"Julian Scarfe" wrote in message
...
[...] If the owner says "make this
flight for me and I'll lend you the aircraft for a few hours for free next
week" then that could be construed as compensation. If he just says
"please
make this flight for me", I don't think it can.

This has been covered so often in this newsgroup, it's hard to give you the
benefit of the doubt and assume you're not just trolling, but...

The flight itself is what the FAA would consider compensation. Even just
the one. In this particular scenario, the Private Pilot would be required
to pay his own way while operating the airplane. Otherwise, he is being
compensated (by the free use of the airplane).

Pete