Greg Copeland wrote:
He did not expand on the cases to which he referred. He did say,
according to the courts (obviously not a literial defination here),
an operator is more like an FBO, an air carrier, a flight school. I
think we can all agree on what an owner is.

Can we?

I'm a member of a club (A not-for-profit incorporated in Connecticut).
The club owns several airplanes. Am I an owner? Am I an operator?
Is the club an operator? Beats me. I figure if I assume the FAA will
take whichever view is most disadvantageous to me at any particular
time, I'll never be disappointed.

I do know that I've got a certified letter on FAA stationary at home
in which the local FSDO politely enlightened me as to exactly which
sins against airworthyness I had committed while acting as PIC in one
of the club aircraft. Was I disgruntled when I got that letter? You
bet. Disgruntled, but not disappointed :-)