Originally Posted by
rickair7777
The S-3 guys (when sitting in the front-right seat) actually had a set of flight controls, and did routinely fly the aircraft to relieve the pilot.
No problem with logging that IMO, if they have a pilot license and the regulatory ins & outs don't preclude it. They shouldn't be logging any LDGs though...
Yep, and there's a set of controls in the back seat of USAF F-4s and F-15Es, too, and the WSOs I spoke of were logging time in which they were the sole manipulator of those controls. Perfectly legal and authorized in the eyes of the USAF, and used to happen quite regularly (I used to let my WSOs fly the RTB if they so desired).
The problem comes in the fact that to be "qualified" in the eyes of the FAA to fly a multiengine turbojet aircraft with a weight of more than 12,500#, one must have a type rating or equivalent. The FAA defines that, in Air Force paper-speak, as a Form 8 instrument qualification
as a pilot (or a similar checkride) -- which a WSO does not have. Thus, even with a AMEL ticket, they're not qualified to act as PIC or log it under the FAA Pat 61 PIC rules.
My previous post simply referenced a FSDO Inspector years ago who chose to recognize the WSO checkride as being an equivalent type rating, and thus recognized their flight time as such. So far as I'm aware, that is not an opinion that is shared by many/any FSDOs currently.
So, in the case of the S-3 flying above, if the NFOs have the requisite qualification that the FAA would recognize as a type rating equivalent, then absolutely it could be logged under the Part 61 rules.
Again, most major airlines specifically do not recognize such time.