College Flying Club

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giaviv

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giaviv
Hey guys,

My name is Aviv. I have a PPL and about a 100 hours and I'll be enrolling at Colgate University in Upstate NY.

I would absolutely love to continue pursuing my flying hobby while at College. I was considering partial ownership, but the I realized - how about starting a flying club??

We don't have any other pilots (that I know of) at Colgate, however I know of at least 10 people who would like to take lessons (and there are many more who would like to fly for fun). There is an airport a mile from the university and a few instructors who I can get on board. Also, Colgate is very encouraging when it comes to student organizations and initiatives.

What will a flying club normally entail? Could you give me some examples of flying clubs and what they offer (College or not)?

Thanks!!
 
i'd be very surprised if Colgate (or any other college) was encouraging when they figure out that your student organization wants to own and operate an airplane
 
How so? Their affiliation with the club can obviously discussed..
 
my understanding, through a friend who runs the Collegiate Soaring Association, is that in recent years, say the last 10 or 20, colleges and universities have become increasingly risk averse and liability paranoid. they won't mind if you start a social club centered around a shared common interest in flying, but i'd be surprised if they were OK with you owning and operating aircraft under the universities name
 
AOPA has great research resources regarding forming a club. Are you a member?
 
@Tony - in that case, the aircraft doesn't have to be under the school's name...

@jhausch - I actually am not. I would still like to get a better idea of what a club is and what activities do clubs usually offer
 
Wasn't Ron Levy either a member or founder of a college flying club?
 
There are several colleges with student groups that own aircraft. My guess is that some of these groups were formed back when the college had a different approach to liability.

People at the university here talked about forming such a club (to the point of actually having money lined up for a purchase and talking to a seller). The university didn't want anything to do with owning an aircraft. They had a list of reasons for saying 'no' to the idea, but at the heart of it was concern over liability.

Your school may be very encouraging to student groups, but a club that owns an aircraft is completely different than a club for, say, watching anime.

All that being said, i can't think of the harm in asking. Just don't be surprised if they say no. Especailly if there are planes available for rent at the nearby airport.
 
giaviv said:
@Tony - in that case, the aircraft doesn't have to be under the school's name...
Click to expand...

If it's not owned by the school, doesn't that put you back at the partial ownership you were considering in the first place?
 
I was just thinking of having a club, somewhat affiliated with the school (the aircraft doesn't have to be registered to the school), but the school might chip in on some of the expenses and make use of the aircraft..
I am really not sure, and that's why I posted here - to get some ideas of what clubs / other organizations similar to my situation look like.
 
There is a club at Purdue through the FBO on the field at LAF and is recognized as a student organization though it is completely independent from our professional flight technology program. I am not a member or an instructor at PPI (I do however instruct through the university in their program) so I can't elaborate in great detail on the club but I have a friend who is the VP of the organization if you want any further info on their operation.

http://cobweb.ecn.purdue.edu/~ppi/about.htm
 
Aviv, as they say אם לא תנסה אתה לא תצליח so I say GO FOR IT!! Really whats the worst they can say? NO? There may be more than one way to work out the ownership or use of the plane. The University does not have to own it. BTW Colgate is a great school. Cold but great!

I bet if you work with the local CFIs who could make some money off lessons or the local FBO who may be interested in a leaseback you may be able to make it work. I hope you do this!!
 
Adam - thanks for your message!
I definitely intend to. I was posting here to seek advice and information on what these clubs normally look like rather than get approval for doing it :)
I actually just learned that a chemistry professor at the school owns an airplane. I emailed him and am looking forward to seeing what he says!
 
I learned to fly at a college flying club. It was open to students, staff, faculty and alumni. It used the college's name but didn't receive any funding. It also didn't own its own airplanes. They were all leased back from private owners. This college (University of California) did not have an aviation program so almost everyone was doing it as a hobby. There was an initiation fee and monthly dues but I can't remember what they were. This was back in the late 1970s so that would be irrelevant anyway. I heard that the club disbanded about 5 years ago but I never heard why.
 
Aviv, Don't know why I didn't think of this before but why not look for flying clubs at other universities or colleges and contact their officers and see how they are set up and how they work
 
The flying club where I went to school (not only was I a member, I was the president ;)) was technically a 'sports club'. We submitted a budget to the Student Gov't every year just like every other club at the school. If we wanted something specific such as GPS, headset, training material, etc., we would itemize it in the budget. If they ok'd it, they would put their name on it "Property of GSB (Gov't Student Body)" and the club would be in charge of keeping track of it. We would also request money for a few trips every year. We basically said "We want to fly to XXX, which will take X hrs of plane rental to get there @ $X/hr for plane rental from local FBO = $budget request amount". Sometimes it all went through, sometimes it didn't, but we always got *some* money to play with.

At one time, there were 2 FBO's at the local airport, so we didn't have a partnership with either one of them b/c some members preferred one over the other. Eventually one of the FBO's left town and the remaining operation was able to set up a 'flying club member' rate - club members got a discount on plane rental (and maybe instruction).

What's interesting is that the school actually owned a Cherokee 160 (or 140 or 180, not sure), but the club wasn't even allowed to look at it. There is an AeroE department there, and they use the plane to give their students the required 1-2 hrs of flight time. Other than that, I think it just sat in the hangar with the schools King Air.

BTW - Tony and I went to the same school, so if he sounds like a dooms-dayer by saying it won't happen, he is speaking from his experience with our school that, like I said, wouldn't even entertain the idea of letting the club have access to the plane that they already owned. Their reason, as already mentioned, was liability.
 
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