What kind of pilot are you? (Poll)

What kind of pilot are you?

  • Professional pilot and/or instructor pilot - military

    Votes: 6 2.1%

  • Professional pilot and/or instructor pilot - nonmilitary

    Votes: 47 16.3%

  • I pilot a company airplane frequently but take care of business on the ground

    Votes: 9 3.1%

  • I can occasionally figure out a way for the business to pay for my flying

    Votes: 35 12.1%

  • My flying is almost exclusively pleasure and/or personal/family transport

    Votes: 192 66.4%
  • Total voters
    289
RotorDude said:
I know it's your poll, but I think I am not alone in my category of doing primarily business flying but not in a company plane, where all business flying is covered by the business. I don't see how any of your categories is not in direct (and important) conflict with this.
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Sure, the wording is not perfect. But if you fly in the course of earning an income and take some or all of the flying expenses as a tax deduction as a business expense then, for the purposes of my poll, it is the same as if you flew for another firm or business either frequently or occasionally so categories 3 or 4, respectively. That's the best I can do at this point because I can't change the poll once it's created.
 
Thanks everyone for your votes and responses. Sorry I didn't cover all the possibilities as well as I might have. I did spend some time thinking it through before posting and some of it might just be poor wording on my part.

Some interesting results there. At this point, exactly 2/3 of us fly strictly for personal reasons with no business connection or reimbursement. Of the remaining 1/3, half are professional pilots or instructors and the other half fly the aircraft in connection with other business. The majority of the professional pilots are non-military and the majority of the business users find only occasional use for the aircraft.

Thanks again.
 
I have been a pilot for 28 hours. I will be flying my grandfathers plane. He doesn't have his license but enjoys aviation. This is still a dream to me lol. I plan to fly both personal and business as I get older.
 
Amoskodg said:
I have been a pilot for 28 hours. I will be flying my grandfathers plane. He doesn't have his license but enjoys aviation. This is still a dream to me lol. I plan to fly both personal and business as I get older.
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:needpics::needpics:
 
I log a about 2-3 hours a week in the back of an aluminum tube. After a couple of decades I have tried every seat from first class to just in front of the toilet.

To make matters worst, C130s line up in a train of 5 or so ships and regularly fly over my house. Got so bad I finally gave up direct tv.

Took a couple of flights in a two seat airplane a decade or so ago and realize there are at most two first class seats on any airplane.

Flying is fun. Kinda afraid to let business destroy yet another thing I enjoy.
 
Professional private sector pilot, I also fly my own plane on my own time for fun.
 
ahkahn said:
Not sure about him, but I'm guessing it's the same as me.

I own a business, which owns the plane, and I fly the plane. The business has no business involving aviation, but the plane is a tool to get the pilot (me) from point A to point B.

PS: I'd love to fly a DC-10.... that's badass.
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This^^^^
3 2-hour loops per week.
 
Categories are too specific. :)

Some days I'm a professional instructor pilot - military
Some days I'm a professional pilot - non-military (Delta)
". " (Draken)
Some days I'm just a GA pilot in my Bonanza!
 
EvilEagle said:
Categories are too specific. :)

Some days I'm a professional instructor pilot - military
Some days I'm a professional pilot - non-military (Delta)
". " (Draken)
Some days I'm just a GA pilot in my Bonanza!
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See first post, all is clarified and that will tell you where you fit.
 
I mostly fly my airplane for my business travel, but sometimes I fly it for personal travel. Then, sometimes I fly professionally. So it's a little of everything!

Abram Finkelstein
N38KY
 
Abram said:
I mostly fly my airplane for my business travel, but sometimes I fly it for personal travel. Then, sometimes I fly professionally. So it's a little of everything!

Abram Finkelstein
N38KY
Click to expand...

See first post, all is clarified and that will tell you where you fit.
 
alfadog said:
See first post, all is clarified and that will tell you where you fit.
Click to expand...

You said there:
Sure, the wording is not perfect. But if you fly in the course of earning an income and take some or all of the flying expenses as a tax deduction as a business expense then, for the purposes of my poll, it is the same as if you flew for another firm or business either frequently or occasionally so categories 3 or 4, respectively. That's the best I can do at this point because I can't change the poll once it's created.
Click to expand...

Again, that's not me or anyone like me. Unless I am misreading, you are ignoring the class of pilots who fly (mostly) for business purposes and get reimbursed for it by their employer. I don't "take my flying expenses ... as a business expense". I get re-imbursed by my employer, i.e. the company pays the direct flying expenses, just as they pay for my ticket when I use the airlines on business or my gas when I drive my car on business.
To describe this class you'd have to say something like, "You fly mostly on business and get your flying costs reimbursed by your employer."
 
RotorDude said:
You said there:


Again, that's not me or anyone like me. Unless I am misreading, you are ignoring the class of pilots who fly (mostly) for business purposes and get reimbursed for it by their employer. I don't "take my flying expenses ... as a business expense". I get re-imbursed by my employer, i.e. the company pays the direct flying expenses, just as they pay for my ticket when I use the airlines on business or my gas when I drive my car on business.
To describe this class you'd have to say something like, "You fly mostly on business and get your flying costs reimbursed by your employer."
Click to expand...

OK, add "or are reimbursed". Point is that some or all of the cost of flying is defrayed by a business, either your business or another's.
 
alfadog said:
OK, add "or are reimbursed". Point is that some or all of the cost of flying is defrayed by a business, either your business or another's.
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Yes, that would work, but I don't see any category that comes close to it without a clear contradiction.
 
RotorDude said:
Yes, that would work, but I don't see any category that comes close to it without a clear contradiction.
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The main thing I was interesting with in this was how many of use fly exclusively on our own dime vs how many have the costs of at least some of our flying defrayed. The breakdown of the "defrayed" was just icing on the cake for me.
 
RotorDude said:
Yes, that would work, but I don't see any category that comes close to it without a clear contradiction.
Click to expand...

If you are not piloting as a profession (i.e. flying someone else's body or crap around as the main reason to fly or doing a job that you do from the pilot's seat - pipeline inspection, for example), then it is line 3 or 4, depending on the frequency relative to times that you do not have to fly away to work or to how hard you had to finagle to figure out how to make flying relevant to your work. All your call.
 
alfadog said:
See first post, all is clarified and that will tell you where you fit.
Click to expand...

Understood, and that is how I filled out the poll. However, I wanted to identify the caveats for the group.

Abram Finkelstein
N48KY
 
Abram said:
Understood, and that is how I filled out the poll. However, I wanted to identify the caveats for the group.

Abram Finkelstein
N48KY
Click to expand...

Thanks. I've run a few polls here that have gotten lots of responses but it's always a problem to figure out how to word the categories. It would be nice if you could run the poll first and then formulate the questions :wink2: Actually it would be nice if you could fine-tune questions after the poll is posted but you can't make any changes to poll questions once posted, which is probably for the best.
 
alfadog said:
The main thing I was interesting with in this was how many of use fly exclusively on our own dime vs how many have the costs of at least some of our flying defrayed. The breakdown of the "defrayed" was just icing on the cake for me.
Click to expand...


In that case

75% flying for work, getting paid zero expense

25% flying my plane for fun on my dime.
 
James331 said:
In that case

75% flying for work, getting paid zero expense

25% flying my plane for fun on my dime.
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What does your work flying entail? Is it simply a matter of using an airplane for transportation instead of a car?
 
MIFlyer said:
My employer's travel policy specifically forbids use of private GA travel for company business. EVEN if we are not asking them to pay. If we're on the company "time", we're forbidden from flying GA. They are amazingly great on most things, but really backwards on this one.
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I retired from a company like that last year. The only exceptions were listed by tail number and happened to coincide with the company's shuttle fleet (ERJ-145s). I even spoke with the head of risk management about this. I told her that the 172 lands slower than I drive down I-5 and weighs less than my Jeep, so it would do less damage if it hit something. Her comeback (and it was hard to argue with) was to ask, "which one will make the 6 o'clock news?" Rats. 2.5 hour drive from home to the plant in Oregon if I had a meeting vs. 45 minutes from KOLM to KHIO in a 172. At least most of the time I worked for them the company shuttle (B-1900 for this route) was an option, if a seat was reserved in time.

Now I'm the owner of the company and I make the rules, written or not. If something comes up where grabbing a club plane and flying myself to a client's location makes more sense than driving or riding in a pressurized aluminum mailing tube, that's what I'll do. This time of year flying non-FIKI aircraft isn't typically in the cards, so I'll drive or let UA do the driving for me.
 
Didn't see one labeled "the best there is"...
 
alfadog said:
The main thing I was interesting with in this was how many of use fly exclusively on our own dime vs how many have the costs of at least some of our flying defrayed. The breakdown of the "defrayed" was just icing on the cake for me.
Click to expand...

It depends on the year. In 2015 I flew about 450 hours for Delta, 160 for the military and about 100 personal. In 2016 I'm guessing it'll be closer to my pre-Delta numbers of 200 personal Bonanza and 175 military. Some flying defrayed, but typically it's less than half of my yearly total (until I go back to Delta).
 
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