[Hulka]

I wish those that write this stuff would stop calling the guy a “safety pilot.”

There is no such rating.

The guy is the pilot, the rated pilot, and he was PIC, not the girl.

[Niteflyr]

I wish those that write this stuff would stop calling the guy a “safety pilot.” There is no such rating. The guy is the pilot, the rated pilot, and he was PIC, not the girl.

Yeah you are right...it gives the non-flying public the wrong impression...

[3niner]

I know that, I was simply repeating the terminology from the article in order to not confuse the non-pilot posters. A lot of people have trouble understanding that a student pilot situation is very different from a student driver situation.

In an aircraft, the instructor always has complete control (potentially). If the student is skilled, the instructor might not touch the controls at all, and a non-pilot might think of them as a "safety pilot". With a less skilled student, the instructor may do most of the flying. It is typical for an instructor to put hands on at critical moments.