No reason why not -- 61.51 says you can because you are rated and you are the sole manipulator.
Not unless you're under the hood. Otherwise, there is no subparagraph of 61.51(e) under which he can.
No, since you have determined that you are not medically qualified per 61.53(a)(1).
Yes.
That's a question only Hubby can answer. He'll have to decide if he's fully competant and capable of determining whether your performance is satisfactory, and if not, whether he can safely assume control from the right seat in any flight situation he permits (as PIC) to occur. As he is nearing completion of CFI training, it might be OK, but it also might not. And the GI certificate has nothing to do with it -- it's all about evaluating performance flying from the right seat, which isn't measured in the GI certification process.
While being able to fly the plane from the right seat is necessary to this exercise, it is not sufficient. It is also necessary to be able to evaluate the performance of the pilot flying, determine when intervention is necessary, and know how to intervene, take control, and recover from whatever situation into which the pilot flying has put you. Those are the hard parts of the flying side being an CFI, and in the case of acting as PIC from the right seat while someone else flies the plane, those skills and knowledge are essential for safety. While it's possible to acquire them without being a CFI, few light GA pilots do. Hence, my statement you quoted -- the CFI training he's completed may have given him those skills, or it may not, and he'll have to decide for himself whether he's capable of fulfilling that role.
After nearly 38 years as a CFI, I'm here to tell you that even the most "accomplished" pilots can still surprise you, and if they screw up while you're PIC, you eat the accident/violation.
No argument, hence my use of the word "may" and the rest of the post.
Hubby always flys from the right seat now. Even when solo. Even when flying with a non-pilot passenger.
Is the goal always to have the lowest risk? If so we would stay on the ground. I think there's such a thing as being proficient enough although we may disagree on what that is.
True.
I think the goal should be to do what you want to do with the lowest residual risk.
Does that mean if there are two of you the most experienced pilot always flies? I think we will have to disagree about this.
Yup. Thanks. We're now thinking about getting a Light Sport aircraft.Sounds like a plan to me.
Hope you get this sleep thing resolved (assuming that is the problem).
I'm ok - but it depends on what the goal is. If the goal is the fly and share the duties, then no, the most experienced pilot doesn't always fly.
I thought that in this thread we were talking about, among other things, wanting to fly as PIC from the right seat. I don't see why some people have such heartburn about that.
Well having recently gotten comfortable on the right side, I can see why. It takes a while to get used to flying that way. I certainly wouldn't have wanted to fly PIC from the right seat without the experience I got with a CFI in the left, and I wouldn't want to fly in IMC until I get some more experience.
We weren't talking about someone who has never flown from the right. I thought we were talking about someone who is comfortable in the right seat but is not a CFI. Personally I am much more comfortable flying from the left side. I think the last time I actually landed an airplane from the right side when someone was brave enough to let me do it at Gastons, yet I act as PIC from the right seat approximately 25 percent of the time. You might think this is risky but I'm sure I could land from the right seat if I had to do it.
Way back when I was a 10-something hour student pilot and couldn't land worth a damn, a friend put me in the left seat of her airplane (which was a lot more nose-heavy than any trainer I'd flown) and let me try to land it. I tried about 5 or 6 times and each time she had to take over. She was not a CFI, but knowing when to step in didn't seem to be a problem for her. Actually landing the plane is when she nearly got into trouble. It was her first right seat landing IIRC, and she quickly realised that it was a bad idea.
Piloting from the right seat while another pilot occupies the left seat is one thing, but being PIC from the right seat while another pilot flies from the left is quite another. Like I said -- after 38 years as a CFI, I know that, because even "accomplished" pilots with whom I fly with still manage to surprise me with something requiring my immediate and unerring intervention. No cut on Peggy, but if Hubby is PIC, Hubby must be prepared for Peggy to do anything and for Hubby to have to fix it. If Hubby can do that, great; if he can't, then they should get someone who can to ride shotgun for Peggy. There are accidents on record (some fatal) where the non-CFI PIC in the right seat was unable to do enough fast enough to fix a problem caused by an error by the non-PIC pilot flying the plane from the left seat -- heck, even qualified CFI's get bit sometimes. No sense taking that risk if you're not reasonbly sure you can handle it (say, by being certified by the FAA as able to do so).
There's a really good Lindbergh quote for this someplace....it essentially says that as an instructor the pilot acquires knowledge of what the airplane will do when the student does something completely unanticipated.
And in that context, the term "student" is not limited to "Student Pilots" as defined by the FAA -- even ATP's and CFI's are sometimes "students" in that context.