Originally Posted by
VH-XXX
So what does this mean to the lowly PPL?
Can he or she legally sit in the right Seat of a C 172 whilst his/her mate sits in the left and "watches" the guages, etc?
The best way I can answer that question for you is this, if the rules and flight manual does not explicitly permit or deny an action, and that action is not the normal practice, in the event of something going wrong what would your peers say. I would imagine some slogans normally associated with drink driving would come to mind.
It maybe legal, but maybe not that smart. E.g. the slight move in the seating position from the LHS to RHS causes small but subtle judgment changes for even simple things like flying a circuit, let alone for say a forced landing.
The cost of a T.I.F. is cheap insurance.