Hey guys,

I think I know the answer to this one, but I wanted to confer with the "council" before passing along the information.

I have a guy in my flying club that is to submit his latest Flight Review to me for insurance purposes. At the time of his last flight review, he said his logbook no longer had any room at the back so the instructor simply jotted "Flight Review complete - Instructors signature, CFI # and exp. date" in the remarks section of his logbook entry.

So the question is, is this a legally valid endorsement? From what I can find, the answer is yes. In the legal point of view from AOPA, it simply says that the person who gave the review must "certify that the review was satisfactorily completed."

From AC 61-65E, Appendix 1, it says that "each endorsement must be legible and include the instructor’s signature, date of signature, certificated flight instructor (CFI) or certificated ground instructor (CGI) certificate number, and certificate expiration date, if applicable."

So, while not standard, it would appear that this is a legal endorsement. Am I missing something here? Just never had anyone NOT do an endorsement before that wasn't at least close to the standard one.

Thanks in advance.

GSP

AOPA -

In addition to accomplishing the review, there is an associated logbook requirement. The pilot's logbook must be endorsed by the flight instructor (or other authorized person) who gave the review, and it must certify that the review was satisfactorily completed. The logbook endorsement is a separate legal requirement. So having actually accomplished the flight review is not enough. There is a subtle problem here. The problem is that you should expect, after the fact, that the FAA will be skeptical about an unlogged review. "After the fact" being an accident or an incident under investigation in which the FAA invariably asks to review the pilot's logbook. If the review is not logged, that's a problem. Trust me, I have seen enough of these situations.

APPENDIX 1. INSTRUCTOR ENDORSEMENTS
The following examples are recommended sample endorsements for use by authorized instructors when endorsing logbooks for airmen applying for a knowledge or practical test, or when certifying accomplishment of requirements for pilot operating privileges. Each endorsement must be legible and include the instructor’s signature, date of signature, certificated flight instructor (CFI) or certificated ground instructor (CGI) certificate number, and certificate expiration date, if applicable. The purpose for this advisory circular is to provide guidance and to encourage standardization among instructors.

Just had my BFR yesterday and I too had run out of printed endorsement spaces in my log book. My instructor logged all the necessary info in the back under remarks with all the information listed in the above post. That along with a log book entry for the flights is all that is required....

Legally you could maintain your logbook on some chunks of cardboard as long as the names and CFI#'s checkout, and the time logged is satisfactory, with the keywords "flight review completed." I believe the nicely printed and bound logbooks make it convenient by listing the Part #'s and codes that are being complied with, but it's well understood and implied what a biennial flight review is simply by virtue of the title and all requirements that go with it. It sounds like your club guy is ok.

A long time ago, I was in the Republic of Ireland when there was a protracted strike by a party I can't remember. The upshot was that people couldn't get blank personal checks. This was WAY before ATMs or the EU for that matter. People ended up writing checks on napkins and torn up grocery bags... and they were accepted!!

I guess the message is that the endorsements are valid even if they are not in the "usual" format. All my annual inspections and avionics upgrades have been typed on the computer, printed on Avery labels and stuck in my logbooks. Easier to read in 30 years and fewer oily thumbprints in the logbooks.

Why not write the endorsement on the page of the log book which the flight occured. When I was an instructor I never used the back of the log book in a specific section just for flight reviews. The endorsement can cover the entire page or just be brief and kept to the one line. A prudent policy as far as liability goes for the instructor is to use the entire page (or more) and document everything covered in the review and have the pilot being checked sign it also, then photo copy for your records.