Another thread somewhere has had me wondering about this:
We can't use Experimentals for any kind of commercial work, but would it be legal to fly one for a non-profit organization? By definition, it's non-commercial, but I am not sure the FAA would see it that way. I am thinking along the lines of what is is usually called "Missionary" aviation - bush flying; medical aid in remote places, that kind of thing. (I personally have no interest in flying bibles out to people who got along perfectly fine for thousands of years without them, but who could use other, more urgent forms of aid.)
Would the FAA consider it "flying for hire or reward" if all you did was supply the airplane and your services as a pilot, and received no renumeration, but had the tanks filled by such an organisation?
I can see Experimentals being of great use since one could design and build such an aircraft specifically for such a purpose or use something like a Murphy Moose or a CompAir, at a fraction of the cost of say, a Beaver or Cessna 206, which is the typical choice for these outfits. You would be free to do your own maintenance, do modifications and repairs as needed, use non-certified (i.e.cheap) parts etc. The cost of 'real' bushplanes is astronomical due the demand, since there are so few suitable designs out there. Check the price of a Cessna 185 on floats or even a Supercub - it is staggering.
We can't use Experimentals for any kind of commercial work, but would it be legal to fly one for a non-profit organization? By definition, it's non-commercial, but I am not sure the FAA would see it that way. I am thinking along the lines of what is is usually called "Missionary" aviation - bush flying; medical aid in remote places, that kind of thing. (I personally have no interest in flying bibles out to people who got along perfectly fine for thousands of years without them, but who could use other, more urgent forms of aid.)
Would the FAA consider it "flying for hire or reward" if all you did was supply the airplane and your services as a pilot, and received no renumeration, but had the tanks filled by such an organisation?
I can see Experimentals being of great use since one could design and build such an aircraft specifically for such a purpose or use something like a Murphy Moose or a CompAir, at a fraction of the cost of say, a Beaver or Cessna 206, which is the typical choice for these outfits. You would be free to do your own maintenance, do modifications and repairs as needed, use non-certified (i.e.cheap) parts etc. The cost of 'real' bushplanes is astronomical due the demand, since there are so few suitable designs out there. Check the price of a Cessna 185 on floats or even a Supercub - it is staggering.
