A very good friend of mine with a plane not dissimilar to mine moved it from N-reg to D-reg when he bought it, at a huge cost and massive hassle, and when I asked him WHY?? he said that in Germany people think you are fiddling your tax if you are N-reg. Yet this guy owns his own business, has an airport and a hangar very close to his home, his customers would never discover he has a plane if he didn’t tell them, and is as independent of others’ opinions as anybody could be. Yet he felt this move was worth doing…
I too couldn’t care less what envious people think because I simply don’t mix with people who aren’t “nice” anyway (one of the many privileges of advancing age 
) but there are limits to this if you still have to maintain an income, so customers can’t be told.
he said that in Germany people think you are fiddling your tax if you are N-reg.
I never heard that and there’s really so many N-regs in Germany. I put mine of the G-reg and was asked: “Why can’t you register your plane in Germany, like all of us?”. I answered (joking): “that’s a good question and the reason in one sentence”.
I would not say “in Germany” or any other country name. The problem is really just the perception of some individuals and their relationship with you.
So if you are their supplier and they have reason to believe that you depend on them, then they will use whatever seems suitable to let you feel that you depend on them and their approval. Subconsciously they start a power game with you to feel better themselves.
In Latin America they say “quien esta mal quiere ver a otro mal” which means that if you have problems, you want others to have problems too. And in fact that’s also scientifically proven (difficult to find reference on iPad now).
In my own business I make it very clear that I offer help and nobody has to take it. In fact I just wrote about ADM and how it may be useful to software developers. So my clients will certainly be reading this: http://www.stephan-schwab.com/2014/11/30/aeronautical-decision-making-for-software-developers.html
I would not say “in Germany” or any other country name. The problem is really just the perception of some individuals and their relationship with you.
There might be some relevance in the tax authorities’ interpretation. My income tax controller already looks suspiciously at the plane, modest as it is; if it had a foreign registration his suspicions would treble. Whether that is to good reason is not really relevant.
I’ve never really run into this at all, not in the US, not in the UK.
I get more grief for being a Manx resident from UK people (aah so you’re all tax dodgers – well no, for normal middle class people living here our cost of living is higher than the UK and simultaneously salaries are lower than the UK) than I do for owning a dangerous noisy leftover from the 1930s (well, from 1945)
The funny thing about this is that I get much more of it within the GA community than from outside.
Because I fly a twin I must be unbelievably rich and because I am qualified to fly IFR I must have unbelievably superior attitudes. This is not just from grass roots GA pilots, but also from some, supposedly GA friendly, airfields who charge twins more just because of a perception that twin operators must be rich.
You would think that anyone who owns or rents an aircraft would know better.
But then, I look up to people who have new aircraft, or turboprops or jets and think that they must be unattainably wealthy compared to me.
I guess it’s a matter of
I’ve been flying for abt 2 years now (of which 1 year getting my ppl). I fly club rental aircraft (152s/172s/pa28s) and this year I’ve only done 35hrs. So this it really not a lot of money. I think golf would cost more or less the same… However I too was a bit surprised by people’s skewed perception.
To my manager: ‘Hey can I leave early on Thursday as it’s good weather and I have my final pilot licence exam?’
Response: ‘What?! You’re a pilot? We’re paying you way too much’
To a friend of my partner: ‘I can’t believe how expensive child care is in London… They just quoted us £1600 a month for nursery.’
Response: ‘Well I’m sure it’s a fraction of what you spend on your flying hobby’
I learned to keep my mouth shut after that. Certainly the above responses would have been different if I said golf instead of flying?
shocking…
I work as a freelancer in the banking industry.
I always tell my clients that I’m an Instrument Rated pilot, and co-own an aircraft.
I have the feeling that it works in my benefit, as clients have a prejudgment about pilots which seem to match with the profile of the candidate they’re looking for: Serious, pragmatic, risk-aware, tech savvy, can follow procedures, etc.
I sometimes take clients / colleagues for a flight. It’s great fun.
What I learned is not to speak too much about my flying adventures.
Most of my colleagues have a boring private life, and answering the question “How was your weekend” by showing them pictures like the one below makes them jealous. I understand that and I respect that… ;-)
I understand that and I respect that
I couldn’t agree more!
When / where was the next fly-in? 
