bart@ucbvax.UUCP (06/17/83)
It is true that the flight instructor is considered PIC on a dual flight. But the FAA also considers anytime you spend as "sole manipulator of the controls" as PIC. So, if you are taking some dual in an aircraft that you are qualified to fly, you count that as PIC. This is important when considering insurance requirements (such as our Club requires 250 PIC to fly our 210). Yet another strange gray area. Re: sharing costs: Your company can pay for your flight costs, if the flight is "incidental" to the activity -- i.e., the trip is for some business not related to the flight, and you just happen to be using a private plane as your means of transport. But many companies are still in the stone age. One company I worked for was worried I would plummet out of the sky into a school yard full of kids, and no insurance in the world could protect them. (American law is such that if you are on company business, they are liable for your actions.) (What happens if you driving on company business, down the freeway and force a school bus off the road is a different question.) The University of California is fairly good about private flying, but they do require that pilots are approved by their "Risk Analysis Coordinator", that the UC is listed on the insurance policy, that you have $1 million liablity, and either 500 PIC or a commercial rating. Question for the net: whcih companies out there are good guys (let us fly on business) which are bad guys? I have promised myself that I would not work again for a "bad guy". Can we put pressure on these turkeys? --bart miller