...or unless their disregard of some pretty simple rules extends to other parts of their flying with some of the unfortunate consequences that sometimes entails.
There's a big difference between "logging" and "let me just look a little bit lower, then maybe I got it."
That being said, we don't live in the idealized rule abiding jetcareers bubble a lot of us think we do. A lot of times the "but its against the rules, don't they know that?" kind of makes me laugh, because its almost an admission of ignorance, or at least a childlike misunderstanding of the way the world works a lot of the time. Hell, I know guys who were here before any real regulations with teeth. I also knew guys who got their start flying in the 70s, you know, when sex was safe and flying was dangerous. The world of aviation safety has come a long way from then, but there are still plenty of people out there doing whatever the hell they want.
If you notice, my post doesn't say "go ahead, log what you want," but "I doubt he'll/she'll have a hard time getting a job, there are a lot of people who do that, and a lot of companies." Then look at the response: "You're trying to justify a blatant disregard for the rules, look!" Which isn't true, but it got me thinking a little bit about something I've noticed on here.
Why do we follow rules?
1. Because we agree with them, or our integrity precludes us from doing it.
2. Fear of punishment.
Both of these are reasons, but only one of them is a good reason, and I don't think that the "ahhhhhh the feds will violate you, and you'll be in
big trouble," should be the reason not to do something. This is just speculation, but I'd be willing to bet that there are a lot of guys out there whose only motivation not to bust mins is "but I'll get in trouble." That is a problem. We should be doing things because we fundamentally agree with the reasons behind them, not from fear of punishment, because fear of punishment only works there is a strong executor nearby that can catch you.
You take the kind of person who only does things out of fear of punishment up here where they can do almost anything they want and not get caught they'll go hog wild until they realize that the rules are very prudent, or they'll auger in. That finally brings up the question, why are these logging issues important other than being violated by the feds?
If you're logging PIC when you're not actually PIC you are building a log book based on false currency. Though you are flying the airplane, you may not have enough
real decision making PIC skill to actually safely operate the next airplane you get into. For example, you leave your co-captain kingair job, and dash across the ramp to Steve's Execujet Service. Provided Steve doesn't care, when you jump into the Lear, that knowledge and decision making skill you should have been acruing at a slower rate might not be there when you need it. That's why you should only log the time when you are actually PIC, or when you are the SOLE MANIPULATOR OF THE CONTROLS. Not because you can get in trouble. But maybe that you're short changing yourself.
