They fly into IMC. I'll assume =with= a clearance, since it was unspecified
that it was without one.

With a clearance, only the instrument rated (right seat) pilot can BE PIC.
When in the clouds, it is still PIC.

However, he can't log PIC time. Again this stems from the confusion between
"being" and "logging", which would not exist if different words were used. The
left seat, non-rated sole manipulator can LOG PIC time. Of course, he can't
log dual.

Outside the clouds, and not on a clearance, the right seat safety pilot can log
PIC because he's acting as PIC of a crew of two. However, if the other pilot
had (prior) agreed to BE PIC, then the safety pilot can log SIC (required
crewmember). I got my first SIC time recently that way.

To clarify I'll change the words. "BEING Pilot in command" is now defined as
"being Top Dog" (TD). Top Dog time is not loggable. It just says who's in
charge. LOGGING PIC time is now defined as "logging HandsOn Time" (HOT).

So, you log HOT when you're flying by yourself.
You log HOT when you're Top Dog of a required crew.
You log HOT when you're hands-on flying, even if somebody else is Top Dog.
An instructor logs HOT when he or she is instructing, no matter who is Top Dog.

Nobody logs Top Dog time. It's just not loggable any more than the time you
spend eating a tuna sandwich is. (ok, they are both loggable, but neither log
entry is useful)

Jose

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