Thanks for the opinion, but where exactly is this supported in the FARs?

It may be that Part 61.51(c) only discusses PIC in the context of logging
time,
but I don't see any other sections that discuss it except under airline
transport
when the aircraft requires more than one pilot.

thanks, Tom




Obviously it's OK to hand over PIC during the flight. It also seems that
by
definition if you hand off the controls to the other person, whether
you're
reading a map or taking a nap--you just handed over PIC responsibility
and
you can't log that time.

Completely untrue. You have not necessarily handed over PIC responsibility
even if you are taking a nap. In fact there is a rather notorious case in
which an ATP was napping in the back seat of a small plane and the FAA
held
him to be acting PIC even though all the pilots on the plane had
previously
agreed that another individual would act as PIC for the flight. Neither
does
acting as PIC necessarily mean that you can log PIC. Logging PIC and
acting
PIC are entirely two different things that correspond with each other only
part of the time.