Endorsements and Logbook Entries

For each flight or lesson logged:

• Date
• Total flight time or lesson time
• Departure and arrival locations (or where the lesson occurred, for a simulator/FTD/ATD)
• Type and identification of the aircraft, FFS, FTD, or ATD
• Name of the safety pilot, if required by 91.109
• Type of experience — solo, PIC, SIC, training received from an authorized instructor
• Conditions of flight — day or night, actual instrument, simulated instrument, NVG

Teach the student that the logbook is a legal record of eligibility, not a scrapbook.

Training time must be logged in a logbook, endorsed legibly by the authorized instructor, and include:

• A description of the training given
• The length of the training lesson
• Your signature, certificate number, and certificate expiration date or recent experience end date, consistent with 61.197

That last element changed with the December 2024 instructor rule — new instructor certificates carry no expiration, so you sign with your recent experience end date instead (61.197).

• You must sign the logbook of each person to whom you gave flight or ground training (61.189(a)).
• You must maintain a record — logbook or separate document — of the name and date of everyone you endorsed for solo flight privileges, and the name, kind of test, date, and result for everyone you endorsed for a knowledge or practical test (61.189(b)).
• Retain those records at least 3 years (61.189(c)).

Separately, the TSA citizenship check gives you a choice, and applicants routinely state it backwards: either keep a copy of the documents used to prove U.S. citizenship for 5 years, or make the citizenship endorsement in the student's logbook and in your own logbook or endorsement record (49 CFR 1552.15(c), AC 61-65 A.14). The endorsement is the alternative to 5-year retention, not the thing that triggers it — sign it and you need not keep the passport copy on file.

Three separate items, all in the student's logbook:

1. Pre-solo aeronautical knowledge test — you administer, grade, and review it; endorse for the specific make and model (61.87(b), AC 61-65 A.3).
2. Pre-solo flight training — certifies the student received and logged the training on the 61.87 maneuvers and demonstrated satisfactory proficiency and safety in that or a similar make and model (61.87(c), AC 61-65 A.4).
3. Solo flight endorsement for the specific make and model, given by the instructor who gave the training within the preceding 90 days (61.87(n) and (p)).

A student may not solo unless the make-and-model solo endorsement was given by the instructor who gave the training within the 90 days preceding the flight (61.87(n)). The endorsement stays current for solo privileges provided an authorized instructor updates the logbook every 90 days thereafter (61.87(p)(4)) — AC 61-65 gives two separate texts for this: A.6 for the first 90-calendar-day period and A.7 for each additional period.

Teaching point: it renews indefinitely, but only by an instructor who has flown with the student and re-determined proficiency. It is not a rubber stamp.

Night solo requires three things, all from the instructor who gave the training (61.87(o)(1)–(3)):

• Night flying procedures training — takeoffs, approaches, landings, and go-arounds — at the airport where the solo will be conducted
• Night navigation training in the vicinity of that airport
• A make-and-model endorsement, given within the preceding 90 days

AC 61-65 A.5 writes the expiration into the endorsement text itself.

Three, and two of them are the recurring trap:

1. Solo cross-country endorsement for the aircraft category from the instructor who conducted the training (61.93(c)(1)).
2. Solo cross-country endorsement for the specific make and model (61.93(c)(2)).
3. A planning endorsement for each individual flight, made after you review that student's cross-country planning — it must specify the make and model, state that the preflight planning and preparation is correct and the student is prepared to make the flight safely under the known conditions, and state that any limitations you require are met (61.93(c)(3)).

Endorsements 1 and 2 are one-time; endorsement 3 is per flight (AC 61-65 A.9 and A.10).

You may not permit the solo cross-country unless you have determined the student's planning is correct for the flight and reviewed the current and forecast weather and determined the flight can be completed under VFR — plus the remaining 61.93(d) items. This is where the ACS risk element AI.II.K.R1 lives: an endorsement without limitations. Write the conditions in ("Not authorized if forecast crosswind exceeds 8 knots," "Day VFR only").

• 25 NM — solo takeoffs and landings at another airport within 25 NM of the training airport, after you have given training at that airport including flight in both directions over the route, entering and exiting the pattern, and takeoffs and landings there. Purpose must be to practice takeoffs and landings (61.93(b)(1), AC 61-65 A.8).
• 50 NM — repeated specific solo cross-country flights to an airport within 50 NM, after training in both directions over the route including pattern entries/exits, takeoffs, and landings at both airports. Separate per-flight endorsements are not required for these repeated flights (61.93(b)(2), AC 61-65 A.11).

Both still require the underlying 61.87 solo endorsement.

For Class B: training and a proficiency endorsement to conduct solo flights in that airspace (61.95(a), AC 61-65 A.12), and a separate endorsement to operate solo to, from, or at an airport located in Class B (61.95(b) and 91.131(b)(1), AC 61-65 A.13). You may not sign either unless you gave that student ground and flight training in that airspace or at that airport and determined the student proficient (61.195(d)(3)).

The part applicants forget: both expire in 90 days. The endorsement must be dated within the 90-day period preceding the date of the flight (61.95(a)(2), (b)(2)) — the same clock as the 61.87(n) solo endorsement, and it must come from the instructor who gave that flight training. Teach it as a pair so the student never has a live solo endorsement and a dead Class B one.

Students pursuing sport or recreational certificates use the 61.94 versions instead (AC 61-65 A.15, A.16).

• Pilot logbook
• Student pilot certificate
• Any other record required by 61.51

That is why the endorsements live in the logbook and not in your file cabinet.

First: training within the 2 calendar months preceding the month of application, from an instructor who found the applicant prepared for the practical test (61.39(a)(6)(i)–(ii), AC 61-65 A.1). Teach the window off the application date, not the test date — they are often the same month, but not always.

Second: if the applicant failed any subject area on the knowledge test, an endorsement that the applicant has demonstrated satisfactory knowledge of the deficient subject areas shown on the Airman Knowledge Test Report (61.39(a)(6)(iii), AC 61-65 A.2).

You also sign the instructor's recommendation block on FAA Form 8710-1 / in IACRA.

An endorsement certifying that the applicant received the required aeronautical knowledge training and that you determined they are prepared for the knowledge test (61.35(a)(1); AC 61-65 A.32 for private, A.34 for commercial, A.38 for the instrument rating).

Certify that the applicant received the additional flight and/or ground training required by 61.49 and that you determined they are proficient to pass the knowledge or practical test (AC 61-65 A.73). For a failed knowledge test you may write it in the space at the bottom of the AKTR; for each practical test retake you must sign the instructor recommendation block (AC 61-65 A.73).

All of these are one-time logbook endorsements for the pilot:

• Complex — ground and flight training in a complex airplane; proficient in operation and systems (61.31(e), AC 61-65 A.68)
• High performance — an airplane with an engine of more than 200 horsepower; ground and flight training; proficient in operation and systems (61.31(f), AC 61-65 A.69)
• Pressurized, capable of high altitude — an aircraft with a service ceiling or maximum operating altitude, whichever is lower, above 25,000 ft MSL; requires ground training covering high-altitude aerodynamics and meteorology, respiration, hypoxia effects/symptoms/causes, duration of consciousness without supplemental oxygen, and effects of prolonged oxygen use (61.31(g))
• Tailwheel — flight training in a tailwheel airplane covering normal and crosswind takeoffs and landings, wheel landings (unless the manufacturer recommends against them), and go-around procedures (61.31(i), AC 61-65 A.71)

Note the pattern: complex and high performance need ground and flight training; tailwheel is a flight-training requirement; pressurized high-altitude is built on ground training plus the flight training in 61.31(g)(2). Grandfather clauses exist — complex and high performance for PIC time logged before August 4, 1997, tailwheel for PIC time logged before April 15, 1991 (61.31(e)(2), (f)(2), (i)(2)).

The live one is SFAR 73, the Robinson R-22 / R-44 rule, and AC 61-65 A.56–A.64 carries its endorsement texts. The set:

• Awareness ground training in the R-22/R-44 specific subject areas, before you fly it at all (A.56)
• Solo and PIC endorsements, separately for each model (A.57, A.58, A.61, A.62)
• A flight review in the model, and the PIC endorsement names a review due in 12 calendar months — not the usual 24 (A.58, A.60, A.64)
• The flight instructor endorsement, which you may not sign — only an FAA aviation safety inspector or an authorized DPE may issue it (A.59, A.63)

Teaching point for the oral: this is the example of a type-specific rule overriding the general part 61 framework. Even if you never touch a Robinson, know that "check for an SFAR" belongs in your endorsement workflow.

A flight review is a minimum of 1 hour of flight training and 1 hour of ground training, and must include a review of the current general operating and flight rules of part 91 plus those maneuvers and procedures that, at your discretion, are necessary for the pilot to demonstrate safe exercise of their certificate privileges (61.56(a)). No person may act as PIC unless they completed one since the beginning of the 24th calendar month before the month of flight (61.56(c)).

Endorse:

• Name
• Grade of pilot certificate
• Certificate number
• That they satisfactorily completed a flight review of 61.56(a)
• The date

(AC 61-65 A.65). No entry is required for an unsatisfactory review — but you may not sign it, and 61.195(d)(5) prohibits endorsing a review you did not conduct.

Endorse:

• Name
• Grade of certificate
• Certificate number
• That they satisfactorily completed the instrument proficiency check of 61.57(d) in a specific make and model
• The date

(AC 61-65 A.67). As with a flight review, no logbook entry is required for an unsatisfactory IPC, and 61.195(d)(6) bars you from endorsing an IPC you did not administer.

You may exercise instructor privileges only if, within the preceding 24 calendar months, you satisfied one of these (61.197(b)):

• Passed a practical test for a rating on your instructor certificate, or for an additional instructor rating
• Endorsed at least 5 applicants for a practical test in the preceding 24 calendar months with at least 80 percent passing on the first attempt
• Completed an approved flight instructor refresher course (FIRC) within the preceding 3 calendar months
• Served as a company check pilot, chief flight instructor, company check airman, or instructor in a part 121/135 operation, or in a position involving regular evaluation of pilots
• Passed a U.S. Armed Forces instructor pilot or examiner proficiency check
• Served as an instructor in an FAA-sponsored pilot proficiency program, meeting the 61.197(b)(2)(v) conditions

The 24-month window restarts from certificate issuance, from the month you accomplish the requirement, or — if you accomplish it within the 3 calendar months preceding the last month of your current period — from that last month, so you don't lose time by renewing early (61.197(a)).

You may not exercise instructor privileges until they are reinstated under 61.199 (61.197(c)). Reinstatement depends on how long you have been lapsed:

• 3 calendar months or less since the last month of your recent experience period — complete an approved FIRC (ground, flight, or a combination), or satisfy one of the 61.199(a)(2) options (61.199(a)(1)).
• More than 3 calendar months — a flight instructor certification practical test under 61.183(h), for one of the ratings you hold or for an additional rating (61.199(a)(2)).

That three-month cliff is the reason to track your recent experience end date. Instructor certificates issued before December 1, 2024 with an expiration date are renewed by establishing recent experience under 61.197(b) prior to the month of expiration (61.197(e)).

Use the known-to-unknown strategy from the demonstration-performance method (AIH ch. 5). Start with what the student already has — the pre-solo endorsements in their own logbook — and generalize:

1. Every endorsement is a certification you personally made a determination. Read them aloud: "I certify... I have determined..." You cannot sign for training you did not give (61.195(d)).
2. Sort endorsements into three buckets: one-time qualifications (61.31), recurring currency (61.56 flight review, 61.57(d) IPC), and expiring authorizations — student solo, 90 days per 61.87(n), and the Class B endorsements, also 90 days per 61.95(a)(2) and (b)(2).
3. Show the anatomy — description of training, lesson length, your signature, certificate number, and expiration or recent experience end date (61.51(h)).

Finish with the student writing out, in their own words, what each endorsement in their logbook authorizes and when it dies.

• Omitting limitations. AI.II.K.R1 names this directly. A solo cross-country endorsement with no wind, weather, or route limits is a blank check. Write the constraints in.
• Missing the per-flight planning endorsement. Students often have the two 61.93(c)(1) and (2) endorsements and think they're done — but each flight needs the 61.93(c)(3) planning review, unless it's the 50 NM repeated-route case in 61.93(b)(2).
• Endorsing the wrong make and model. The solo endorsements are M/M specific (61.87(n)). Moving a student from a 172 to a 152 requires a new one.
• Signing a Class B endorsement without having flown that airspace with the student — a direct 61.195(d)(3) violation.
• Letting the Class B endorsement go stale. Unlike the 61.31 qualification endorsements, the 61.95 Class B endorsements expire — 90 days from the date signed (61.95(a)(2), (b)(2)).
• Stale test recommendation. 61.39 training must be within the 2 calendar months preceding the month of application (61.39(a)(6)(i)).

The endorsement transfers pilot-in-command authority to someone who is not yet a certificated pilot, on the strength of your judgment alone. 61.195(d)(1) requires you to have determined the student is prepared to conduct the flight safely under known circumstances, subject to any limitations you consider necessary.

Practically that means you brief and then constrain: ceiling and visibility minimums above the regulatory floor, a crosswind limit below the airplane's demonstrated value, a specific airport, a time window, and a "call me before you go" rule. Then you check the weather yourself before the flight — for a solo cross-country, 61.93(d)(2) makes that review a regulatory obligation, not a courtesy.

Two separate questions. Your instructor authority is governed by 61.195(b) — you need a flight instructor certificate and a pilot certificate with the applicable category and class rating, plus 61.195(e) for type-rated aircraft and 61.195(f) if it is a multiengine airplane (at least 5 hours of PIC time in the specific make and model). Your endorsement authority under 61.87(p) requires that you gave that student training in that make and model or a similar make and model and determined proficiency in the make and model to be flown. If you cannot honestly do the second, the answer is no regardless of the first.

• 8 hours of flight training maximum in any 24-consecutive-hour period (61.195(a))
• Category and class ratings on both the instructor and pilot certificates for the aircraft (61.195(b))
• A type rating on your pilot certificate for any aircraft requiring one, including for instrument training (61.195(e))
• 5 hours PIC in the specific make and model before giving training toward a certificate or rating in a multiengine airplane, helicopter, or powered-lift (61.195(f))
• Training must be given from a required pilot station in an aircraft that complies with 91.109, with at least two pilot stations of the same category, class, and type as appropriate (61.195(g))

Not every CFI.

Ground training: from a ground or flight instructor who has held the certificate at least 24 calendar months and given at least 40 hours of ground training, or who has given at least 100 hours of ground training in an FAA-approved course.

Flight training: from an instructor who meets 61.183, holds the appropriate certificate and rating, and meets one of:

• Held a flight instructor certificate at least 24 calendar months with at least 200 hours of flight training given (80 hours for gliders)
• Endorsed at least five practical test applicants in the preceding 24 calendar months with an 80 percent first-attempt pass rate
• Graduated from an FAA-approved flight instructor enhanced qualification training program

Worth knowing on your own checkride: it explains why your CFI instructor had to be a specific person.

Yes. A practical test conducted by an examiner for the issuance of a flight instructor certificate, an additional instructor rating, to meet 61.197(b)(1) recent experience, or for reinstatement under 61.199(b)(2), satisfies the flight review requirement (61.56(d)(2)). And once you hold an instructor certificate, you need not accomplish the 1 hour of ground training portion of a flight review if you meet one of the 61.56(f) conditions.