Flight training with a local flying club.

Pietrantonio

Pietrantonio

Well-Known Member
Anyone else go this route? There's a one-time fee to join and then a recurring monthly fee. The aircraft are at reduced rates - some listed wet and others dry.

Just curious if the math actually worked out in your favor as opposed to not having any membership fees, etc?

The club here is a $300 one-time joining fee. $100 * per month (*after 50% is credited towards flight charges per month).

They've got a 152 IFR equipped at $89/hr wet. A 172 at $69/hr dry. Also in this group is a 172RG, Archer, and Arrow.

In all, sounds like a good gig to me, but thought I'd get some outside perspective from those who might have gone this route.
 
It depends. I've gone both routes.

You need to sit down with a pencil and paper, calculator, or spreadsheet (whatever suits you) and run the numbers for the club and your other options. That will give you the financial comparison; then you'll want to compare both selection and availability for those options. After all, even a $10/hour wet 172 isn't that good a deal if it's never available.
 
They have seven 172's in their fleet. All aircraft are based within the four locations the club is at. I am going to stop by the club and chat a bit. I'd like to know how many instructors per location and availability, etc.
 
I did my flight training at a place with similar costs and set up. If you get in and finish everything in a fairly timely manner, then it usually works out well. Does the flight club have it's own CFI's, or can you bring in one that you find from the outside? Finding a good CFI is very important, and being stuck with a bad one that you do not like in the club should be a deal breaker. Also, understand that you will need to be disciplined in order to finish the training and to do well. Most CFI's at clubs and FBO's provide very little ground instruction. If you study on your own, it usually works out to be a lot cheaper. You do have to read and study, though.
 
Life is about living and making mistakes, and being savvy enough not to repeat other people's mistakes. I am looking at a local flying club that has a C-172 at $80 an hour wet block time to finish up the elusive CFI.

I wish I had gone this route, I was a contractor overseas making good money, I should have stayed over seas and paid to go this route. Instead I financed it and went through a pilot mill because I had SJS. The cure to SJS is a real ball buster. If you can make the flying club work, I am +1 for this option.

As @Boyington stated, having a good CFI is crucial. I have one example where this is evident. At said pilot mill I had trouble learning how to land. The CFI from the pilot mill kept sending me up. Numerous times and we would spend two hours in the pattern, the first hour there was some pain staking forward progress and the second hour we entered into the state of diminishing returns. The landings kept getting rougher and rougher. I went to an outside school, flew with their Chief CFI. He was an older gent who had 5000+ hours instructing; his cost was a bit higher but well worth it. His calm demeanor enabled me to relax and absorb the material. I nailed it.

I also second Boyington's statement about you have to be self disciplined to study. There are several courses available that present you with all the necessary content you need to pass your written and oral exams. I cite King Schools as one example.
 
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Hawks said:
I also second Boyington's statement about you have to be self disciplined to study. There are several courses available that present you with all the necessary content you need to pass your written and oral exams. I cite King Schools as one example.
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There are only a couple things that I would ever recommend from Sportys. Their Private Pilot DVD's are one of the items. It is designed to be an "everything that you need to know to pass the written and oral exam" series, and it is fairly easy to watch. While I disagree that this should be your only source of learning, I do think that it is a good 85% of the material, and gives you a stable foundation from which to read and expand from. Kings has something similar, but they are VERY outdated and pretty hokey.

I watched the DVD's, would pause them when I had questions or wanted more info, and would read more about the topic. The nice part of the series is that it will cover the basics on just about every topic. It combines strictly knowledge areas (FAR's, weather, etc...) with flight lessons (maneuvers, landings, preflight).

It is not a replacement for lessons with your CFI, but if you are going to go the Part 61 route, I would really recommend these.
 
I'd just echo what others have said regarding the CFI. I'd want to connect with the person with whom I'd be training and feel that they are a good personality match and have the time to teach at the pace you want.
 
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I did a bunch of my ratings (Instrument, commercial, CFI) through a club and thought it was a fantastic way to go.

If you're flying a lot,clubs make a ton of sense. They're usually cheaper than renting from an FBO and the airplanes can be nicer as well. Downside are the monthly dues which keep coming even if you don't fly.

There are some added benefits as well. You can probably take an airplane for an extended period with a low daily minimum (ours was 1 hour/day and the first and last days of a trip didn't count) so you can actually use an airplane for real-world travel, which is great. If you need to build some time it sure is nice to hop in an airplane for a week and take a trip, which is also a great way to build experience.

So, do the math for sure but keep the intangibles in mind as well.
 
I did a lot of my training at a club. The only challenge I ran into was scheduling. Other than that, I felt it was worth it.
 
Most of the flying and teaching I do is at a club. Hands down, it will be cheaper if you are flying somewhat regularly. The biggest (potential) drawback - part time CFIs, like me, aren't always available when you want. If money is more important than schedule, it will work out well. If you are in a big hurry, maybe not.

Talk to the instructor(s) first - if you nail down a schedule in advance, it is better for all involved.
 
I would ask to take a look at the schedule and browse the monthly schedule going a year or so back. Make sure the airplane is available to you. If you are wanting the airplanes on evenings and weekends, you might be out of luck.
 
Appreciate the replies. Just a couple of things. I'm looking to progress through CFI, CFII, MEI, but I don't need to go from zero time to airline in a hurry. I called them a couple of weeks ago and they bill off hobbs time. I do like that within the membership level I mentioned, there are complex aircraft to finish up my commercial as well. Therefore, no need to move up into another membership level and pay more in terms of monthly dues. My schedule might work out for training. I will be free during the week and then working nights on the weekend. Studying the material is not a problem. Currently going through the King series for the IR....gotta love Martha King ;)

Guess I will have to mosey on over in the next couple of weeks to check out their aircraft, instructors, and availability. Anyone local? I need a safety pilot to finish up my IR....

Thanks all!
 
I used to be a member at FC. Good club. I am a CFI/CFII, and depending where you are at I can help you wrap up your IR. Pm me if you're interested.
 
A few things I can remember:

If they bill off of the hobbs time, see when the hobbs meter is running (from master on or from say, 1700 RPM). Also, run the numbers like other have said. What you are most inclined to discover is it is beneficial only to those who use the system, meaning, the more you fly, the 'cheaper' it is or becomes. Plan that out for the long term investment. For example in a club I was with if I flew 0 hours a month, it was a lose from a capital and utility standpoint. If I flew 5 hours, I would be paying the same as if I were renting. If I flew 10 hours, I would be reducing the cost of renting by X amount of dollars, so on and so forth.

That being said, be prepared to use it and not have a monthly bill for an unused asset. Secondly is scheduling, the more flexible you are the better off you will be.
 
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Hobbs meters generally run off oil pressure. I've seen twins with them wired into the master. Tach time is the one that turns in relation to RPM. At low RPM's it's less than a one to one ratio, and at high RPM's it's equal to Hobbs time. The rule of thumb is 1.2 on the tach is 1.0 on a hobbs for a one hour flight. YMMV. But if a club charges for tach time it could save you some money, especially at a busy airport where you might have more time on the ground. And, it's perfectly legal per FAR's to log your time from block out to block in, even if the tach time were to show less.
 
Those rates seem high. My local club charges $112 tach (~$90 Hobbs) for the 172 and $82 (~$66) for the 152. Initiation is $200 and monthly dues are $42.
 
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