It's all very simple. Here's the 'Q&A':
Can I, as a private pilot, lawfully fly a PC12 with 8 mates on board?
Yes, if one of your mates on board is the registered operator of the PC12 and no payment or reward is made or given in relation to the carriage of the passengers.
No, if none of your mates on board is the registered operator of the PC12.
My mate was the registered operator of the PC 12 last week but, on his accountant’s advice, sold it to a $1 company of which I’m the sole director and now the company is the registered operator of the PC12. The company hires the aircraft to me at an arm’s length rate. Can I lawfully fly it as PIC this week with 8 same mates on board?
No. The registered operator is no longer an individual. The aircraft has a maximum seat configuration in excess of 6.
How did the change in registered operator from my mate to my $1 company make the operation unsafe?
Answer: [TBA]
Can I cost share a flight on the PC12 with me as PIC with only 1 passenger?
No. The aircraft has a maximum seat configuration of more than 6.
What if I remove 3 of the seats?
No. The aircraft still has a maximum seat configuration of 9.
So if the company sells the aircraft back to my mate who again becomes registered operator, it will again become ‘safe’ for me as a private pilot to fly my 8 mates around, provided my mate is on board and there’s no payment or reward?
Yes.
My $1 company buys a Bonanza, becomes registered operator and hires it to me at an arm’s length rate. Can I fly myself and 3 mates around as a private pilot?
Yes, provided you are not remunerated and you pay at least one quarter of the direct costs of the flight.
So I can be rewarded but not remunerated?
Yes, reward is not mentioned in the definition of cost-sharing flight.
Why’s it OK for me to be rewarded for a cost-sharing flight in an aircraft whose registered operator is someone else but not if I am the registered operator of the aircraft and didn’t cost share?
Answer: [TBA]
So just to be clear, provided the aircraft I hire has a maximum seat configuration of 6 or less and I am not remunerated for the flight and I at least pay my share of the direct costs, I can do that as a private pilot?
Yes.
What if all of my mates pay my $1 company e.g. double their share of the fixed costs of the flight?
That’s you being remunerated.
No it’s not. My company is being remunerated.
Well… you are one and the same.
No I'm not. If I were, you’d treat me as the registered operator but you don’t.
And so on...
You see: Simple!
Last edited by Lead Balloon; 7th Dec 2022 at 20:33.