"Cirrus" wrote:
I usually only file my last name, and have never received a single
question by the briefer about it. Do any of you know if you are
supposed to file first and last name?

I don't know of any regulation which requires you to put down two names in
the PIC box. Some things are left to common sense. It's also not the
briefer's job to enforce regulations. If you tell him the PIC's name is
Zaphod Beeblebrox, he'll type Zaphod Beeblebrox into the box on the screen.
Maybe your name is "The student pilot formerly known as Prince"?

Also I had always assumed (as
mentioned by some of you) that the name only ever mattered if there was
an incident. Barring any incidents, do any of you know if ATC/FAA ever
even looks at the name on any flightplan?

ATC only sees some subset of the fields you file in your flight plan. I
don't remember exactly which ones they get (everything up to the REMARKS
section?), but the PIC's name isn't one of them. All that stuff about home
base, souls on board, paint color, etc, is purely for SAR and accident
investigation purposes.