richatom. How would you feel about someone doing your job for nothing?
I would certainly like to get paid for flying. But we all know the conundrum of low time pilots like me - no job until you have the hours, but how do you get the hours. Flying for free like this is a lot better than having to pay for it to get the hours. It is just the way the free-market operates.
If it makes you any happier, I have on some flights charged for my time as a pilot, but with others who are genuine friends I have just done it for free. As I now know it is definitely legal for me to invoice as a pilot, and if the market will bear it, I will happily do so !