I also like to use the term 'commander'.
For me, there can be only one commander: 007 - Commander Bond ;-)
I find nothing wrong with "pilot in command". Captain is indeed a job title or a rank within a company (or military organisation).
In Germany in a single engine propeller aircraft: – only the pilot sitting in the LEFT seat can be PIC – there is no possibility for both pilots to log the time – exception: if the pilot in the right seat is a FI/CRI both pilots can log the time
What is the latest on this German regulation? Is it still place, or has it been removed or is not applicable as the rest of this thread might possibly suggest?
It was also discussed around here
Specifically, and regardless of who does or can log what, can the PIC sit RHS in a D-reg plane?
Bumping this thread…. would anybody know whether that German law is still in place?
As far as my flight school told me – yes, the PIC can sit in the right hand seat, if the owner of the plane decides so.
(only one PIC can log time, though, but it can be done from the right seat)
The question came up in a post-exam scenario, because after the exam you are no longer a student (so cannot sit next to an instructor and fly under supervision, because you are not registered as a student) AND do not have the licence (and thus not the right to exercise the rights).
But the owner of the plane can decide that the PIC sits right and that the plane is operated from there.
(at that time it did not help, because post-exam the former student would not have been allowed to operate the plane anyway… so it was merely a “Gedankenexperiment”)
What happened to the German law quoted earlier in this thread, which mandates the PIC to be in the LHS (RHS is helicopters) unless he is an FI or CRI?
Peter wrote:
What happened to the German law
Flushed out by SERA/NCO ? In several planes the PIC normally sit in the RHS, the Saab Safir for instance. He could also sit in the back seat in several planes. My guess is there has never been such a German law. LHS, RHS is a thing for airlines, not GA. However, the PIC should be able to reach all equipment and see the necessary instruments.
Peter wrote:
What happened to the German law quoted earlier in this thread, which mandates the PIC to be in the LHS (RHS is helicopters) unless he is an FI or CRI?
Quoted? It seems like nonsense. Helicopters are flown from the left side as well as the right side. MD 500 is meant to be flown from the left IIRC. And you can see other machines set up with only left station (no instruments on the right side or even no controls or seat). It’s better in long line operations as you’re leaning towards the collective when you lean to look down at the load.
Then there are some aeroplanes with RHS primary station, usually ex-military trainers. I personally prefer to sit on the right side. I’m used to having a stick between my legs and the most important controls on the left side. It’s like that in most sailplanes, helicopters and single-seater/ tandem aeroplanes. Only aeroplanes with side-by-side seating are typically different. Avionics complicate it as I’m right handed and I have better reach with my right hand from the left side in side-by-side cockpits. It doesn’t matter in a helicopter that much as the right hand is not really available for knob twisting and button pushing.
See port #16. It is real. The only Q seems to be current applicability.
I have this by email from someone
@Peter – see post #19 where (I believe) the poster concerned commented on his original assertion:
Flyer59 wrote:
Sorry, i think we have a misunderstanding here, my fault!
Yes, the PIC can sit i the right seat if the operator declared him PIC – but only ONE pilot on board can log the time.I should think before I type :-)
Yes, thank you, I saw that, but that guy didn’t have a particularly great history of posting accurate info.
But assuming the regulation is indeed like that (the PIC can sit anywhere the “operator” decides) what evidence does one need of the operator’s decision, in the most common GA scenario where the owner is sitting in the plane and there is no defined operator.
