Recreational Flying & Flt Time Limitations

[Feather #3]

Folks,

I have a problem with my recreational flying hours conflicting with my professional flight time limitations.

At the moment I'm trying to get a dispensation to help, but I'm told that in the UK/Europe and the USA, private flying doesn't count towards professional limits. Can someone confirm this please as it adds weight to my submission?

BTW; not logging it is NOT an option in this case.

Thanks & G'day

[international bog trotter]

That corresponds with what I was told, but any sort of paid flying does count as duty and hours flying, eg instructing, or even unpaid if it normally were paid.

[HugMonster]

I never understood this...

Flying anything over 2900 kgs qualifies as duty hours, being paid to fly anything qualifies, no matter if it is purely recreational and done for relaxation and fun...

But playing a round of golf does not.

Driving an HGV does not, even if paid.

You can also have a part time job as a cabbie, and that doesn't qualify.

But if you go down to your local parachute club and throw a few jumpers out of a BN2, it counts, as does paid glider-tugging, or instructing work...

But so long as I'm not actually flying, any other paid work is ok! Is there some logic to this that I'm missing?

[ockham hold]

An acquaintance of mine was a long-haul captain for British United in the 1960's. He lived near Blackbushe and on a good day he would fly his own Auster to Gatwick to work. The airport manager, an old friend allowed him to park it free on some grass near where the North terminal is now. BUA's chief pilot heard about this and called him into discuss duty hours etc. His reply was:
"My contract of employment does not limit how far I live from base, nor specify my means of transport to work. I could legally walk to work, dragging my nightstop bag with me, a journey of about 8 - 10 hours. Would I be fit to work after that? 16 minutes in an Auster must be much less tiring"
The subject was never raised again.

[Captain Airclues]

The UK regulations state that flying which does not count towards the 28 day, or yearly total "is in an aeroplane of which the maximum total weight does not exceed 1600kgs and which is not flying for the purpose of public transport or aerial work."

Airclues

[HugMonster]

Thanks for correcting the weight, CA. It is even more restrictive than I thought. So, if it's aerial work (a category that the CAA will ignore and stretch when convenient to, say, parachute clubs and enforce strictly when the pilot is just getting a bit of weekend relaxation) then you're stuffed.

Yet a guy can legally drive an HGV through the night, get paid, have tax deducted, get changed and go fly a 737.

Is this craziness or what? I appreciate that the public must be protected from the pilot who has a regular second job moonlighting for his local air taxi operator, but shouldn't they also be protected from the guy who also drives a bus in his spare time?

If a guy goes off on a weekend and displays, say, the BBMF Lancaster or a TwinPin, he's breaking the law. If instead he gets his relaxation by playing three rounds of golf a day he isn't.

[Feather #3]

Thanks guys for that info. The 'unrestricted' weight is a bit of a worry for my case.

Any PPruners from the other side of the Atlantic able to offer advice??

G'day