"PIC" and "PIC" are synonyms.

Could you explain the difference for those of us who haven't witness The Light
Of
Knowledge?


When the regulations were written, two concepts got the same label. The first
concept was that of The One Who Is The Final Authority Of How The Flight Will
Be Conducted. The Top Dog. The Big Banana. El Mucho Macho. The One That
Stops The Buck. The rulemakers called this person the "Pilot In Command",
abbreviated PIC.

The other concept had to do with logging time, and what the person doing the
logging was doing when the flying was happening. Sometimes there are two
pilots in an airplane, and sometimes this is required (and sometimes not).
Some pilots are getting instruction in aircraft they can't fly, some pilots are
having things demonstrated to them, and some are just along for the ride. So,
there's a place in the logbook for "What You Were Doing On The Flight". If you
were rated for the plane, and were manipulating the controls yourself, you were
essentially flying the plane, even if there was an instructor in the other
seat. One example is an IFR student in actual IMC with an instructor. He
can't be The Top Dog because he's not rated for the conditions. Somebody else
has to be Top Dog. (the instructor). However, the instructor probably never
touches the controls. So, the person Doing The Flying should be able to log
the time as "Yes I Did The Flying" time, and the rules say so. But they also
call it "Pilot in command" time, even if the pilot isn't Top Dog.

Dumb? yes. But it's what we have.

So, you can log PIC time if you are sole manipulator of the controls (in most
cases). You can lot PIC time if you are Top Dog (in most cases). Thus, there
are times when two pilots get to log PIC time, even though only one of them is
Top Dog. There are even cases where nobody can log PIC time.

Jose




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