Block time, flight time and air time explained

Which time goes in your logbook, why EASA flight time for aeroplanes is effectively block time, and how air time differs.

The short answer

For aeroplanes, EASA flight time runs from the moment the aircraft first moves for the purpose of taking off until it finally comes to rest at the end of the flight. In practice that is block time, from off block to on block, and it is what goes in the total time column.

The three times side by side

• Block time: off blocks to on blocks, the logbook figure
• Air time: wheels off to wheels on, used mostly for maintenance and some aircraft limits
• Engine or hobbs time: what the aircraft meter shows, often used for rental billing

Across midnight

Log times in UTC and date the flight on the day of departure. A flight off blocks at 23:20 and on blocks at 00:35 the next day is 01:15, entered on the first date.

Where caeloo fits

You enter the block times and caeloo calculates the total in hours and minutes, including flights that roll over midnight, and the same entry updates the aircraft hours.