charity work
 

This is a theoretical question as I still haven't taken my ppl checkride. .

Do you need a commercial to fly for a charity? In this case I volunteer for a marine conservation charity. Could I fly other volunteers to perform observation from the air? No payment would be involved and it would be either my own aircraft or a rental.

14 cfr 61.113

I already read that and it seems like 500hrs is required, however these hours are in relation to a flight that is raising funds for a charity going by .146. I was unsure if this would also apply in this situation where it was not for fundraising, but conservation activities.

61.113 and 91.146 define what a charitable event is.
If it were me I would say no, not unless you have 500 hours, and even then you have to pay your pro rata share at minimum. If no payment to you for costs is involved then still a no since you dont have 500. With 500, then maybe... See below.

Since its not a charitable event raising money(lets say they are referring to cash) according to 91.146 you may not be bound by the 500 hour requirement. but its volunteer work which IMO may fall under "charitable event", and thus the 500 hour requirement. Regardless of money being raised or not. One could argue that volunteering (free work) is the same as raising money since the work being done is not being paid for, but has some monetary value, i.e. your time, service provided, safety etc.

The other question is, if as a volunteer would you qualify for PIC duties, just as a regualr employee could. 61.113 (b) (1) and (2). This allows you to be re-imbursed for costs. More details in 61.113

id call the FSDO for clarification if i were you.

Not sure what you describe falls under the definition of a charitable, non-profit or community event as described in 91.146. I think the "raises funds" portion is the disqualifier.

That being said, is the organization a recognized 501c3? If so, you may be able to deduct your costs as a charitable contribution. For instance, Angel Flight operates this way but they require 250 PIC. There is no cost to the passenger(s). I pay all of the costs associated with the flight but then deduct those at the end of the year.

David

I don't know about this exact situation but I flew Angel Flights for years with just a PPL in my own plane. The FAA went after them years ago and Angel Flight had their lawyers push back and got a ruling in their favor from the feds. The fed was claiming that even if you flew for free you were being compensated with the flight time and the tax deduction which is just another example of the government being out of control. You can look on their web site and find the info or at least you use to be able to.