Originally Posted by
Fl1ingfrog
The pilot being tested does not direct the flight, the examiner does this. The candidate is being assessed: demonstrating the ability to act as Pilot in Command, but acting always in accordance with instructions issued by the examiner (the PIC). These directions will be given before and throughout the flight itself. There is always the possibility that the candidate fails in the task and therefore could be considered unsafe. The PIC (the Examiner) will decide this and maybe take the controls having instructed the candidate to hand over. To say the candidate is at any time actually in charge and therefore able to issue instructions to the examiner is ridiculous.
Joke” So if the PPC is carried out in Controlled Airspace does the ATC log PIC time as he is directing the flight? You know that ‘turn port, turn starboard, climb or descend, slow to 150 KTS, hold at the Wifflebank NDB’ and such.” Joke over.
Strangely enough I flew in one country that, for reasons unknown, ruled that if there were two Captains flying together both would log the time as PIC. Being as we were employed by a local company, licensed in and flying aircraft registered in the country we complied. By mutual agreement amongst us, however, we agreed that would be one Capt. who was a bit more PIC than the other on all flights regardless of what went in the logbook. The local authority monitored our logs regularly and with a fine tooth comb.We found it highly amusing.