Student as PIC in IMC?

wrote in message
...

So, it is possible for someone to log PIC flight time who has a pilot
certificate with ratings valid for the aircraft (e.g. PPSEL), but no BFR
or current
medical if they were the sole manipulator of the controls? If that is the
case, then
this person could go fly with a current pilot rated for the aircraft, and
they both
log PIC... one as sole manipulator and one as the legal "acting as PIC".

In this case, yes, because the acting PIC is a required crew member. The
same is true of a safety pilot who is acting as PIC.


Hrm... that sounds fishy, because it means whenever two pilots fly
together,
they can both log all the time as PIC... whomever isn't physically flying
can be
legally acting as PIC at the same time.

However, the acting PIC must be required by the aircraft or operation to be
a crew member in order for him to log PIC while not manipulating the
controls. A buddy just along for the ride may not log PIC, though the FAA
and everybody else may consider him to be acting PIC. There is one case of
an ATP who was considered to be PIC even though he was sleeping in the back
seat of a light twin. A CFI and private pilot were actually sitting up
front. The airplane had an accident while the ATP was asleep, and the FAA
considered him to be PIC even though the ATP and both the other pilots
insisted he was not. He could not log the time, however, because he was not
an essential crew member.

A flight instructor logs all the time he is giving instruction as PIC,
though there may be any number of reasons (currency, medical, etc.) that he
cannot act as PIC.

Say you have a plane carrying ten passengers plus crew. Up front you have a
pilot, an instructor who is giving the pilot instruction, and an examiner
who is reviewing the instructor. In the back you have a rated pilot who is
performing the duties of the required flight attendant but is also acting as
PIC. All of the pilots in this case may log PIC, but only the guy in back is
acting as PIC.

George and Mike, both rated pilots, fly up to Newtown in a Cessna 172 for
the college game. George flies the airplane and Mike acts as PIC. Only
George can log PIC even though Mike is acting as PIC.

Bill, a rated pilot but not a flight instructor, takes his friend Jill for a
ride in his Warrior. Jill holds no certificate and has never even been in a
plane before, but Bill lets her fly the airplane for awhile. Bill continues
to act as PIC. It is fairly evident that Jill can neither act as PIC nor log
the time as PIC. But does Bill log PIC during the time Jill is handling the
controls? You could argue it both ways: Bill is a required crew member and
should log the time; or you could say that he is not really required and is
unable to log the time. I tend to go with the former view because Bill could
also just set the autopilot and still log the time as PIC even though
*nobody*, strictly speaking, is handling the controls and Bill and Jill are
in the back of the airplane having a picnic.