Hello - and a question

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GeierFlyer

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GeierFlyer
First the "Hello": I have been following "Pilots of America" for a while, but only registered now. I'm a private pilot, member of a flying club in Connecticut. No ambitions for flying other than poking holes in the sky.

Now the question: Our flying club is considering rules for the compensation of club officers. We have been soliciting advice from other clubs, but so far, no clear picture has emerged. So, those of you who are in a flying club: Does your club offer compensation for club officers? If so, for whom -- president, treasurer, secretary, plane captains...? How much? How do you ensure the taxman is ok with this?

Any advice will be greatly appreciated!
 
GeierFlyer said:
First the "Hello": I have been following "Pilots of America" for a while, but only registered now. I'm a private pilot, member of a flying club in Connecticut. No ambitions for flying other than poking holes in the sky.

Now the question: Our flying club is considering rules for the compensation of club officers. We have been soliciting advice from other clubs, but so far, no clear picture has emerged. So, those of you who are in a flying club: Does your club offer compensation for club officers? If so, for whom -- president, treasurer, secretary, plane captains...? How much? How do you ensure the taxman is ok with this?

Any advice will be greatly appreciated!
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The Westchester Flying Club, located at KHPN, has been in business since the 1960s. The management is all volunteer with no direct compensation to them at all.

www.wfc-hpn.org

-Skip
 
Our flying club officers use to get half dues but then we fell onto hard times. So the officers/board members decided they'd start to pay full dues (no compensation). It's fair but then there is no reason for someone new to come into the mix.

Not sure of tax implications.
 
Thanks for the quick responses so far! Based on these and what I have heard from clubs we have contacted directly, there seems to be a large number of flying clubs that offer no compensation to their officers. Think about it: Doesn't that say something very positive about the spirit of general aviation?

Again, any input is appreciated.
 
GeierFlyer said:
Thanks for the quick responses so far! Based on these and what I have heard from clubs we have contacted directly, there seems to be a large number of flying clubs that offer no compensation to their officers. Think about it: Doesn't that say something very positive about the spirit of general aviation?

Again, any input is appreciated.
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It also can be read to say that the cost of aviation is so high that the market will not bear the cost of compensating management.
 
Not related to the thread but how about a little insight into the name selection - "GeierFlyer".

Graueradler
 
The flying club I was part of didn't have any compensation for the officers.

However, the officers did perform all of the maintenance flights, specifically the maintenance officer. I figure that makes sense.

It's something you do because you want to see the club thrive. Alternately, it's something you do because you want control over how things are operated.
 
The club I was Secretary of long ago had no compensation for Officers or BoD members.

Once in a while an aircraft owner (they were leasebacks) would call up a club officer and offer them a free flight to reposition an aircraft before or after maintenance at a non-home airport.
 
denverpilot said:
The club I was Secretary of long ago had no compensation for Officers or BoD members.
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That is typical.
Once in a while an aircraft owner (they were leasebacks) would call up a club officer and offer them a free flight to reposition an aircraft before or after maintenance at a non-home airport.
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That is fine as long as the officer has a commercial or better. If not, it would violate 61.113. I realize this is a common practice among clubs, and the FAA won't be out checking records just to find such violations, but it remains illegal.
 
Yup. We were probably clueless at the time. Well that and no one gave a damn about stupid stuff like that back then and no one payed any attention to Chief Counsel opinions before the Internet other than lawyers and magazine article writers and maybe ten people on USENET on rec.aviation. ;)

I personally shredded all the club's records long after the seven years required after it went defunct, so I know it would be pretty hard to find any of them. They were taking up too much space in my basement. :)
 
Graueradler said:
Not related to the thread but how about a little insight into the name selection - "GeierFlyer".

Graueradler
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Long story... But yes, "Geier" means "vulture" in German, and it rhymes with "flyer".

Thanks again to those who have provided input!
 
GeierFlyer said:
First the "Hello": I have been following "Pilots of America" for a while, but only registered now. I'm a private pilot, member of a flying club in Connecticut. No ambitions for flying other than poking holes in the sky.

Now the question: Our flying club is considering rules for the compensation of club officers. We have been soliciting advice from other clubs, but so far, no clear picture has emerged. So, those of you who are in a flying club: Does your club offer compensation for club officers? If so, for whom -- president, treasurer, secretary, plane captains...? How much? How do you ensure the taxman is ok with this?

Any advice will be greatly appreciated!
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Sounds suspicious. Typically a club, outside of a baseball club:D is a group of non paid volunteers. Sounds like someone is trying to make a fat cat job for themselves. Be careful.
 
MBDiagMan said:
Sounds suspicious. Typically a club, outside of a baseball club:D is a group of non paid volunteers. Sounds like someone is trying to make a fat cat job for themselves. Be careful.
Click to expand...

Thanks for this word of caution. But that is really not a concern!
 
GeierFlyer said:
First the "Hello": I have been following "Pilots of America" for a while, but only registered now. I'm a private pilot, member of a flying club in Connecticut. No ambitions for flying other than poking holes in the sky.

Now the question: Our flying club is considering rules for the compensation of club officers. We have been soliciting advice from other clubs, but so far, no clear picture has emerged. So, those of you who are in a flying club: Does your club offer compensation for club officers? If so, for whom -- president, treasurer, secretary, plane captains...? How much? How do you ensure the taxman is ok with this?

Any advice will be greatly appreciated!
Click to expand...

Wings of Carolina Flying Club near Raleigh NC has been in operation over 50 years and does not pay club officers. They get expenses reimbursed and dues waived, but that doesn't begin to compensate them.

IMO, paying officers is a bad direction to go in because it turns a volunteer/service to others opportunity into a self-centered opportunity. It also turns the club into a business.

One item that has always come up when we consider paying for things at WCFC - does pay create an implied performance standard, what is that standard, what do you do if the standard is not maintained and who is going to make that call? After considering that, we've almost always backed away from paying club members in favor of volunteer work. The only exception was when the club member was already a professional at what needed done and then the work was also put out for bid.
 
bflynn said:
Wings of Carolina Flying Club near Raleigh NC has been in operation over 50 years and does not pay club officers. They get expenses reimbursed and dues waived, but that doesn't begin to compensate them.
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I am afraid I have been insufficiently clear when I formulated my question. We are not considering paying club officers. Our idea was to give them a credit for flying time. Very useful to know that Wings of Carolina waives club officers' dues; that's something we have not considered so far.
 
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