Essentially correct but not necessarily.

Under the regs and the official interpretations, in order to log PIC as a safety pilot, you need to be acting as PIC - be the one ultimately responsible for the flight.

That means a lot of things, some of which have nothing to do with FARs. For example, if the airplane is owned by Pilot A and he has insurance that requires the PIC to have a certain amount of time in type, he's probably not going to allow his safety pilot, who doesn't have enough time, to act as PIC and potentially void the insurance.

The flight school situation depends. Assume two pilots, both members of the flight school/FBO fully qualified to act as PIC under both the FARs and the school's policies.

The flight school may have a policy that only the member who signs for the airplane may act as PIC, in which case your supposition would be correct.

But it's probably more likely that the school's wants help its members build PIC time and has a policy that allows any member-pilot who would be authorized to sign for the airplane, to act as PIC in it no matter who signs it out.

It's a matter of there being more variation and flexibility in parts of the civilian world.

I have not seen that practice as a common way of delimiting responsibility, but others may have experiences that more closely parallel yours. It's certainly not any sort of requirement of which I am aware.

As far as insurance is concerned, such might be the case. In the 'private sector', that's referred to as 'renting the airplane'. ;> And again, it's a club-specific or insurance-specific requirement. Take a safety pilot who isn't a member of the flying club or FBO.. Can he log PIC? Of course. Will that be in violation of the club's guidelines? Could be.

There's no clear answer on that, because there's no clear issue. Generally, you assume Pilot In Command responsibility by saying, "I'm the pilot in command," or being told, "You're the pilot in command." .. and taking the authority and responsibility that such designation confers.

As you say above, it's not as black and white, when it comes to paperwork.. but when it comes to acting as PIC, it IS black and white.

Right? :>

-Fox

could someone back the safety pilot x-c situation with real litature. i might have a situation like this in my book from about a year plus ago. i guess im not seeing the reasoning behind one pic getting x-c and the other can't. and i have seen many students go up and do this exact same thing. plus...what if the safety pilot did the landings, do you think that would change anything?

I'm pretty sure they've been linked to already, but here they are:

General rule on logging PIC or SIC as a safety pilot:
http://www.faa.gov/about/office_org/...1993/Hicks.rtf

The rule on not logging cross country as a safety pilot:
http://www.faa.gov/about/office_org/...09/Gebhart.pdf

Both are links to the FAA Chief Counsel's interpretation site:
Regulations

Neither answers your specific question about what if the safety pilot does the landing. The safe answer is obviously "no." There are good reasons why the answer should be "yes" but (strictly IMO) the "no cross country" opinion is really an FAA policy decision that the Chief Counsel's office is supporting rather than a true legal analysis of the regs. You'd need to ask the FAA Chief Counsel's office and, IMO, they would come up with a way to give you a "no" answer.

The safety pilot exists solely for the benefit of the pilot under the hood, not for the benefit of time-builders. Simply don't log it at all. You're not flying. You're looking out for the other guy so he can practice instrument flying in VFR conditions. Maybe the guy under the hood will feel grateful enough to sit as safety pilot for you when you want some instrument-reference practice.

It's not flighttime, don't log it. Timebuilders are all the same, trying to wring hours out of every poorly-worded FAR or shakey situation.

It is a well established means of building time, and generally accepted in the industry especially at the entry level. Some employers may limit the amount of SP time applied to specific minimums (such as ME time) but they all count it as total time. The SP is functional part of the crew and participant in the conduct of the flight. Is it is as good as hand flying? Of course not, and employers take that into account.