One benefit of joining a club...

eMKay

eMKay

Pre-takeoff checklist
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Feb 2, 2011
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Buffalo, NY
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eMKay
The club had our newest (to us) plane upgraded from it's original 1977 avionics to a little more modern setup, I do not know the final bill but the parts were $24000 alone, before installation. Installation performed at Dunkirk Aviation in Jamestown (which is very confusing to us locals, because Dunkirk is a city 20 miles north of Jamestown and another busy airport). Anyway I flew my CFII, and the club president down, and they let me fly the Archer back, where we got to test out the new autopilot, Garmin 430, the other radio is new too (I think it's also a refurb) as are the nav instruments and the turn coordinator. This is the first time I got to fly this plane and use an autopilot so I can't really comment on performance of stuff I barely know how to use, but everything we tried worked :) The autopilot does not have altitude hold, apparently that costs another $10,000? Whiskey Tango Foxtrot?

Point is, if I were even able to buy a low time 1977 Archer like this (I could, but it would be a large financial burden) I would barely be able to afford to maintain it, no way could I put such a sweet nav setup in it. All 4 club planes are fully IFR and all have GPS's (300's and 150's) but this one is now the best one. The club is so reasonably priced that I think more people should look into clubs near them.

This plane has the funky 70's color scheme but it was so lightly used that the interior feels new and the exterior paint is original, and just now showing signs of wear. The club bought this one last year.

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Dude, clubs are the way to go. You are preaching to the choir!

Nice plane, and nice upgrade.
 
Eh my only problem with Clubs is that you don't get the joy of ownership. I mean when you go to fly ins and stuff, do you really say "This is my plane", when you're flying a club plane?
 
Tarheel Pilot said:
Eh my only problem with Clubs is that you don't get the joy of ownership. I mean when you go to fly ins and stuff, do you really say "This is my plane", when you're flying a club plane?
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If you own a plane to say you own a plane, well, that's another issue.

For the majority of recreational pilots, a club or partnership is definitely the way to go. Not only does that allow splitting the big costs among multiple people, it also makes sure the plane actually gets flown a bit. I know enough individual owners who fly their planes between 0 and 10 hours per year. it takes 10 of those people to even come close to flying the plane as many hours per year as it really should be.

I own one plane, manage a second, and fly several others. I personally don't care about whether it's my plane or someone else's. In fact, I've been really enjoying flying the Navajos, which aren't mine.
 
Flying clubs are definitely an excellent way to go. I'd still like to own someday, but in the meantime I can fly some excellent airplanes at some excellent prices, and still have a little bit of "this is mine" in that I do own a small chunk of them and I do have the keys in my pocket.
 
Damn, that is a good deal. I pay $60 / month and $100 / hr wet for an airplane similar to your archer. Actually its not quite as nice and its probably quite a bit slower due to a lack of wheel pants.

Its a marginal deal. I had a $800 join up fee

I would much prefer to pay dry time. There are advantages and disadvantages to both. I avoid large or busy airports that I would otherwise fly into because I know that i'll waste $50 bucks on taxi. I would also make more of an effort to fill up at less expensive locations and I would fly at a more economical power setting.
 
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Are you required to refuel the aircraft to a certain point (tabs, etc.) on return? That's the only problem with dry rental rates in a club. If you don't require people to refuel to a set level on return, somebody has the potential to fly with free gas.

If you fuel it up, you reduce useful load. Fueling to the tabs on return is what we required. If you wanted or needed more than that when you took the plane, you'd add fuel yourself. Struck a balance between maximum loading capacity and ease of fuel administration on the dry rate.
 
Ted DuPuis said:
If you own a plane to say you own a plane, well, that's another issue.

I personally don't care about whether it's my plane or someone else's.
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+1. In addition, with a club you can select the appropriate plane for the mission. For example, if I'm making a quick hop by myself I can pick the inexpensive Cherokee. On the other hand if I'm taking a longer trip or have some folks going with me I can take the higher performance Bonanza. Or something in between. Reduces overkill and underperformance. I like. :yesnod:
 
TangoWhiskey said:
Are you required to refuel the aircraft to a certain point (tabs, etc.) on return? That's the only problem with dry rental rates in a club. If you don't require people to refuel to a set level on return, somebody has the potential to fly with free gas.

If you fuel it up, you reduce useful load. Fueling to the tabs on return is what we required. If you wanted or needed more than that when you took the plane, you'd add fuel yourself. Struck a balance between maximum loading capacity and ease of fuel administration on the dry rate.
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The three pipers are filled to the tabs, the 172 doesn't have tabs so we just fill that up when we are done. So if you need a bigger load don't take that one :)
 
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