Definition
Flight training conducted in an aircraft with both the student pilot and a certificated flight instructor (CFI) on board, where the instructor provides active instruction and is logged as pilot in command or as authorizing the flight for training purposes.
Plain English
Time spent flying with an instructor sitting next to you, teaching you, rather than flying alone.
Context Anchor
Seen in flight training, logbook entries, lesson plans, and FAA handbooks when describing training done with an instructor before a student flies alone.
Derivation
‘Dual’ comes from the Latin ‘duo’ meaning ‘two.’ In flight training it points to the fact that two pilots are aboard during the lesson — the student and the instructor — as opposed to ‘solo,’ where the student flies alone.
Why Pilots Care
A minimum number of dual instruction hours is required by the FAA for every pilot certificate, and all pre-solo training must be logged as dual.
Intuition Check
Dual instruction does not mean two instructors, two lessons, or two airplanes. It means instruction given with both student and instructor involved in the training flight.
Example Sentence 1
The student logged 1.2 hours of dual instruction practicing short-field landings with her CFI.
Example Sentence 2
Logbook entries must separate dual instruction time from solo time to meet FAA record-keeping requirements.