UND Student Flight Club ?!?

UNDPilot91

UNDPilot91

Member
I moved here in January 2013 with my PPL. Currently in the Commercial course at UND and starting to wonder why there is no Flight Club here? I fly outside of UND from CKN, renting their Warrior is pretty cheap. I'm surprised GFK Flight Support doesnt have a flight club at least where you could pay a subscription and have the C172 at a reduced rate. Because right now it is ridiculously expensive to rent!

Anyone heard of a Flight Club in the area? I miss my old club from back home in Charlotte NC, we met up for dinners..BBQ.. flew around.. shared buddy flights. Great way to fly, meet fellow pilots, and save money on rentals. More than that, it is a great way to get out of the UND Aviation Bubble and actually be a "pilot" with freedom! ha
 
There is enough flying and aviation in class and during lessons. Take the time away to get drunk and chase tail. Aviation will always be around long after you've left UND. Cheap drinks and hot chicks won't. Take advantage while its there.
 
...Or, if you'd like to actually enjoy flight for what it is, do the things that you mentioned like go over to crookston and just smash bugs without having to worry about completion standards or a stan manual.
 
There have been many attempts at this. The most recent was maybe 2 years ago. Just not enough interest and the liability is probably a nightmare. CKN is your best option.

I would recommend getting involved with some of the clubs on campus like EAA or Wilderness Pilots. Also, learn to appreciate Sioux hockey during the school year.
 
The most recent attempt was last semester. I went to a meeting for a group that wanted to start a flying club, seemed pretty serious. A few faculty were even involved. They made a facebook page but never updated it, and I never heard anything else. They also said that they were finally going to finish the Piper Pacer project that has been in the works for ~25 years, but that never happened either.

I think it comes down to money. Even rich college students can't afford to fly for fun very often. I would love to fly outside of UND for fun like I used to in North Carolina but how can I justify a $100/hr rental when I have student loans from my actual flight training? Even a 'cheap' flying club is a $50 a month commitment plus $80-100 an hour for the plane. Flying 2 hours a month would be like my groceries and cell phone bill :eek: You can pretty much forget all of the contract students immediately, and everyone who has never been outside of the UND bubble. That leaves some former Part 61 students and ATC majors, and very few will want to pay for it.
 
gotWXdagain : Yeah CKN just opened up their warrior a few weeks ago. It was down because of the apron work they have been doing at the field. I have more hours in a warrior than a cessna, and they only charge $124/hour wet which isnt bad... there isnt really a flight club associated with it though.

FAYEV : yeah, I wanted to get involved in a few organizations once i was settled in here. Joined ALPA Ace & recently EAA. I'll have to look into Wilderness pilots, and I kind of want to get involved with the Flight team if I can sharpen my skills a bit more.

thevideographer : Yeah lol Foltz preached about the project a few times, sounds nice but figured it lacked support. And yeh.... MONEY is a big part of the issue, that was the good part of the flight club with shared costs. renting from GFK is a joke! CKN & 3H4 arent too bad but you have to drive.. Where in NC are you from? or did your training? I am from Laurinburg but lived in Charlotte while i studied nursing. Did my training at 8A6 in Charlotte, NC.
 
UNDPilot91, not yet. I am finishing up my 6 year commitment to the Navy, I have 6 weeks left. However, I am already enrolled at UND and will be registering for classes for the Spring semester. Me and my wife should be moving up there around November or December and Ill be starting AVIT102 in January. Im really looking forward to it. Been flying with the Navy in P-3's as a Flight Engineer, luckily part of those hours count towards an ATP license. What year are you in now?
 
JD1027 Nice, and its my 4th year though i still have a year left to go. Finishing up my instrument training this summer, advanced aerodynamics in the Fall, Multi-engine commercial in the spring and CFI next summer. Finished all of my GenEd classes but because I studied Nursing first, its going to take a little more time to finish up the flight portion. Good Luck! Bring lots of warm clothes for January haha.
 
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