Logging simulator time under CASA Part 61: what counts and limits
Checked against the sources below on 29 October 2026. How these guides are written
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Under CASR Part 61, aeronautical experience is flight time as a pilot plus simulated flight time (61.075), so approved FSTD time counts toward a licence only where the hours rule leaves room: up to 10 hours of an aeroplane CPL and 100 hours of the 1,500 for an ATPL, no more than 25 of them in a device that is not a flight simulator. Log each session under 61.345(4): date, type represented, time by capacity, simulated day or night, and what you did.
- What counts
- Simulated flight time: time in an FSTD performing the duties of a pilot
- Part of aeronautical experience, never flight time
- 61.010, 61.075
- CPL (aeroplane)
- Up to 10 h of the 150 or 200 h in an approved FSTD
- Total only
- 61.590(2), 61.610(2)
- ATPL (aeroplane)
- Up to 100 h of the 1,500; no more than 25 h in an FSTD that is not a flight simulator
- Total only
- 61.705(2), (3)
- Instrument rating
- 40 h instrument time with 20 h instrument flight time, or 10 h if the ground time was in an approved flight simulator with an IR-endorsed instructor
- Before the flight test
- 61.885(5), (6)
- Recency in a device
- Takeoffs and landings in an approved flight simulator; approaches in an approved FSTD
- Previous 90 days
- 61.395, 61.870
- Logbook entry
- Date, aircraft type represented, simulated flight time by capacity, instructor time, simulated day or night, description of the activity
- As soon as practicable after each session
- 61.345(4)
Simulated flight time and aeronautical experience
Part 61 defines simulated flight time as "time spent in a flight simulation training device during which a pilot is performing the duties of a pilot" (61.010), and aeronautical experience as flight time as a pilot plus simulated flight time plus tethered flight time (61.075). Simulator time is never flight time: flight time runs from when the aircraft begins moving for flight until it comes to rest.
An FSTD means a qualified flight simulator, a qualified flight training device, a synthetic trainer approved under CAO 45.0, a device meeting standards made under 61.045, or a device qualified by a recognised foreign authority. For licence credit the device must also be approved for the purpose: listed in a Part 141 operations manual or Part 142 exposition, covered by a 60.055 or 61.040 approval, or approved by a recognised foreign authority. A home flight simulator is none of these.
How much simulator time counts toward a CASA licence
Each hours rule says any required experience "that is not completed as flight time as a pilot must be completed as simulated flight time in an approved flight simulation training device for the purpose". The credit is the gap between the total and the flight time sub-minimum.
For the aeroplane CPL that gap is 10 hours: 150 against 140 (61.590) or 200 against 190 (61.610). For the aeroplane ATPL it is 100 hours, 1,500 against 1,400, with 61.705(3) limiting the part done in an FSTD that is not a flight simulator to 25 hours. An MPL needs 240 hours with only 40 as pilot of an aeroplane (61.660), so most MPL training is FSTD time by design. PIC, cross-country and night minimums are flight time, and sim time never fills them.
Instrument time in a simulator
Instrument time is instrument flight time plus instrument ground time. For a holder of an instrument rating, private instrument rating, ATPL or MPL, instrument ground time is time in an FSTD "solely by reference to instruments and without simulated external visual reference points"; for anyone else it is dual instrument ground time only (61.110).
That is why the ATPL asks for 75 hours of instrument time but only 45 hours of instrument flight time in an aeroplane (up to 30 hours on the ground), and the CPL asks for 10 and 5. For the instrument rating, 61.885(5) needs 40 hours of instrument time including 10 hours dual and 20 hours of instrument flight time, cut to 10 hours if your ground time was in an approved flight simulator supervised by an instructor with an instrument rating training endorsement (61.885(6)).
Recency, checks and reviews in a simulator
Passenger recency accepts "an approved flight simulator for the purpose" for the 3 takeoffs and 3 landings (61.395(1), (2)), which is narrower than an FSTD. IFR approach recency accepts "an approved flight simulation training device for the purpose" (61.870), and single-pilot IFR recency accepts a simulated flight of at least 1 hour with an approach (61.875).
An IPC can be done in an approved FSTD for the check (61.880(6)), and a class rating flight review in "an approved flight simulator for the flight review" (61.745(2)). The device approval, set by your Part 141 or 142 operator or CASA, decides what a given session can count for.
What to write in your logbook for a sim session
61.345(4) requires, after each simulated flight: the date, "the type of aircraft represented by the device", the simulated flight time in each capacity (PIC, co-pilot, PICUS or pilot receiving flight training), any instructor time, whether it was simulated day or night or both, and "a description of the simulated flight activity". Registration and departure and landing points are not required for a sim session.
Keep sim totals in their own column so they never add into flight time, and keep the logbook for 7 years after the last entry (61.355). If you keep it electronically, CASA can ask for a printed copy with each page certified as a true copy.
Mistakes pilots make
- Adding sim hours into total flight time. They are simulated flight time and count only toward aeronautical experience totals, within the caps.
- Counting FTD or procedures trainer landings toward 61.395 passenger recency. The rule names an approved flight simulator for the purpose.
- Logging instrument time in a device as instrument flight time. It is instrument ground time, and the ATPL, CPL and IR rules cap how much of it counts.
- Going past 25 hours of non-simulator FSTD time in an ATPL count. 61.705(3) caps it.
- Logging hours from a home flight simulator or an unapproved device. Only an approved FSTD for the purpose counts.
What Off Chocks tracks
- A simulator session is its own entry type (Change to a simulator session in the flight form) with a device type (FFS, FTD, BIT or Other), a device ID, sim time, instrument time and approaches, kept out of your flight time totals.
- Each session has an Approved for recency (takeoffs and landings) switch for 61.395. Until you set it, the app turns it on for an FFS and off for other devices. Approaches you log in an FFS or FTD count toward 61.870 whatever the switch says; approaches in a BIT or Other session add nothing.
- The CASA printed logbook shows simulator sessions with their own totals: simulator time, simulator instrument time, and the sim approaches and landings included in the grand totals.
- CASA licence progression credits FFS and FTD sessions toward the total-hours bars, up to 10 hours for the CPL and up to 100 hours for the ATPL with no more than 25 in an FTD. The ATPL instrument bar takes up to 30 hours of FFS or FTD instrument time. BIT and Other sessions add nothing to either.
Common questions
- Does simulator time count toward total hours in Australia?
- It counts toward aeronautical experience, not flight time, and only within each rule's limit: 10 hours for an aeroplane CPL and 100 hours for an ATPL (61.590(2), 61.610(2), 61.705(2)).
- How much sim time can I use for a CASA ATPL?
- Up to 100 of the 1,500 hours, with no more than 25 hours in a device that is not a flight simulator (61.705(2), (3)).
- Can I log PIC time in a simulator?
- 61.345(4)(c) asks you to record simulated flight time by capacity, including PIC. It remains simulated flight time and does not count toward PIC flight time minimums.
- Do simulator landings count for CASA passenger recency?
- Yes, if the device is an approved flight simulator for the purpose (61.395(1), (2)). An FTD or procedures trainer does not meet that wording.
- Can I do my IPC in a simulator?
- Yes, in an approved FSTD for the check (61.880(6)). Single-pilot IFR privileges need the IPC in a single-pilot aircraft (61.860(2)).
- Does time on a home flight simulator count?
- No. Only a flight simulation training device approved for the purpose counts toward Part 61 experience or recency.
Sources
- Civil Aviation Safety Regulations 1998, Compilation No. 103 (in force from 29 Sep 2026), Parts 61 and 67
- CASA: Keeping records: flight crew logbooks (updated 20 Oct 2026)
- Part 61 Manual of Standards Instrument 2014, latest compilation (in force from 19 Nov 2024)
This is a plain-words summary to help you keep your own records, not legal advice. The regulation and your operator's procedures always take precedence.