Where do you draw the line? At some point flying for commercial gain goes from being a favour for a mate to part of a business and hence a cost of operation. If you leave a loophole to fly for business as long as the pilot is not paid for it, you can bet someone will exploit that -
SgtBundy et al,
The point that Aroa is making, that seems to be lost on most of you, is that the Civil Aviation Act 1988 was amended, over 10 years ago, to eliminate "commercial" regulation from CASA's hands, CAR 206 is a carryover from another Act ---- CASA
CANNOT make regulations based on commercial considerations ---- it is
SUPPOSED to be about risk management.
Interestingly, CAR 206 was (in part) the result of a previous legislative change, to eliminate the "hire and reward" principle from a determinant in classifying operations ---- which is why a jump pilot with a PPL can be paid ---- but has become a legal minefield in it's own right, as is the "definition" of RPT, anything but defined ---- and again an unintended consequence of aborted regulatory change in late 1980s through early 1990s'.
And yet, many of you, in this thread and many previous, keep bringing up "hire and reward" as a factor, it ain't, as it ain't anywhere (any longer --- because it was repealed) in the Civil Aviation Act 1988.
Tootle pip!!