Always helpful to the look at the actual regulations. Rule 1.1 is vague in this circumstance because, although it clearly treats taxi time as "flight time" in a normal flight, it is not clear what happens when, although you have taxied for purposes of flight, the flight ultimately does not take place.
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Rule 1.1: Flight time means:
(1) Pilot time that commences when an aircraft moves under its own power for the purpose of flight and ends when the aircraft comes to rest after landing; or
(2) For a glider without self-launch capability, pilot time that commences when the glider is towed for the purpose of flight and ends when the glider comes to rest after landing.
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Rule 61.1(b)(1) and (12) are more helpful and, I think, dispositive. "Aeronautical experience" includes any "pilot time obtained in an aircraft." "Pilot time," in turn, includes any time in which a person "gives training as an authorized instructor in an aircraft." Absent contrary guidance from FAA, I interpret these provisions clearly to mean that if you were giving instruction in an aircraft, it is "pilot time" and can be used as "aeronautical experience" for meeting the requirements of a certificate, rating, flight review, or recency of flight, even if the aircraft never left the ground.
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Rule 61.1(b)(1): Aeronautical experience means pilot time obtained in an aircraft, flight simulator, or flight training device for meeting the appropriate training and flight time requirements for an airman certificate, rating, flight review, or recency of flight experience requirements of this part.
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Quote:
Rule 61.1(b)(12) Pilot time means that time in which a person—
(i) Serves as a required pilot flight crewmember;
(ii) Receives training from an authorized instructor in an aircraft, flight simulator, or flight training device; or
(iii) Gives training as an authorized instructor in an aircraft, flight simulator, or flight training device.
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Take an example -- you are giving or receiving instruction in a tailwheel airplane, and you spend about 30 minutes doing high speed taxi operations. Then the airplane pops a tire, and you have to quit for the day without taking off. Would you honestly say that no time could be logged because the plane didn't leave the ground?? I don't think Rule 61.1(b)(1) or (12) requires that result.
Of course, how an employer might look at the time is a totally different question.