Flying Clubs

[dakovich]

anyone have experience with Flying Clubs? in particular the daily operations of one. basically i was interested in how one gets started and if anyone has opinions of experience in the matter. here in the Buffalo area we really don't have any active flying clubs, or at least none i can find. there are a bunch out in Rochester (over an hour away), but i was debating trying to get one started here.

 

[little_cricket]

Not sure, but there was an article in an AOPA mag a little while ago. Good luck.

 

[MidlifeFlyer]

It's not unusual to not be able to find them.

If we're talking about the private flying club, the setup can vary from a couple of people owning one airplane to a bunch of people co-owning a lot of airplanes.

The format varies, but they tend to usually involve some type of common equity ownership, sometimes directly, but usually through a business entity that provides some measure of liability protection for the members and asset protection for the airplane.

The advice to go to AOPA and look at their materials is excellent. Another is to contact some flying clubs that are outside your area to see how they are set up. Maybe even correspond with them.

Finally, it's important to speak with an aviation attorney who has worked on setting these up in New York State. There are both FAA and state law issues involved in doing it correctly.

 

[tonyw]

Here are a few links to some in my area. You'll notice that they have their bylaws on their site so you might be able to pull some things from there.

http://www.innflyingclub.com/
http://www.tss.org/
http://www.octopusflyingclub.com/

I'm looking into joining one of them. I have to figure out which one would be the best deal for me in the long run, though.

 

[Athena]

Well, I looked into one here in columbus, OH as an alternative to the university. I felt that they were more expensive than OSU and not a good value for me. I will post their addy here and you can take a look. I did find that a local glider club was reasonably priced. So much so that my broke self can afford to join. I hope these are helpful.

Phoenix Flyers Club
Central Ohio Soaring Association