The "is aerial photography" commercial use of an airplane has been discussed in a lot of different forums.
Suppose your wife, a passenger in your plane, enjoys weaving baskets. While you are flying, she weaves a basket. Upon landing, a friend likes the basket and asks to buy it. Your wife says something like, "I get real inspiration for my basket weaving why flying with my husband." She sells the basked. Is that commercial use of the plane?
You say to yourself, hey this is a good way to make money. I'll advertise for inspirational flights for other members of her basket weaving club. All they have to do is pay me a portion of what they earn when they sell their baskets. Is that commercial use of the plane?
Suppose your wife, a passenger in your planes, enjoys taking photos. While you are flying, she takes some photos. Upon landing, a friend likes the photo and asks to buy it. Your wife says something like, "I get real inspiration for my photos when I'm flying with my husband." She sells the photo. Is that commercial use of the plane?
You say to yourself, Hey, this is a good way to make money. You advertise inspirational flights for other members of your wife's photo hobby group. All they have to do is pay you a portion of what they earn should any of the photographs sell. Is that commercial use of the plane?
The answers, in my opinion, are no, yes, no, yes.
