Originally Posted by
MercuryBirdman
Along these lines, what if a pilot was hired to fly a plane by himself or with another crewmember that had video equipment onboard to survey the land? Do pipeline patrol pilots need to have a commercial license? Or can they be just private? I'm wondering legally not realistically. I know that most of these companies require a commerical, but is it legally required?
there are ways that a private pilot may be compensated, more than the pro rata share of the flight (they may even fly for compensation or hire)- the full rules are in 61.113
one concerns if the flying is Incedental to the business at hand- i.e. the business is not flying, but flying helps the business. so a cattle rancher could fly to survey his heard, or a real estate agent may look over a piece of land from the air.
61.113
(b) A private pilot may, for compensation or hire, act as pilot in command of an aircraft in connection with any business or employment if:
(1) The flight is only incidental to that business or employment; and
(2) The aircraft does not carry passengers or property for compensation or hire.
The most blatant of these exceptions is in regards to airplane salespersons.
61.113
(f) A private pilot who is an aircraft salesman and who has at least 200 hours of logged flight time may demonstrate an aircraft in flight to a prospective buyer.
The flight itself is incidental to the business of selling an airplane, like the test drive is incidental to buying a car. no transportation is made, only demonstration of the airplane.