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A. No. You must have a job with an air line company with duties which involve command of or the piloting of aircraft while under way and hold a commercial or an air line transport pilot's certificate in order to be "pilot" within the meaning of that word as used in the air line pilots' retirement system. 

93. Q. Would my membership in the system continue if I am assigned to a job which involved some flying, though not regularly?

A. The amount of flying is not a determining factor so long as you have a job with an "employer" which involves as one of its duties the command of or the piloting of aircraft while under way and you hold a commercial or an air line transport pilot's certificate. If your job is with an "employer" and involves these duties, you would be a pilot as that term is defined in the air line pilot's retirement system and, therefore, you would participate in the system. 

94. Q. Even though I am not a pilot as that term is defined in the pilots retirement system, could I continue as a member of the system by making voluntary contributions?

A. No. The air line pilot's retirement system, insofar as its financial support is concerned, rests on the power of the Congress of the United States to levy taxes. An individual does not subject himself to a tax by voluntarily deciding to pay it. Congress fixes the rules as to who shall pay what taxes. If an individual has certain characteristics which subject him to a particular tax, he must pay the tax whether he wants to or not. Likewise, if he does not have the characteristics which subject him to a tax, he cannot pay the tax. If, in the latter case, he makes a payment to the Treasury in the amount of the tax, he would merely be making a gift that would be recorded as such by the Treasury.

95. Q. In question 6, among others, reference was made to "years of service". What is a "year of service"?

A. Years of service are built up from months of service. A month of service is a month, whether before or after the plan becomes effective, in which a pilot renders service to an employer or receives compensation for time lost or, in a war period, was in active military or naval service of the United States. Twelve months of service constitutes a year of service.

96. Q. I was engaged as a pilot in 1939. In 1940 I took a three months' leave of absence without pay. Does that three months count in my service period?

A. No. In order to be counted in the service period you must have actually rendered service to an employer or received compensation for time lost or have been active military or naval service during a war period. 

97. Q. What is a "war period"?

A. A "war period" (in the exact language of the bill it is called a "war service period") is a period when the United States is actually at war or, for an individual, a period after the end of actual war when the individual has to stay in service, or a period when an individual has to serve because of the operation of selective service or a corresponding law, or the period after September, 1939, when a national emergency was declared to exist.