Q & A: 
Question of the Week
EAA Aviation Services
I am a private pilot with a lapsed medical flying as a sport pilot. If I go fly with a friend in a 172 (not a LSA), how do I log the time? Previously, if I flew, I logged time as PIC as the sole manipulator of the controls, but now, can I still do so?

Answer:
Actually, you may still continue to log PIC time when you fly in a 172, so long as you are the sole manipulator of the controls. This is allowed by 14 CFR 61.51(e)(1), which states that a pilot may log PIC time at any time they are the sole manipulator of the controls of an aircraft for which they are rated. Since you hold a private pilot certificate with an airplane single engine land (ASEL) rating, this regulation allows you to log PIC time even though you may not be acting as pilot in command. (The regulation says nothing about who is acting as PIC. It only states that you must be rated in the aircraft, which you are.)

You could not act as pilot in command of the aircraft because 14 CFR 61.315 requires that sport pilots (including pilots who hold higher certificates but are operating at the sport pilot level) may only act as PIC of aircraft that meet the definition of a light-sport aircraft, which the 172 does not. Therefore, the other pilot in the aircraft must be able to legally act as PIC for the flight even if he/she never touches the controls. That pilot would be legally responsible for the safe conduct of the flight, as required by 14 CFR 91.3.

How can we help you?
To ask a question regarding government issues, e-mail govt@eaa.org. If you have a question about registration, airmen, aircraft and medical certification, safety records, performance, or any other matter, e-mail infoserv@eaa.org.
  

October 2006
EAA Desktop Calendar

After a long day on EAA AirVenture convention grounds, what could be better than getting into your powered parachute and riding west into the setting sun? This month's EAA desktop calendar features such a scene as captured by EAA volunteer photographer Chris Miller, providing a reminder of what was...and what is to come as summer fades into fall and winter.

To download the image for your computer, visit the EAA website and choose among five resolutions to suit your screen. You can also download any other previous EAA monthly desktop image.

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EAA EFFORTS HELP RE-ESTABLISH TAMPA-AREA VFR
'BRIDGE' CORRIDOR
EAA's efforts in the Tampa-St. Petersburg (Florida) area have helped re-establish the "Bridge" VFR corridor, used for more than 40 years by VFR pilots transitioning through Tampa Class B airspace. This safe and effective corridor was closed earlier this month when internal FAA controller coordination procedures were questioned, leaving some controllers uncertain when a VFR aircraft was flying the 2,100-foot MSL route. The controller procedure used "point outs," where one controller would call another to alert them to an aircraft using the Bridge corridor.
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VIRGINIA EAAERS PREPARE FOR 10TH ANNUAL FLY-IN
Organizers for the Virginia Regional EAA Fly-In (VAEAA) and Expo are busy making final preparations for this weekend's 10th annual event at Dinwiddie County Airport in Petersburg. The combination of an ideal weather forecast and the airport being open throughout the fly-in due to no air show should raise the number of participating aircraft, which was just shy of 500 in 2005.
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After VAEAA, two more regional events remain on the 2006 calendar: The EAA Southeast Regional Fly-In, October 6-8, at Middleton Field in Evergreen, Alabama (www.serfi.org); and the Copperstate Regional EAA Fly-In, October 26-29, at Casa Grande Municipal Airport, Arizona (www.copperstate.org).