Do you have aviation enthusiasts (who are non-pilots) that are flying club members?

N918KT

N918KT

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Hello all. To those of you who are members of a flying club, do you have people in your flying club who are aviation enthusiasts but are non-pilots? If so, what do you have the non-pilots do in your club? Simply hang out at the airport and just hangar talk and share aviation stories with other pilots? Ask pilots in the club for airplane rides? Just curious.
 
Re: Do you have aviation enthusiasts (who are non-pilots) that are flying club member

We had that in the University of Michigan Flyers back around 1970. We called them "associate members" versus "flying members". IIRC, their dues were $5/year (which was a good bit more then than it sounds like now) compared to like $12/month for flying members (again, more then that it seems now). They got the newsletters, could attend club events, had a vote in club elections, etc. Dunno if the club still does that today.
 
Re: Do you have aviation enthusiasts (who are non-pilots) that are flying club member

Thats cool. My college has restarted its flying club/flight team. I'm not part of the flying club/flight team at my school but I heard from one of its club members that the club uses the same airplanes used by our college's flight center rather than buying their own airplanes. For the ones who are non-pilots but want to compete on the flight team, I think they participate in non-flying or ground competitions.
 
Re: Do you have aviation enthusiasts (who are non-pilots) that are flying club member

Club secretary and most enthusiastic driver for activities is a non-pilot.
 
Re: Do you have aviation enthusiasts (who are non-pilots) that are flying club member

A few years ago at a dinner with pilots, I heard them talking about their "flying club" which was open to anybody and they had about 80 members. The majority were not pilots and didn't fly. The annual dues was $50.00 They had a great get-together once a month with a nice banquet. Lots of people joined for the social event.

I believe there was a subset called "flying members" who had to pay more because they did, in fact, fly planes.
 
Re: Do you have aviation enthusiasts (who are non-pilots) that are flying club member

yes, we do.
 
Re: Do you have aviation enthusiasts (who are non-pilots) that are flying club member

I saw an AOPA or something similar report that said that most flying clubs have a few members that really FLY but are largely filled with members that thing they want to fly. Mine is certainly that way, 2 of the 5 of us are responsible for the 250 hrs/yr on the plane
 
Re: Do you have aviation enthusiasts (who are non-pilots) that are flying club member

Our club has membership limited to 50. All are pilots (ranging from student to ATP). Now, it's not at all uncommon for a third of them to not fly club airplanes during the course of the year, but they are all flying members. As our monthly dues cover fixed costs like hangars and insurance we have to have one class of member.
 
Re: Do you have aviation enthusiasts (who are non-pilots) that are flying club member

The phenomenon of non-pilot flying club members is probably more common in clubs that have a social component to them and go beyond just co-ownership of a gaggle of airplanes.

The soccer club my kids play with has lots of adult members who can't hit a ball if they tried yet they are allways there if some concession stand has to be manned or a tournament has to be organized.
 
Re: Do you have aviation enthusiasts (who are non-pilots) that are flying club member

Yeah, we didn't even charge for the "non-flying" members (some were non-pilots, some were just pilots who had their own planes). They just got to enjoy the few social events (a barbeque and the Xmas party) for free.
 
Re: Do you have aviation enthusiasts (who are non-pilots) that are flying club member

In a club im involved with there are several memberd who are not pilots but use their membership to travel for work/golf. They pay full dues plus pilot fees.
 
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Re: Do you have aviation enthusiasts (who are non-pilots) that are flying club member

The club I used to belong to had several members who hadn't flown in years but still paid their monthly dues.
 
Re: Do you have aviation enthusiasts (who are non-pilots) that are flying club member

numl0ck said:
The club I used to belong to had several members who hadn't flown in years but still paid their monthly dues.
Click to expand...

My current club is like that. We have 16 members. 3 are called non-flying members even though they're pilots. They just don't fly anymore.

And of the 13 flying members, about 4-6 actively fly monthly. We have quite a few who come out at the end of each 6 months to get their minimum 3 hours in.

4-6 flying and 16 to share costs. Nice!
 
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