"Tom Kreyche" wrote in message
news:9EWVc.165951$8_6.161417@attbi_s04...
Thanks for the opinion, but where exactly is this supported in the FARs?

It may be that Part 61.51(c) only discusses PIC in the context of logging
time,
but I don't see any other sections that discuss it except under airline
transport
when the aircraft requires more than one pilot.

FAR 1.1 defines pilot in command and the duties of the pilot in command,
while 61.51 says who may log pilot in command. Reading the two will show you
that they are quite different in concept. FAR 1.1 says:

Pilot in command means the person who:

(1) Has final authority and responsibility for the operation and safety of
the flight;

(2) Has been designated as pilot in command before or during the flight; and

(3) Holds the appropriate category, class, and type rating, if appropriate,
for the conduct of the flight.


Numerous other regulations define who may act as pilot in command of
different types of aircraft or during different operations. None of those
regulations address logging pilot in command. 61.51, then, tells you when
you may log pilot in command, while all of the other regulations tell you
about acting as pilot in command. The FAA does this intentionally.

Notice that in order to be pilot in command you do not even have to be on
board the aircraft! You simply must be the person who has final authority
and responsibility for the operation and safety of the flight. You could be
pilot in command of several drones, each of which is being operated by a
different individual. Similarly, flight instructors could be held to be
acting as pilot in command while their students solo, even though those
students are logging the time as PIC. Just because a solo student may log
PIC does not mean that he is PIC and woe to the instructor that forgets
that. That business about "supervised solo" has some real teeth to back it
up.

Nevertheless, the FAA recognized that there is a qualitative difference
between actually flying an airplane and watching somebody else do it, so
they only allow (with some exceptions) the pilot manipulating the controls
to log PIC. The regulations would be far less confusing if the FAA had
adopted the convention used by many airlines and instead had you log time as
"pilot flying" as opposed to "pilot in command."