"Dan Luke" wrote:

"Jim Logajan" wrote :
"Andrew Sarangan" wrote:

The logbook is your personal document. It becomes a legal document
only when you submit it for inspection by the FAA for a checkride
or ramp check.

You do not have to show your logbook to the FAA at a ramp check.

Some of the legal advice I've found says that if you have it with you
then you have to show it if asked. Here's a couple links that say
that:

http://www.aerolegalservices.com/Art...ampCheck.shtml

The article says that the FAA may ask to see it, not that you have to
show it. It also advises, wisely, that you not carry your logbook in
the airplane.

http://www.avweb.com/news/avlaw/181897-1.html

Can't read this one; I lost my AvWeb pw a long time ago.

Here's the relevant quote from that article:

"What Can an FAA Inspector Demand to See?

Upon request, a properly credentialed FAA official may demand to see a
pilot's license and medical certificate and a copy of the pilot's logbook
(if he has it with him). An inspector cannot normally gain entry to
search an aircraft operated under FAR Part 91 without authorization from
the owner or operator, but he may examine the aircraft from the outside
and look through unshaded windows. Exceptions may exist where there is
probable cause that a crime has been committed or in "border crossing"
situations."

Anyway, the logbook is not one of the items a private pilot is
required to submit to a ramp check.

As a practical matter, even if the pilot does have the log book with him
but claims he doesn't have it with him, there doesn't seem to be anything
an FAA official can do to prove that the logbook was with the pilot but
he was not shown it. Sure, something that looks like a log book may be
visible but it may not be that pilot's log book or even the current
logbook of the pilot.