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Can someone that only has a student permit start and taxi an airplane solo without being signed off to solo?
As I recall you have to be signed off to solo if you move the plane with the intent to take off so if you taxi at 75% of the rotation speed you might get spanked but if you use a more reasonable metric like taxi at walking speed then you ok with the FAA.
Please note I have not slept in a Holiday Inn lately.
14 CFR 61.3 says, "No person may serve as a required pilot flight crewmember of a civil aircraft of the United States" without a pilot certificate. 14 CFR 1.1 says, "Crewmember means a person assigned to perform duty in an aircraft during flight time." And for this purpose (the issue is taxiing, and gliders don't taxi much), "flight time" is "Pilot time that commences when an aircraft moves under its own power for the purpose of flight and ends when the aircraft comes to rest after landing." So, the regs tell us that if the airplane is being taxied other than for the purpose of flight, anyone can do it, with or without a pilot certificate.
That said, your insurer may not have agreed to cover you if anyone other than a licensed pilot taxies the airplane, so if you value your money, check your policy before you allow it.
Same conclusion, yes, but I know we've got a lot of folks here who like to know where it's written, too.Ron went and got all techno mubojumbo- legal on me but I do think we both said the same thing. You have to intend to fly before it's a issue.
If the insurer's argument was that the student wasn't FAA-legal to do it, then I think they arrived at the right outcome. However, other policies may specifically limit "operation" of the aircraft (without regard to intent for flight) to those qualified to fly or a licensed mechanic. YMMV, so check your policy before you let anyone do that.I recall reading somewhere where a case came up I think for insurance purposes where a pre-solo student was taxiing the plane and a gust of wind came along and lifted the plane up and causes damaged and the argument was made that the student voided the policy because of not being legal to fly but the counter argument was successfully made that student was repositioning the plane without any intent to fly so he was covered.
Yes. -Interesting...
How about with a 'passenger'?
Still ok under the above definitions I would think as long as it's not to try and take off. Yes?
There is no regulation that says you even need to have any sort of certificate to taxi an airplane.
No license required to taxi an airplane, mechanics who don't even hold a Student cert do it all the time.
I'll admit that I have never even bothered to look this up. I am also going from memory when I was about 14 or 15, but my girlfriend's dad was a mechanic at UAL. I seem to recall that he had to pass some sort of test to be allowed to taxi the jets on the airport. I do not recall any mention of the FAA and I could just be assuming that was who was certify him, could have easily been a company certification.
The question is for the big boys is there a different set of FAA rules to get the mechanics taxi certified or is it just company or maybe even an airport guideline?
George Kennedy was licensed to taxi in the movie Airport.