[ QUOTE ]
If the pilot in the right seat is the sole manipulator of the controls (thus logging PIC), can't the pilot in the left seat still log at as PIC as he is ultimately responsible for the flight?
[/ QUOTE ]It doesn't matter if he is "acting" PIC from a logging standpoint unless he is a required crewmember. The conditions set forth in 61.51 below are the only ways we can log PIC (when we're not talking about CFIs & ATPs).[ QUOTE ]
FAR 61.51(e) Logging pilot-in-command flight time. (1) A recreational, private, or commercial pilot may log pilot-in- command time only for that flight time during which that person --
(i) Is the sole manipulator of the controls of an aircraft for which the pilot is rated;
(ii) Is the sole occupant of the aircraft; or
(iii) Except for a recreational pilot, is acting as pilot in command of an aircraft on which more than one pilot is required under the type certification of the aircraft or the regulations under which the flight is conducted.
[/ QUOTE ]Thus, we can see that the only time ~both~ of our hypothetical pilots can write down PIC time is when one of them is the "sole manipulator of the controls" and the other is "acting" PIC "when more than one pilot is required under the type certification or the regulations under which the flight is conducted (i.e. safety pilot)."