Hi,

"Aloft" wrote:
Your local FSDO is probably the best place to ask this question, but
applying the same logic that the FAA has recently applied to CAP pilots
(who
are in a marginally similar situation, their "client" being the federal
government), I think they'd say that as a private pilot, you can be
reimbursed for your flying expenses, OR log the flight time, but not
both.
In the FAA's twisted mind, free flight time amounts to compensation,
which
is verboten for a private pilot. CAP pilots are reimbursed
after-the-fact
for mission flying expenses, just as you're seeking, and that's how the
FAA
ruled, at least where private pilots are concerned.

Uh... are you sure about all this? It makes no sense that log time and the
expense of flying are in any way associated. Beyond that, the FARs have
some information about being compensated, and make no mention of logging
flight time. The FARs state that a PP *can* be compensated for flight
expenses as long as the flight activity is unrelated to the work activity,
e.g. the flight is simply a means of transportation to the work. CAP is
not similar, in that the flight activity is directly related to the reason
for compensation; you wouldn't be flying if it weren't for the request to
do so, as opposed to being peripheral to the activity. This is more
similar to being a pilot for an aerial photographer. In this situation,
compensation to PPs is in violation of the FARs.

If nothing else, you should be able to deduct it from your taxes as a
business expense.

This can be done. In the US, the IRS has instructions for such deductions.

Neil