Expense share for time building.
 

From craigslist.

QUOTE:

Private pilot with small personal airplane available for ????
Plane is a low wing 4 seater (Piper Warrior)
I can fly day or night
USA only
VFR (good weather) only
I am not able to "charge for transporting people", but there are options...
According to the FAA, who has issued a public letter stating that "shared expenses" meant every individual in the aircraft, including the pilot, paid an equal amount of the operating cost of the flight.
This means...
I can fly you around a bit if you and I share the expenses of the flight. My flight expenses include fuel and maintenance of the airplane. The cost per hour is a pretty simple breakdown, $55.00 per hour plus the cost of fuel which is about another $50 bucks per hour. So the cost could be figured as $105 per hour or thereabouts split by me the pilot and any passengers.
I can fly four total people (including pilot) as long as the weight per person doesnt exceed about 150lbs. There is a little fudge room here, but not much.
The airplane travels about 100-130mp as the crow flys depending upon winds and load.
I have flown back and forth to Oklahoma City several times and it took about 5 1/2 hours each way.
I have also flown to Houston TX a few times in it.


Whats the catch??

No catch... Its a way for me to fly my airplane more without having to pay the entire cost.

End Quote.

is this legit?

No, it is not legit IMO.

In order to share expenses, all occupants must have a common purpose for the flight (ex $100 hamburger or weekend getaway).

If the pax want to go somewhere, but the pilot does not really want to go there and is just along to fly the airplane that would count as an illegal charter business.

And the FAA would consider the pilot to NOT be paying his fair share...he is obviously building flight time, which will be considered a form of compensation.

This WOULD actually be legal if he took only pilots, who also needed to build time. In that case all pax have a common purpose, and are paying the same share and getting the same benefit out of the flight (assuming everyone takes equal turns at the controls).

But non-pilots who just want to get from Point A to Point B? No way...

If you can, get hold of this guy and clue him in before somebody refers the FAA to his ad.

He's holding out. If he where to say, I'm going to OKC next weekend, anyone want to split the cost, that's one thing. Saying I'll take you where you want to go, you get there quicker, I get flight time, he's cooked.

This a nuance in the rule that a lot of pilots don't understand - including the one posting the ad on craigslist. It's a shame it's not covered in our private pilot education.

Funny though, he mentions the "public letter" defining pro-rata, but not the "public letters" saying that the pilot and passengers must share the purpose of the flight.