"Jose" wrote in message
...
By allowing non-club members to act as safety pilot in club aircraft
isn't that a big loophole to allow pilots of unknown qualification access
to club aircraft?

Uh... "access to club aircraft"? Like the kind of access my
non-club-member passengers have? Or my non-club-member-but-licensed-pilot
passengers have? The club member remains PIC and remains resposible for
the safety of the flight.

What kind of "access" are you talking about?

Without the restriction being discussed how does the club/insurance company
control which pilots are risking the airplane? If club members are required
to use safety pilots that are approved by the club, by virtue of being club
members, there is some minimum of safety pilot qualification assured.
Without the rule a club member can designate any warm body sitting in the
right seat as safety pilot.

The rule may not prevent unauthorized use any more than a "no flight
instructing in aircraft rented by ABC Aviation without prior approval" but
the rule seems just as reasonable. The rule is a bright line which informs
club members specifically about an acitivity of increased risk. While
pilots and insurance companies have been arguing for years about "who's in
control" and PIC, etc. The rule seems to head off the ambiguity by
requiring both pilots to be approved by virtue of membership.

--

Scott