

OpenAirplane: Find airplanes near you - webology
https://www.openairplane.com/

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atourgates
It looks like a neat idea, but it's probably worth pointing out that they only
have 6 providers in the country right now.

This might be a case where branding the launch as a beta could be a good
thing, to manage expectations with users and mitigate the disappointment that
will come with most of them find that there isn't a provider near them.

EDIT: I'm an idiot, it says beta right there in the logo.

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ShabbyDoo
I'm interested in finding planes leaving from Cleveland to Chicago on
Sunday/Monday and planes leaving from Chicago to Cleveland on Thursday or
Friday. I'm flexible on airports. Furthermore, I don't even mind a seat on the
floor (with a harness/seatbelt) -- I used to skydive a lot, so this seems like
a reasonable and safe option. I know this isn't the purpose of your app, but
I'm hoping there are options like Blackjet out there except they don't charge
5x the price of a Southwest flight. Ideally, I'd be happy to pay a private
pilot in literal cash at the last minute for a seat on his plane. I'd win by
getting to/from Chicago w/o fighting my way thru a major airport. They would
win with up to $200 in their pockets for a flight they would be making anyway.
Flying right seat would make it all the better :)

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land0
Unless the pilot is commercially rated, the FAA mandates you have to pay a
pro-rated share (50% in your scenario above). There's also the liability the
pilot is taking on by having a passenger along. If there is an incident during
the flight the pilot is most certainly going to be sued by you or your estate
to recoup medical costs, compensation for negligence (most aircraft accidents
come back on the pilot and not the plane), or compensation for death.

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steven777400
There have even been cases where pro-rata wasn't enough to defend the pilot
against claims of commercial operation. The FAA also has a "common purpose"
test they can apply, as well as restrictions on "holding out" (advertising
yourself to the public).

In other words, as a private pilot, if I posted on this forum and said "I'll
take you on a scenic flight and you pay half the cost" that would absolutely
be a violation and the FAA could act on it, if they chose to.

Source:
[http://www.avweb.com/news/avlaw/186346-1.html](http://www.avweb.com/news/avlaw/186346-1.html)

Excerpt: "Understanding the FAA's interpretation of compensation leads to the
question of whether a pilot can simply volunteer his airplane and his piloting
services to transport passengers to where they want to go, as long as the
pilot pays no less than his pro-rata share of the flight expenses. ... FAA
legal interpretations have been issued declaring that this arrangement may
involve impermissible "compensation or hire." "

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ShabbyDoo
Interesting. I had presumed that the pilot would be violating some FAA rules,
as I might be myself. If the pilot had a commercial rating, I presume the more
costly maintenance requirements required of commercial carriers would apply
here?

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steven777400
Correct. There are additional aircraft inspections, maintenance requirements,
and additional pilot training required to operator as an "air taxi" (part 135)
or other commercial operation.

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TheAnimus
Completely messed up here in IE9
[http://imgur.com/qa0lbbJ](http://imgur.com/qa0lbbJ)

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coherentpony
That landing page picture looks horrid. You need to replace that with one
that's higher resolution.

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jedmeyers
Awesome, just have to get my PPL first.

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ianstallings
I hope FBOs and private renters start to use this service. Right now when
searching for rentals I typically have to do a Google search for airports in
the area and start digging further, usually ending up at a small website that
hasn't been updated in a while. This would be much better.

