Expert: Jeff Davis - 11/29/2005

Question
Hi,
I've just begun my private pilot training, and do not quite understand how to log time in my logbook.  Do I divide the hour into 10nth's or 12th's because I hear pilots using .5 as a reference to a half-hour and I don't know if I'm interpreting wrong and if the hour is divide by 10 how do I know what .3 or .7 of an hour is to equal?   Help, I'm confused!

Answer
The last column is for tenths.  If you're renting an airplane, your instructor will note the time on the Hobbs meter or tachometer before you start the engine, and again after shut-down.  They're displayed in tenths, so you just have to subtract the beginning time from the ending time, and you have your flight time.  I wear a watch with a stopwatch function, and use that to keep track of flight time.  Every six minutes equals a tenth, therefore 48 minutes is 0.8, and 51 minutes rounds up to 0.9.  I hope this answers your question, and good luck with your training!