When a soaring club provides towplanes to a regional or national
contest, how is a club typically compensated for loaning out their
equipment, or are they?

Is a contest and the use of a club towplane by non-club members seen
as a "commercial" operation? And if so, does the towplane need a 100
hour inspection to be legal?

How are tow fees assesed so that contestants, who are probably not
members of the club providing the towplane, pay a fair amount so that
club members are not subsidizing their tow fee?

Brad
SNIPPED.

I have sought clarification via the SSA Government Liason Committee and they
are working on it.

Hartley Falbaum
"KF" Georgia, USA



It seems possible that a couple folks are fishing either separately
or collectively for information, or speculating.

Brad:

How is a club towplane compensated? By a check for US dollars.
Is a club-tug towing in a contest a “Commercial operation”?
According to typical arrangements and typical insurance, yes.
Does the tug then need a 100-hour inspection? No.
How are tow fees assessed so the club isn’t subsidizing a contest?
Ask your club’s officers. Costs are different across the US.


Private Pilot Towing

I was contacted following some local conversations about an
interpretation
of the FARs as a part of the Governmental Liaison Committee for SSA.
The question posed to me was whether or not a Private pilot could be
“compensated” for towing at a contest….
In the example given,
“could the Private certificate tow pilot be provided meals or
lodging?”

I cited 61.113(g) as the FAR in play. I also read it as a very
simplistic
sentence, which I had observed change in an FAR update in about 2004.
Based on the 2004 documents published with that change, I believed it
was
a pretty plain conclusion that private pilots could tow and be
compensated.

I also warned the contest organizers raising the issue that the
FAR may not be the most limiting consideration. The tow plane’s
Insurance coverage would likely be the most restrictive document
on the subject of which human may provide service to whom.

In the dark ages, private pilots couldn’t tow anything. A Chapter
(which
is no longer in existence in Region 8) asked for help from SSA.
They couldn’t find enough Commercial pilots and sought relief.
SSA helped. SSA negotiated a waiver from the FAA, to allow club
operations to use Private pilots -- if the pilots did not use the
accumulation of flight time toward a furtherance of ratings.
Accumulating flight time was considered by FAA to be
“compensation”, as total time has value toward aviation employment.

The waivers continued for many years, until the FAA decided there was
NO safety issue under this SSA-initiated-documented program. Rather
than continue wavier extensions, they changed the privileges of
Private pilots in 1997 to allow glider towing, and noted that time
could be accrued. But the FAA was silent on other forms of
compensation. This was another instance of SSA’s action
benefiting all US glider ops, not just “members”.

In 2004, FAA rewrote Part 61 again, to include towing of ultralight
vehicles under Sport pilot and Light Sport Aircraft rules. At that
time, in the comments of adoption, the FAA stated that Private
pilots were indeed allowed to tow gliders for compensation and
hire (their words, not mine). But the FAA declined to extend
that privilege to Sport or Recreational pilots.
The FAA referred to 61.113(g).

Since a few folks in SSA disagreed with my recent answer,
and talked to a person in FAA who agreed with them, SSA has
sent a formal letter to the FAA to ask for an interpretation of
61.113 (g). I don’t anticipate SSA getting an answer to that
letter before most, if not all, of the 2009 soaring season is
completed.

The SSA Group Insurance Program was modified to include Private
pilots towing internally to the club’s operations many years ago.
Private pilots were insured to operate club tugs, including towing
club members giving rides for hire or instruction.

Meanwhile, soaring goes on.

100-Hour Inspections

As far back as the late 1970’s SSA did receive a formal FAA letter
of interpretation that states that towing a glider is specifically
NOT carrying passengers. If your towplane:

1) does NOT give flight instruction for hire,
2) does NOT carry passengers for rides
(for this you need drug testing, etc. see Part 136 Air
Tours),
then the tug does NOT need 100-hour inspections. Save some club/
school bucks.

If you are training tow pilots, that doesn’t require a CFI-A trainer.
The trainee is part of the tug flight crew, not a passenger.
No 100-hour is required. Usually, this operation IS included in SSA
Group coverage. (Check your tow pilot’s recent experience needs
for 2009, as this is formally Spring now. FAR 61.69 (a) 6.)

Contest Towing

Who can tow at contests?
SSA contest rules don’t specify anything but a liability
insurance requirement for each tug, and FAR compliance.
SSA contest rules do set the maximum entry fees, and the
maximum value calculated for tow fees, adjusted annually
to reflect current costs. If the fees didn’t meet tug expenses,
contests wouldn’t get launched.

The SSA Group Program was recently modified to include
club tugs towing at SANCTIONED contests, provided they were
using Commercial tow pilots, and the tugs and pilots could be
paid at any exorbitant rate they could negotiate
(my tongue is firmly in-cheek here, folks.)

Contest staff is charged with being certain their contracted tugs
are operated within their coverage. Could a tug owner have
liability coverage, and the insurance include a Private pilot towing?
Sure. But that isn’t a very likely scenario.

Fly safely, and renew your SSA membership.

Cindy Brickner