Flight Training Device (FTD) Time Log
Session log for Level 4–7 flight training devices — device, tasks, approaches and credits tracked separately from aircraft time, export-ready.
Credit rules: FTDs credit toward instrument training and currency: up to 20 hours toward the IR (more under 142 programs), and 61.57(c) currency tasks can be flown in qualifying devices.
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⚠️ Not for operational decisions. This is a record-keeping and planning aid only — not certified avionics, not a source of regulatory truth. Always verify against official sources (FAA) and your operator's approved documents before flying.
Disclaimer: This tool is for general informational and estimation purposes only and is not professional financial, tax, accounting or legal advice. All figures are estimates — verify with a qualified professional before making decisions. Read the full disclaimer.
Free flight training device (ftd) time log: record every session in Level 4–7 flight training devices with device identity, tasks and approaches — keeping sim credits cleanly separated from aircraft time the way auditors want.
About Flight Training Device (FTD) Time Log
Simulator credits are real money — FTDs credit toward instrument training and currency: up to 20 hours toward the IR (more under 142 programs), and 61.57(c) currency tasks can be flown in qualifying devices — but they're device-specific, which makes the recordkeeping the whole game: time in an unidentified 'sim' credits nothing. This log captures each session with the device and its qualification level, duration, approaches, holding and content, then maintains device-hour totals and the rolling six-month approach count that currency planning runs on. Keeping it separate from aircraft time isn't pedantry; it's how the credit survives the audit, and it's how you discover that your winter currency plan can run on the cheap box instead of the expensive aeroplane.
How to use Flight Training Device (FTD) Time Log
- 1Log each session with device, level, time, approaches and content.
- 2Watch device hours and the 6-month approach tile accumulate.
- 3Export for your IR application, IPC prep or interview paperwork.
Why use Flight Training Device (FTD) Time Log?
- ✓Built for Level 4–7 flight training devices with device-identity per session
- ✓Tracks the credits that matter: up to 20 hours toward the IR (more under 142 programs)
- ✓Rolling 6-month approach count for currency planning
- ✓Separates sim from aircraft time — the separation audits require
- ✓Private browser storage; CSV export for training files
Frequently asked questions
What can FTD time legally credit toward?+
Under Part 61: up to 20 hours toward the instrument rating's 40 (61.65), instrument currency tasks under 61.57(c) in qualifying devices, and portions of commercial/ATP training — with bigger credits available inside Part 141/142 curricula. The key is recording the device's qualification level and identifier per session, because credit eligibility is device-specific and that's the first thing an auditor checks.
Why must the device identity be logged every session?+
Because every credit rule is conditioned on the device's qualification: an AATD's letter of authorization, an FTD's level, an FFS's C/D qualification. The same hour of 'sim' credits 0, 10, 20 hours — or a type rating — depending on that identity. Sessions logged with device and level are auditable; sessions logged as 'sim, 1.5h' are donations.
Is simulator time flight time?+
No — it's training/simulator time, logged in its own column, and conflating the two is among the fastest ways to have an entire logbook questioned. Totals here stay separate by design. Where sim time legitimately substitutes (IR hours, currency tasks, checks), it does so under explicit rules as SIM time; the credit comes from the rule, not from relabeling.
Why doesn't this tool sync to the cloud?+
By design: career and currency records are sensitive, and the simplest privacy guarantee is never transmitting them. Local-only storage means zero servers, zero breach surface and zero subscription. If you fly from several devices, keep one as the master record and move snapshots between machines with the CSV export.
What format does the export use and what reads it?+
A plain CSV with one row per entry and labelled column headers — the most portable format there is. Spreadsheets open it directly, every major electronic logbook can map it on import, and a printed copy is perfectly legible to a human reviewer. Nothing proprietary means your simulator record is never trapped here.
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