... always within the law :)
One could do a lot of smart things in aviation "always within the law" but the problem are people who can't keep their mouth shut. If you let your buddy handle the controls of your aeoplane (or - heaven forbid! - let him do a landing) you can be almost certain that he will shout it out to the world via Facebook or his blog within an hour. And your other buddy sitting in the back will have videotaped the whole procedure with his smartphone and uploaded everything to Youtube before you have even shut down the engine... No no, in my part of the world, both instructing without an instructor rating and instructing with an instructor rating but outside an FTO are felonies that can get you up to two years of imprisonment. If my wife wants to have a go at the controls, anytime (like myself, she is not on Facebook :-) ) but everybody else please book a flying lesson with my flying school.
you can be almost certain that he will shout it out to the world via Facebook or his blog within an hour. And your other buddy sitting in the back will have videotaped the whole procedure with his smartphone and uploaded everything to Youtube before you have even shut down the engine
I couldn't agree more, which is why one would not allow anybody to record stuff. I suppose somebody could do it covertly. And if somebody writes something on F***book you can always just say he made it up.
I am pretty sure that in the UK it is not an offence to let a passenger touch the controls, because the PIC remains right there as a PIC. Gigabytes have been written on this topic in all the usual places but I have never read any reference to it being illegal. What will get you into trouble is charging for it, etc.
Incidentally I think it is legal to log a lesson with an instructor, outside the ATO environment, but the logbook entry will not count towards the initial award of a license or a rating. In that case there is obviously no point in logging such a flight... An interesting question is whether the instructor can charge for such a lesson. Such a flight would be fine post-PPL or post-IR and it is the sort of thing which a CRI can do.
I am pretty sure that in the UK it is not an offence to let a passenger touch the controls...
It's the usual grey zone. Letting someone touch the controls or try some basic maneuvers will certainly not be prosecuted. But teaching someone to land an airplane (as in a pinch hitter course) is clearly instruction. But again, if nothing happens and no one twitters everything will be fine :-)
Just arrived at Heathrow, the Germanwings crew didn't want to let me try the controls of their Airbus...
My wife Saskia participated in the "Partner-in-Command" program as organized by COPA. They teach her how to activate the autopilot, level off and fly a specific heading, talk to ATC and make clear that you are in an emergency situation, move the incapacitated pilot chair backwards to he is not leaning on the controls and his feet are clear of the controls as well. Then she learned how to negoriate with ATC on her intentions to pull the chute and that she needs to be directed to an open space area without obstacles and buildings.
Last weekend I flew with her to the Korbach Fly-in in a Piper Archer and I have let her fly the aircraft enroute. This way, she is experiencing flight and can handle the aircraft even without the autopilot.
For landings or takeoff I would do that myself or link her up with an instructor or in the full motion simulator in Poznan, Poland.
