
to SIC Time

According to 14 CFR 1.1 “Second-in-command” means a pilot who is designated to be second-in-command of an aircraft during flight time.

According to 14 CFR 61.51(f) the remainder of your time logged as Secondary or Co-pilot after aircraft qualification can be listed as SIC time under the following stipulations: You must have been qualified and occupying a crewmember station in an aircraft REQUIRING more than one pilot. Don’t forget that last part.

If you were not acting as the Aircraft Commander and logged primary/ first pilot time, you can consider that SIC time for airline applications. If the aircraft is certified as a single pilot aircraft, you can’t have logged SIC time in it.

IMPORTANT:

Commercial Airlines may have stricter rules on logging PIC time (see logging PIC time above). In that case, whatever time you can’t use as PIC time, make sure it is included in your SIC time. You don’t want to leave any time unaccounted for.

Instructor Time

No real conversions here because there is no regulation for logging your own instructor time.

It is assumed that you are logging instructor time when you are actively instructing in the aircraft. If you were logging Instructor time in the military (as a qualified instructor in that aircraft) you can use those hours as Instructor hours (or Dual Given) in the civilian logbook. Additionally, as stated earlier, according to 14 CFR 61.51(e)(5), they count toward your PIC time as well, just keep them separate unless told to combine them.

Evaluator or Flight Examiner Time

According to 14 CFR 61.73(g), Evaluator time is on the same level as Instructor time when applying to convert your time to a CFI rating. Based on this and on experience, most airlines or flight companies will accept your Evaluator time as Instructor (or Dual Given) time. When filling out your resume, it is suggested to separate Instructor and Evaluator time.

Other Time

Military Other Time doesn’t convert to civilian logbooks. Airline applications may or may not ask for these hours but they generally will not be counted toward your total time.

Cross Country Time

According to 14 CFR 61.1(b), Cross country time means:

Conducted in an appropriate aircraft;
That is at least a straight-line distance of more than 50 nautical miles from the original point of departure; and
That involves the use of dead reckoning, pilotage, electronic navigation aids, radio aids, or other navigation systems (visual).

In summary, any time you flew beyond 50 NM from your departure location, it can be counted as Cross Country time. If you stayed in the home station traffic pattern, then maybe not.

Simulator Time

Simulator time does not hold the same weight in the civilian flight log as it does in the military. Keep track of your time, and provide it on applications that ask for it, but don’t include it in any totals.