Originally Posted by
FlyingBulldog
Well I guess my thinking was that the business that the flight is not "incidental" to is that of the land sale, and that by not attempting to make any sort of profit, I'm not actually operating a "business".
But, this is why we ask questions.
The FAA has made it clear that getting loggable flight time, especially for a low time pilot, may be compensation. A key work here is may. A retired 747 captain is not trying to build flight time toward a new rating, but you are.
If you were to pay everything, and fly them around out of the goodness of your heart, then there would be no problem.
If you were planning to make that exact same flight, and let them know about it, and they then offered to split costs, then it MIGHT not be a problem.
This is where the FAA is likely to ask questions. Were you actually planning to go up that day and do ground reference maneuvering in the exact area that the real estate was located in? Why?
It's always best to navigate around the grey areas, not in them.
Joe