When I heard about Flytenow, as I private pilot I could not believe they were attempting to set up a ride share market with private pilots. It is so blatantly condradictory to the spirit of the law and the common understanding of the rule among aviators, and I would certainly not want to be the lawyer trying to prove it met some obtuse letter of the law.
The bulletin board justification is also ridiculous; GA airports are out of the way and the average person does not make a trip out to see who might be flying where. How could they not have seen this coming?
Flytenow would have been much better served to encourage a more streamlined process for commercial pilots to ride share and navigate any applicable FARs be it part 135 or other. There is certainly an opportunity, not quite on Uber-terms, but there are plenty of pilots with commercial or near commercial doing crappy CFI (instruction) jobs and building time for an airline transport certificate. They will certainly welcome any new revenue or time-building scheme.
You Sir, are not a pilot, any pilot understand the law, and the FAA is very wrong on the ruling because that ruling actually makes illegal any cost sharing.
so if you were a pilot you could not share your gas expense with any passenger even friends or family.
The FAA bowing to protectionist industries. What ever happened to personal liberty? If a pilot and passenger want to share a ride (and expenses), where the passenger understands full well that the pilot is trained and operates under the "private" standard, what is the compelling state interest in preventing them from doing so?
The issue of payment reveals that this is not a safety regulation, but rather an industry protectionist regulation. Same goes for the ridiculous FAA rule against commercial (as opposed to hobby) remote controlled flights.
The fact that money changes hands shouldn't be of any concern to the FAA.
The bulletin board justification is also ridiculous; GA airports are out of the way and the average person does not make a trip out to see who might be flying where. How could they not have seen this coming?
Flytenow would have been much better served to encourage a more streamlined process for commercial pilots to ride share and navigate any applicable FARs be it part 135 or other. There is certainly an opportunity, not quite on Uber-terms, but there are plenty of pilots with commercial or near commercial doing crappy CFI (instruction) jobs and building time for an airline transport certificate. They will certainly welcome any new revenue or time-building scheme.
The relevant FAR regarding private pilots is here: http://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/retrieveECFR?gp=&r=PART&n=14y2.0...