F16fixer,
If you are rated in the airplane, meaning you hold CATEGORY and CLASS (and if required, TYPE), you may log as PIC all the time spent as sole manipulator of the controls, in accordance with 14 CFR 61.51(e)(1)(i):
(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.
(2) An airline transport pilot may log as pilot-in-command time all of the flight time while acting as pilot-in-command of an operation requiring an airline transport pilot certificate.
(3) An authorized instructor may log as pilot-in-command time all flight time while acting as an authorized instructor.
(4) A student pilot may log pilot-in-command time only when the student pilot -
(i) Is the sole occupant of the aircraft or is performing the duties of pilot of command of an airship requiring more than one pilot flight crewmember;
(ii) Has a current solo flight endorsement as required under § 61.87 of this part; and
(iii) Is undergoing training for a pilot certificate or rating.
The FAA has held numerous times that an endorsement is NOT a rating, and is not required to LOG the time.
Logging means writing the time in your logbook, and the regulation that spells out the requirements for logging flight time are found in 61.51. This regulation does not address what is required to ACT as pilot in command. Logging is a paper issue. Acting as pilot in command means taking full responsibility for the safe outcome of the flight, and all aspects of the flight. Logging is where pen meets the paper, and acting is where the rubber meets the road, or air meets the wing as the case may be.
Without a high performance endorsement you may log time in a high performance airplane as PIC, if you're rated with category and class. If you hold an airplane category rating, and a single engine land class rating, and you act as sole manipulator of the controls having a recreational pilot certificate or higher, then yes, you may log PIC, without the high performance endorsement, in an aircraft that requires a high performance endorsement. And you probably should; insurance requirements being what they are, you need to be able to show that time if you're a low time pilot.
Without the endorsement, you can't actually take charge of the airplane; you are not privileged to hold the full responsibility of pilot in command.
A lot of pilots question why one can log PIC when one isn't the acting PIC. The reason is simple. Logging time is record keeping for certain purposes. Among them are recency of flight experience, use of flight experience toward a certificate or rating, etc. Even meeting insurance requirements.
Suppose your medical certificate lapses. You want to stay current. You can still do the takeoffs and landings with another pilot acting as PIC, but you may log the landings, log the time as PIC...after all, it's you flying the airplane. You may log it, exactly as the regulation quoted above says you can. And you should be able to log it. It's acceptable, legal, appropriate.
You're training to fly an airplane for which you don't hold an endorsement. You're sole manipulator. You're rated in the airplane. You hold category and class ratings, and a recreational pilot certificate, or higher. You fly the airplane; you manipulate the controls; you takeoff, you land, you fly approaches, you do whatever you want to do with that airplane, as you're flying it. You log it, legally, in accordance with the regulation quoted above. You don't have a high performance/high altitude/conventional gear/whatever endorsement for it...that only means you can't be the acting pilot in command. Endorsements have nothing to do with, and play no part of, the regulations regarding the logging of flight time.
You'll note that 61.31(e) refers to acting as pilot in command in a complex airplane, and does not address the logging of pilot in command in complex airplanes, or the logging of flight time at all...as that's addressed in 61.51.
(e) Additional training required for operating complex airplanes.
(1) Except as provided in paragraph (e)(2) of this section, no person may act as pilot in command of a complex airplane (an airplane that has a retractable landing gear, flaps, and a controllable pitch propeller; or, in the case of a seaplane, flaps and a controllable pitch propeller), unless the person has ...
You'll note that 61.31(f) refers to acting as pilot in command in ahigh performance airplane, and does not address the logging of pilot in command in a high performance airplane, or the logging of flight time at all...as that's addressed in 61.51.
(f) Additional training required for operating high-performance airplanes.
(1) Except as provided in paragraph (f)(2) of this section, no person may act as pilot in command of a high-performance airplane (an airplane with an engine of more than 200 horsepower), unless the person has...
You'll note that 61.31(g) refers to acting as pilot in command in a pressurized airplane, and does not address the logging of pilot in command in a pressurized airplane, or the logging of flight time at all...as that's addressed in 61.51.
(g) Additional training required for operating pressurized aircraft capable of operating at high altitudes.
(1) Except as provided in paragraph (g)(3) of this section, no person may act as pilot in command of a pressurized aircraft (an aircraft that has a service ceiling or maximum operating altitude, whichever is lower, above 25,000 [not 27,000--ed] feet MSL), unless that person...
You'll note that 61.31(i) refers to acting as pilot in command of a tailwheel airplane, and does not address the logging of pilot in command in a tailwheel airpalne, or the logging of flight time at all...as that's addressed in 61.51.
(i) Additional training required for operating tailwheel airplanes.
(1) Except as provided in paragraph (i)(2) of this section, no person may act as pilot in command of a tailwheel airplane unless that person has...
Do you see the common thread here, acting vs. logging? Log the time. The regulation was designed to permit you to log the time. You do not need a current flight review, recent flight experience, or a current medical certificate to log time. You need all of those things to act as pilot in command. You don't need an instrument rating to log instrument time, but you certainly need it to act as pilot in command in instrument conditions. Yes, you can log the time, and to keep your insurance carrier happy, I suggest you do log the time. You can't act as pilot in command until you are fully endorsed, but that's an entirely separate issue. If you need to log the time as PIC for a certificate or rating, then by all means, do so. You're entitled, so says the regualtion.
You'll find a lot of folks, mostly those flying an airline seat, that turn down their nose in distain at your doing so; ignore them. They know that under Part 121 (or 135), the operator assigns a pilot in command and that PIC remains the PIC for the entire show. But not so for you. Those flying in their seat so long the sheepskin is imprinted on their butts like a tattoo will look down their noses and tell you that if it's not done the way they think it should be done, the way they're used to doing it, then its all wrong...and they're full of hot air.
You log that time; you're entitled to log it, and you should. Especially at this early stage in your career when you're trying to show as much experience as you can, and you're paying through the nose to do it. Log it. It's not going to kill you, it's not going to kill your carreer, it's not going to land you in hot water with the Administrator...you're adhering to and keeping the regulation as it was intended.
Now trying to show hundreds of hours of "dual" in the King Air is another matter, but we've pretty much covered that one, haven't we?
As an aside, let me specifically address part of the following question you asked:
If I'm a student with a SEL airplane no complex endorsement,and you give me instruction in a plane with retractable gear,flaps, the whole nine yards, do you sign my log book as dual received only or DR and PIC?
The instructor may endorse your logbook for the instruction given. The instructor has NO authority nor place telling you what you can and cant' log. If you were sole manipulator and you're entitled to log it, you write in the PIC time, even if the instructor doesn't. It's none of the instructor's business; his business and purpose is to endorse for the instruction he's provided. Period.
Do I sign your logbook for the instruction given? You betcha. And either you, or I, may put in there the fact that it's loggable as PIC. I'll write it in anyway, but you're certainly entitled to do so if I don't; you're legally entitled, and I would have no authority to tell you otherwise. Don't let any instructor tell you differently, because if he does, he's outside the scope of his authority.