Welcome Guest. Sign in or Signup

1 Answers

Fixed wing pilot logging helicopter time

Asked by: 2743 views FAA Regulations, General Aviation, Helicopter

Out of curiosity. Can a person who holds a airplane pilot certificate log time in a helicopter that is considered public use? For example, a police helicopter who uses a navigator that works the radios and such wouldnt be loggable if one is not rated correct?

Ace Any FAA Written Test!
Actual FAA Questions / Free Lifetime Updates
The best explanations in the business
Fast, efficient study.
Pass Your Checkride With Confidence!
FAA Practical Test prep that reflects actual checkrides.
Any checkride: Airplane, Helicopter, Glider, etc.
Written and maintained by actual pilot examiners and master CFIs.
The World's Most Trusted eLogbook
Be Organized, Current, Professional, and Safe.
Highly customizable - for student pilots through pros.
Free Transition Service for users of other eLogs.
Our sincere thanks to pilots such as yourself who support AskACFI while helping themselves by using the awesome PC, Mac, iPhone/iPad, and Android aviation apps of our sponsors.

1 Answers



  1. Kris Kortokrax on Feb 27, 2019

    See 61.51(e). The only way that you can log PIC time while not being rated for the category/class would be if you are the sole occupant of the aircraft (and you would need a 61.31(d)(2) endorsement to allow that).

    Also see 61.51(j)(4). Not every flight qualifies as an official law enforcement flight, just because the helicopter might be owned by a police department. Official flights would be things like surveillance, pursuit, search & rescue. Flying the chief to a different town for a meeting is not a law enforcement purpose. This really comes into play with helicopters like OH-58 & UH-1 military surplus aircraft, which have no airworthiness certificate.

    They don’t usually refer to the other body as a navigator. They call him/her a TFO (Tactical Flight Officer).

    +2 Votes Thumb up 2 Votes Thumb down 0 Votes


Answer Question

Our sincere thanks to all who contribute constructively to this forum in answering flight training questions. If you are a flight instructor or represent a flight school / FBO offering flight instruction, you are welcome to include links to your site and related contact information as it pertains to offering local flight instruction in a specific geographic area. Additionally, direct links to FAA and related official government sources of information are welcome. However we thank you for your understanding that links to other sites or text that may be construed as explicit or implicit advertising of other business, sites, or goods/services are not permitted even if such links nominally are relevant to the question asked.