"vincent p. norris" wrote in message
...
Mr. Norris was the passenger on this trip, and it was he who had
written
that he wouldn't pay anything except direct costs.

That's your (mis)interpretation. The fact is, my friend asked me to
fly with him instead of taking my own airplane because his intended
fellow-pilot can't go. I was the one who said I would go but with the
understanding I would pay half the full operating costs. On a previous
long cross country when I flew my own airplane, he asked his passenger
to pay only half of the gas. I wouldhn't have felt right paying only
that much.

The bottom line is under US regs you can't legally do this under 14 CFR
61.

vince norris

Well, sir, if it's appreciating like a Skylane you will only need to buy in
on the avgas.