Helen wrote in news:fZs_i.6012$VB6.114@trnddc06:

Here's a good write-up on the subject. Note in the case listed, it
wasn't even logged flight hours that the FAA cited as "compensation,"
but simply "good will."

http://www.aopa.org/members/files/pi...04/pc0403.html

In the case you describe, a guy paid a charter service to ferry a bunch of
people back and forth to his restaurant. Instead of paying the charter
service for a second run, his friend made MULTIPLE trips to bring the rest
of the group there.

All of the customers paid for charter services. Even though the pilot
didn't get compensated, the fact is someone who paid to be flown to a party
on an island was flown to a pilot on an island through arrangements of the
receiver of money.

While I think the FAA was probably somewhat harsh on the pilot in this
case, and the explanation of "goodwill" is actually more problematic than
if they would have just said that the flights were not incidental to the
business of transporting the partygoers to the party, the fact is I can see
where this merits the opinion that was made.

Furthermore, I suspect if it were just one trip, no one would have
complained about it - it becomes a guy who gave a lift to some folks that
were headed the same way and missed their plane. But he made several trips
back and forth. In doing so, he essentially competed with the charter
company, and clearly they reported him to the FAA for it.

In the club plane delivery case described above, I don't think any of these
situations need apply. A guy is delivering his club's plane to it's new
owner. He may as well be delivering it to a mechanic for maintenance...

The only case where I might agree with the CFI is if the club was
specifically paid to deliver the plane to the buyer, separately from the
purchase price of the airplane. If that's the case, then it might somewhat
resemble the case you described above.

But I doubt the club was specifically paid for ferrying the plane...