A few questions about private vs. commercial privileges

ChasenSFO

ChasenSFO

hen teaser
Sorry, hit enter while changing the title. Should say "A few questions about private vs. commercial privileges".

If I'm paying at least a pro-rated share of the aircraft rental, but I'm making videos in said aircraft which are to be monetized and generate revenue, is that a violation of my privileges as a Private Pilot? Say I'm using the airplane as an essential part of a skit that may air on television, and what I do with that airplane is for the purpose of generating income after the fact, but I am not being financially endorsed at all for the flight and operation of the airplane itself.

I'm also in a situation where right now I'm making said videos independently, but with the ultimate goal to be including them in a variety show I'm pitching to television networks. If they make the jump from YouTube to network TV, am I suddenly in violation of preforming said flying as a private pilot now that the flying is part of a program I am being paid for seeing as at the time of filming I was a private pilot?

Last thing I'm worried about would be some kind of violation in a rental aircraft, seeing as I do not own said airplane and it may eventually end up being on TV though it was filmed "for fun" so to speak. I could always blur out the tailnumber I suppose? I don't want any owners coming after me, but right now my flying club and myself are on very thin ice for reasons that have been discussed in other threads, so I don't want to cross that bridge until I get to it since I am not doing anything illegal or in violation of the FARs in said airplanes, just simply including them in videos.

If this wording doesn't make sense, I'll clarify it. Thanks guys! :)
 
I actually clicked on this thread with the sole intention of complaining about the title. You took all of the wind out of my sails with the first paragraph though, so I went ahead and edited the title for you. Nice catch and bonus points for the mea culpa. :cool:
 
61.113(b)(1) and (2)
(b) A private pilot may, for compensation or hire, act as pilot in command of an aircraft in connection with any business or employment if:​
(1) The flight is only incidental to that business or employment; and​
(2) The aircraft does not carry passengers or property for compensation or hire.​
​
​
My interpretation is that you have a business making videos, flying is incidental to that business and nobody is paying you to ride along so they can shoot video. Really the FAA isn't going to give a crap, they are interested in protecting the paying public. If you were charging people to take scenic rides and shoot photos... then the FAA would be very interested in talking to you, but that's not what you're doing as I read it. There's a guy out here who's a private pilot and filmed himself flying into a bunch of Idaho's backcountry strips, he made a DVD and it's sold right in the pilot shop where the FSDO office is next door, I'm sure nobody there gives a crap.​
​
Now then, the insurance company would very likely consider it commercial activity, many specifically call out aerial photography as a commercial activity, so it's very possible you are voiding the owner/club's insurance coverage... might want to have a close read of their policy. There again, nobody is going to care until something gets broken, but if you get blown off a runway and bend a wing and they find out you had a bunch of camera gear on board, well then things might get interesting. If you have a couple GoPro's and a camcorder, well then put them in your flight bag and keep your mouth shut ;)​
 
Thanks, figured as long as nothing gets broken I should be fine. I think the majority of filming will be outside the airplane, the airplane would mostly be part of skits.
 
Blurring out the tail number might not be a bad idea. There might be somebody at the forementioned flight club that will try and piss on your parade. So keep them far away from
the loop. :-) goodluck!

When will your website be up and running?
 
We're making a new site in Dreamweaver, HTML coding yo! Also in a bidding war to drop the 69, it was just temporarily until the awkwardlyawesome.com domain expired earlier this year. So hopefully by the end of the year we'll have it up.
 
ChasenSFO said:
We're making a new site in Dreamweaver, HTML coding yo! Also in a bidding war to drop the 69, it was just temporarily until the awkwardlyawesome.com domain expired earlier this year. So hopefully by the end of the year we'll have it up.
Click to expand...
69 lol
 
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