Peter Duniho wrote:

I don't understand your comments.

Ok, then I've not phrased things well. In the case I mentioned, the key argument the
FAA advanced was that the towplane pilot was time-building; that is, he intended to
use the time flying the towplane to fulfill part of the requirements for his next
certificate. As such, the time was valuable and he would have had to pay for it had
he not volunteered to fly the towplane. That made it compensation. The fact that he
was competing with professionals for the towplane job got him busted but did not
otherwise figure in the case.

So, the real question here is whether or not NW_PILOT is intending to pursue another
rating or certificate and intends to use this time as part of the time necessary to
fulfill the requirements for that rating. If so, he could be busted for violation of
this FAR, and there is precedence for a guilty verdict. If not, there is no
precedence for a bust or guilty verdict (though I suppose he could be the first).

George Patterson
If a man gets into a fight 3,000 miles away from home, he *had* to have
been looking for it.