Comments on: Demystifying flying clubs

By: Hollister UK

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By: Dennis Clarke

Dennis Clarke — Tue, 20 Nov 2012 02:39:19 +0000

Stan Comer – you’re right on with reciprocal arrangements. One model is the Freedom boat club. They have about 60 locations – mostly in the eastern U.S. here’s their website: http://freedomboatclub.com/locations/43-jacksonville-fl

By: Rob Waring

Rob Waring — Sun, 18 Nov 2012 22:00:56 +0000

Could you do an article on clubs formed around experimental licensed aircraft?

rob

By: Ray Taylor

Ray Taylor — Sun, 18 Nov 2012 19:24:04 +0000

Greetings,
My dad and a few others established the “Harrah Flying Club, inc.” in approximately 1954. The year before my birth. Being a flight instructor and my daycare provider I accompanied him on most flights. Most of the original members including my dad have passed on. Now with aviation enthusiast children of my own, and one granddaughter, we are starting to re-establish the “Harrah Flying Club”. An attorney has drawn up LLC papers for the club formation. I would also like to re-establish the club with a not for profit status like the original.

What recommendations or counsel can you provide?

Sincerely,
Ray Taylor, soon to be President, Harrah Flying Club, Harrah, Washington

By: Vernon Lewis

Vernon Lewis — Sat, 17 Nov 2012 23:49:31 +0000

Been there, done that. Flying clubs are similar to small businesses (management, product, procedures, insurance, accounting, record-keeping, scheduling, communications, banking, problem solving, even rank politics, etc), so they must have good managers. If they hire one, there goes your low flying costs; if they don’t, there goes your smooth operation unless you’re lucky enough to have a wealthy retired airline pilot volunteer his services in exchange for free flying. It would be a bargain.

By: Barry Jay

Barry Jay — Sat, 17 Nov 2012 16:45:15 +0000

AOPA can help create a nationwide network of flying clubs and ensure their viability by not only sharing best practices but also by providing flying clubs with tools for recruiting, hiring and training ideal flying club personnel. The 80% drop-out rate for flight training students can largely be attributed to the disconnect between the customer experience at local airports and what these same customers experience where they shop, dine and recreate (as the research has shown). If you don”t get the people part right the rest will be much less effective. Yes, you need good aircraft with high dispatch reliability but it’s more than that. AOPA and the flying club initiative will succeed to the extent that it builds a consistently exceptional experience for pilots and their families: helping flying clubs with the best people, processes and products & services at GA airports across the country.

By: Becca

Becca — Sat, 17 Nov 2012 15:47:36 +0000

My experience is that flying clubs with only leaseback planes are not much better than a rental operation, they just seem like an insurance scheme that allows people to rent out planes and riddled with a lot of drama.

Flying clubs that own a few of their own planes (especially the work horses like a training plane or a cost efficient cross country plane) seem to do better. The members get the sense of ownership and pride and take better care of planes and make good decisions about maintenance and improvements.

If aopa wanted to encourage flying clubs maybe they could help out with some kind of friendly loan system or grant process plus legal services for a group of 10+ people to buy a plane and build a club. The start up costs and difficulties are part of what prevents more clubs from getting on their feet.

By: Brad Koehn

Brad Koehn — Sat, 17 Nov 2012 14:59:07 +0000

I love my flying club for both its low price and its social environment. By sharing the fixed costs of airplane ownership we get a variety of planes to fly that’s greater than any of us could afford on our own.

By: hpux735

hpux735 — Sat, 17 Nov 2012 01:10:22 +0000

I’ve rented planes from an FBO before, and I recently joined a club. I have no read on whether my club experience is typical, but joining the club has been a fabulous experience. I think that there is more and communication between club management and members than FBO management and renters. Also, I feel more invested in the operations of the club, which keeps me flying. Our club has a fixed $33/month active member fee, but that seems reasonable to me.

The club rates have been very competitive. For example, Cessna’s estimates for maintenance costs for the C162 and C172SP are $72 and $123 respectively. Club rates for the same aircraft are $75 and $125. This parity between rental rates and ownership costs has caused me to loose the desire for owning an aircraft for the most part; the only notable exception that it would be nice to own for long cross-country adventures.

By the way, I think Stan Comer has a great idea. I’ve always wanted to rent a plane while traveling, if for no other reason than to do sightseeing in a new part of the country. I suppose one could also achieve this goal by hiring a local instructor, but that could be a pain.

By: Rick Tavan

Rick Tavan — Fri, 16 Nov 2012 23:18:29 +0000

Great initiative, AOPA. A variety of styles of flying clubs all over the country might help to contain the cost of aviation. That won’t be consistent because of local factors and those styles themselves. Don’t lose track of the social aspects of flying clubs. Those can be helpful not only for renters but also for owners. Keeping pilots engaged is the best way to reduce dropouts. And let’s find a way for a pilot, renter or owner, to go out of town and rent a plane there without redundant check rides. All the best,

/Rick