Flight time or block time is an
aviation
Aviation includes the activities surrounding mechanical flight and the aircraft industry. ''Aircraft'' includes fixed-wing and rotary-wing types, morphable wings, wing-less lifting bodies, as well as lighter-than-air craft such as hot air ...
term referring to the total amount of time spent piloting aircraft, and serves as the primary measure of a pilot's experience. Flight time is defined by
International Civil Aviation Organization
The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO, ) is a specialized agency of the United Nations that coordinates the principles and techniques of international air navigation, and fosters the planning and development of international sc ...
(ICAO) as "The total time from the moment an aeroplane first moves for the purpose of taking off until the moment it finally comes to rest at the end of the flight",
and thus includes time spent
taxiing
Taxiing (rarely spelled taxying) is the movement of an aircraft on the ground, under its own power, in contrast to towing or pushback where the aircraft is moved by a tug. The aircraft usually moves on wheels, but the term also includes aircra ...
. It is colloquially referred to as "blocks to blocks" or "
chocks
Chock or Chocks may refer to:
Devices for preventing movement
* Wheel chock, tool to prevent accidental movement
* Chock (climbing), anchor
* Chock, component of a sailing block
Other uses
* Chock (surname)
* ''Chock'' (TV series), a Swedi ...
to chocks" time.
In commercial aviation, this means the time from pushing back at the departure
gate
A gate or gateway is a point of entry to or from a space enclosed by walls. The word derived from old Norse "gat" meaning road or path; But other terms include ''yett and port''. The concept originally referred to the gap or hole in the wall ...
to arriving at the destination gate.
Air time is defined as "the time from the moment an aircraft leaves the surface until it comes into contact with the surface at the next point of landing".
For
gliders without self-launch capability, flight time "commences when the glider is towed for the purpose of flight and ends when the glider comes to rest after landing."
For
helicopter
A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by horizontally spinning rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forward, backward and laterally. These attributes ...
s, ICAO defines "flight time" as "The total time from the moment a helicopter's rotor blades start turning until the moment the helicopter finally comes to rest at the end of a flight and the rotor blades are stopped."
Recording flight time
Most government licensing regulations have specific flight hour requirements, as do virtually all airline job listings.
Consequently, all pilots maintain a
logbook
A logbook (or log book) is a record used to record states, events, or conditions applicable to complex machines or the personnel who operate them. Logbooks are commonly associated with the operation of aircraft, nuclear plants, particle accelera ...
, which is a legal document.
In
commercial aviation
Commercial aviation is the part of civil aviation that involves operating aircraft for remuneration or hire, as opposed to private aviation.
Definition
Commercial aviation is not a rigorously defined category. All commercial air transport and ae ...
, flight time is recorded to the nearest minute. In
general aviation
General aviation (GA) is defined by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) as all civil aviation aircraft operations with the exception of commercial air transport or aerial work, which is defined as specialized aviation services ...
it is often rounded to the nearest 5 minutes or recorded in decimal rounded to the nearest 0.1 hour, which corresponds to the resolution of a typical
Hobbs meter
Hobbs meter is a genericized trademark for devices used in aviation to measure the time that an aircraft is in use. The meters typically display hours and tenths of an hour, but there are several ways in which the meter may be activated:
# It c ...
, an odometer-like instrument installed in most light aircraft. In
commercial aviation
Commercial aviation is the part of civil aviation that involves operating aircraft for remuneration or hire, as opposed to private aviation.
Definition
Commercial aviation is not a rigorously defined category. All commercial air transport and ae ...
, time is recorded to the nearest minute. Pilots record many details about their flight time, such as whether a flight occurred during the day or at night, in a single- or multi-engine aircraft, in visual or instrument conditions, and the pilot's role during the flight.
Legal decisions
In the United States, time spent de-icing between taxi and takeoff is considered flight time, even if the engines are shut down. If an aircraft becomes unserviceable during taxi, and a replacement aircraft is used, time spent taxiing the first aircraft is still included in the total flight time.
[https://www.boldmethod.com/learn-to-fly/regulations/logging-flight-time-on-the-ground/]
See also
*
Flight length
In aviation, the flight length refers to the distance of a flight. Commercial flights are often categorized into long-, medium- or short-haul by commercial airlines based on flight length, although there is no international standard definition and ...
*
Endurance (aeronautics)
In aviation, endurance is the maximum length of time that an aircraft can spend in cruising flight. In other words, it is the amount of time an aircraft can stay in the air with one load of fuel. Endurance is different from range, which is a meas ...
*
Pilot licensing and certification
Pilot licensing or certification refers to permits for operating aircraft. Flight crew licences are regulated by ICAO Annex 1 and issued by the civil aviation authority of each country. CAA’s have to establish that the holder has met a specifi ...
References
External links
Flight timeFlight calculatorFlight time calculatorBlock time vs flight timeEASA definitions
Terminology
Aircraft operations
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