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6 Answers

How can two pilots who both want to build time share aircraft cost?

Asked by: 8130 views
Private Pilot

I read many articles that claim you can reduce cost during time building by sharing the cost of the aircraft. So my question is if two private pilots who both want to build time towards another cert go flying, doesn't one pilot have to be in for a joy ride while the other logs PIC and then they divide the cost in 2 or however many persons are on the aircraft? Seems to me that this only benefits one pilot in the group who  is interested in building flight time while the other pilot/passenger is in for the ride. Am I interpreting the regs correctly?

Thanks.

S.

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6 Answers



  1. Kris Kortokrax on Dec 05, 2014

    Whenever something sounds too good to be true, it usually is. It would be helpful if you gave us the regulations you are concerned about and URLs for the articles you have read. If the articles are written by someone who has no understanding of regulations, they are not worth anything.

    If the two of you plan to fly a cross country with one of you under the hood and the other acting as safety pilot, only 1 person can log the cross country time and the total flight time. The safety pilot can only log PIC time while the other pilot is under the hood.

    There are legal interpretations that deal with this subject. I will post them, if you wish.

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  2. Mark Kolber on Dec 05, 2014

    As Kris says, it depends on the situation. For two examples:

    If you are talking about both pilots logging while one is flying, the only way is by following both the rules and limitations regarding the use of a safety pilot. Kris gave the essentials which come down to: in order for the safety pilot to log PIC time, the safety pilot (1) must be acting as the pilot in command for the flight; (2) can only log the time the flying pilot is under the hood; and (3) cannot log cross country time.

    If you are talking about a trip in which each pilot flies a leg and they split the cost of the flight – for example a $100 hamburger where you fly there and she flies back – you are each paying for your flight time so the restrictions on cost-sharing with passengers are typically not an issue.

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  3. Steven Porter on Dec 10, 2014

    Mark,

    Regarding 2 and 3. Your second point I believe is an assumption, as the regulation says for the condition of the flight and is talking about the flight as a whole. Do you have literature that clarifies that the FAA cares about ‘portion of flights’? And for number 3, if the safety pilot/ acting PIC makes the landing, can they log cross country and not the one under the hood? This is something I have wondered in the past.

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  4. Kris Kortokrax on Dec 10, 2014

    Steven,

    Mark doesn’t need me to stick up for him, but I will.

    These types of questions have been answered on the website many times.
    We do not make assumptions. We base our comments on legal interpretations and on regulations.

    The pertinent interpretation in this case is the Gebhart interpretation:

    http://www.faa.gov/about/office_org/headquarters_offices/agc/pol_adjudication/agc200/interpretations/data/interps/2009/gebhart%20-%20(2009)%20legal%20interpretation.pdf

    It specifically addresses the points that Mark raised and fully supports what he stated.

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  5. Mark Kolber on Dec 11, 2014

    Steven (thanks Kris),

    With respect to point #3, before the series of Chief Counsel interpretations that are about 5 years old now, I had much the same view as you. Nothing in the reg says a safety pilot can’t log the cross country time, the regulations words simple defining cross country time as “time acquired during a flight” that meets certain conditions. A safety pilot properly logging time certainty has logable “time acquired during a [cross country] flight”.

    The series of cross country opinions in 2009 forward, which don’t deal only with the safety pilot situation, make it clear that, as a matter of policy, the FAA wants a pilot logging cross country time toward the requirements for advanced certificates and ratings to have performed the whole flight. (The legs in my example would each qualify by itself as a cross country)

    As to point #2, I’m not going to get into a detailed discussion with a viewpoint that in effect says the flying pilot can wear the hood for 5 minutes to make his pilot/passenger a safety pilot so that both can log the 2 hour flight.

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  6. Steven Porter on Dec 17, 2014

    Thanks guys, that is exactly the kind of reference I was looking for. I’ve heard people mention that the 0.2 hours for taxi and takeoff doesn’t need to be omitted from simulated instrument but never had a good reference. Of course, this may have been prior to 2009 as I had a gap in my flight training from 2003-2011.

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