Originally Posted by
43Inches
A licenced pilot does not need to be signed out to fly an aircraft. Being signed out at a flying school for training or private hire is simply the hirers acknowledgement that they have agreed to the terms of hire (the fine print). That is you are agreeing to numerous things in addition to complying with the rules, such as hire rates, fuel rebates, landing fees, how much you will pay in excess for damage, restrictions on use, who can fly/operate the aircraft while you have hired it and for what purpose, where you can fly it and probably other things you should have read before signing. If the aircraft is damaged during the course of your hire, your compliance with what you have signed against will determine if you are covered by insurance etc, etc, etc.... Responsibilities of the PIC has very little to do with what you are signing, other than you would most likely have to comply with air law to be covered by the agreement (insured).
Its pretty much the same as hiring a car, or anything else where a lot of things need to be agreed to before the owner lets somebody loose in their machine.
It might be a good time for anyone reading this to get to know exactly what they are signing up for each time they are "signed out", as it has very little to do with just letting you fly as PIC. As in some cases as soon as you sign that paper you are now 100% responsible for the machine, whether you are flying it, or even near it, it could be parked and you are in the hotel and what you signed up for still makes you responsible for what happens to it.
Fully aware of and agree with all that, but what he seemed to say was that a flying instructor would carry liability for "signing out" a licensed pilot for a private hire, rather than the licensed pilot doing the signing as per a hire car.
'I have seen places including clubs, where members are in fact part owners of the club aircraft, having to get "signed out" by a instructor to be able to hire the aeroplanes. Some people even think that the signature on Part 3 of the maintenance release is "signing for" the aircraft rather than what it really is, ie saying that you have carried out the daily inspection as per the maintenance schedule in use.