Originally Posted by
Torque Tonight
Fair point Bookworm, maybe I should have used another example, and the one you have proposed is very applicable. I have been known on occasions to fly to an airfield more than 50nm from base, where I do not have to pay landing fees, and spend an afternoon circuit bashing...
I think this case rather depends on how one interprets ...
"except for ... taking off and landing at the same aerodrome/operating site and remaining within 50 nautical miles (nm) of that aerodrome/operating site..."
I think it would be quite reasonable to consider a flight A to B/ multiple circuits and return to B as.
Flight 1 A-B, requires 30 minutes of reserves
Flight 2 B-B circuits, exempt from reserve requirement
Flight 3 B-A, requires 30 minutes of reserves.
Would there ever be a reasonable requirement to make flight 1 or 3 with less than 30 minutes reserves?
I know in the military world aircraft operate on very thin reserves, but that is their job, is largely a fact of life, and a significant training and infrastructure system helps make it safe - non of which can be relied on to exist for a private operator.