Student pilot & Flying Clubs

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Addicted2climbing

Pre-takeoff checklist
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Mar 13, 2012
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Addicted2climbing
Hello all,

I am a student pilot with 2 of my 3 solos out of the way. I fly out of KVNY and rent a Cessna 172N for $112/hour block ($122 non block) and my instructor runs $45 an hour. I have noticed that when I write down my hobbs time that the Tach time is so much less. sometimes as much as half, especially on days in the pattern only. This has led me to researching flying clubs. Only one in my area with a 172 is the 8 ball flying club out of KVNY. http://www.8ballfc.org/
I am having trouble deciding if joining a club would be worth it for me or if I should just continue renting while I train and possibly join after or look for a plane partnership. I could use some other peoples experience with flying clubs as well as if they were members when they were training.

One hurdle for me is the $3500 buy in which I have, but that money was slated for me to finish my lessons. Also dues are $140 a month. Cessna 172N rents for $97.63/ hr Tach time.

My last lesson renting was over $350 for 2 hours hobbs plane rental and instructor... This makes the club seem worth it. Now that I have my tax return which I plan to use to finish up, I see myself flying 2x a week which also makes use of the $140 dues...

I learned to fly Sailplanes through a club and could never have afforded it otherwise. The sailplane club really worked out for me, but unsure if in my situation as a student if it will be beneficial. I would love to own a taildragger one day but due to hanger fees in the Los Angeles area being a member of a club also makes sense...

Any 8ball members on here?

Best regards,

Marc
 
You seem to have all the numbers -- do the math. Generally speaking, if you fly more than five hours a month, a club will work out better. In your situation, where you spend a lot of time waiting to be cleared for takeoff and in the pattern at low RPM's, the tach time billing works more to your advantage, too. Of course, you have to figure the value of the buy-in, and if you don't have the money to invest without take it from your operating funds, that can be a problem.
 
HerrGruyere said:
I knew I wasn't the only one who noticed the Hobbes moves faster than the tach...
Click to expand...
It doesn't always. Each aircraft model has its own ration of revolutions per tach hour. For example, the Grumman Tiger rolls over at 1 hr/hr at 2556 RPM. So, of you're cruising your Tiger at 75% power at 7500 feet which is 2650 RPM, the tach is turning faster. I believe I've seen tach set as low as 2300 RPM for parity. It just depends.
 
Hello Ron,

Thanks for the reply. While I am certian to be flying more than 5 hours a month while training and most likely after as well, the buy in is the killer for me right now. I use to be member of a sailplane club and the buy in was much lower and to help students out, they allowed a partial buy in since I was only able to fly 2 of the gliders in the fleet. Than once I met ratings for the others, I paid the remaining buy in... Unfortunately, 8ball does not do that. I have about 5K left set aside to finish up my lessons and it is enough even at the typical rental rates, but at the same time i know I will end up paying much more that way. I fear that if I give the club $3500 that my remaining $1500 will go fast and I may not finish. However by saving money I can also continue to save while flying and I might have enough... Also once i have my license, I think it would be tough to save up the $3500 to join.. I have it now so part of me thinks it might be worth it... Argh its a tough choice.
 
I flew yesterday and realized for now its more important for me to finish my lessons than save money. As much as I know I will save money in the club, right now I think its best to just use the money I have saved to finish my lessons without the worry of running out of money.. Then perhaps after I will make the goal of saving for the club initiation fee.

Marc
 
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