Simviation Forums

Finally made it to one of the monthly meetings of the Paramus Flying Club, which Yours Truly is hoping to join soon...
A number of very interesting things found out tonight... it was only an informal "guest" apearance for me, but I already feel at home amongst these people.
First surprise was finding out that the meeting would be held at the NJ Aviation Hall of Fame and  Museum, which I featured in a photo post last winter. Turns out the Executive VP of the Board of Trustees (the guy who basically runs the joint) is a member of the club. Also turns out the club was founded at Teterboro "pre-K"... in fact, in 1954. Heavy.
Not only that, but Steven Reithof, the man mentioned earlier, is a retired USAF Lt. Col. who has obviously done some flying, although he spent his WWII hitch happily ensconced in a military control tower on Montauk Point ("nobody shooting at us except maybe the farmers whose daughters we were dating..."). He is also an active CFII, and just about the kind of CFII Im looking for.
I mean to talk to him later about that, as well as giving him a hand fixing up some of the exhibits- like that poor OV1 rotting away in the corner of the lot.
Over beers in a nearby bar & grill after the meeting (a club tradition) he told me some fascinating stuff about the Lockheed Bushmaster the museum owns... apparently, some guys from Canada want to buy it, claiming it's a highly desirable bushplane.  It's been sitting in the weeds for 20 years, after being hacked and abused for as many more years as a test platform for a gov't lab down at Princeton. Etc., etc.
And as you might expect, he has C-130-loads of other stories about Teterboro alone, forget all the other stuff. We exchanged some interesting scuttlebutt about the (now defunct) fllight school I attended there, and its somewhat dubious owner... turns out my hunches about him were probably correct (I'll shut up about that now ).
Other highlights, getting back to the meeting itself: after pizza and soda and a quick run-thru of club business (including my more-awkard-than-usual self-introduction to the members), we watched an AOPA video about noise complaints by airport neighbors and what we pilots can do to help (which included the suggestion that pilots set cruise climb power immediately after takeoff, an idea met with some derision by the group, and rightly so IMHO).
Then a 50-50 raffle  (to pay for the pizza); then off to the Crow's Nest. My kind of meeting.

They are very serious and well-organized, though... each of the four fleet aircraft has a team assigned to it, and they in turn answer to the maintenance coordinator , treasurer, etc.
They are flush with cash at the moment, after a fairly smooth annual on one of the birds, and there are avionics upgrades in the works. Another big plus: right now, the airplanes are all IFR-certified, and have very similar avionics suites. This will be very helpful.

I will be subjected to a more formal meeting with the board members (maybe in 2 weeks), then a full-on check ride, to PPSEL practical standards, in a club plane with a club CFI...ulp... then, if I'm deemed worthy, I fork over several thousand dollars... ulp, again...and I'm in.

 The current president is an ebullient and likeable guy, and in general the members seemed friendly...  I think I've made a fair impression with them so far. Most of them are way out of my league experience-wise, but that is good- to be in a social group of pilots who can teach you things and keep you in line.
And best of all, they've got about 7 pilots leaving the club soon, and only I and three other people showed up this month as prospective members.
They're doing a breakfast fly-in to  South Jersey Regional this Sunday morning; I might hitch a ride in a 182 with my club "mentor" and go do that prior to my later flight in a rental, which oddly enough will include a stop at that same airport (not meeting up with Willit as planned, but I'm going to stop there anyway. Having flown there that morning, I'm sure I'll be able to find it )
Weather permitting, it could be a fine day's worth of flying.

Anyways, wish me luck- I think I am done searching for a club.

Sounds good. Things seem a lot different now from how it was in my day.

Maybe it's always been like this in the US but in the UK the traditional Flying Clubs are more like what you would call Flight Schools. For example: The Southern Aero Club at Shoreham where I worked in the 1960s was an old established business with its own aircraft & owned/run by the highly experienced & respected flying instructor Cecil Pashley. The club aircraft were available for tuition or limited hire by the club members, most of whom had learned to fly at the club. There are several similar establishments at Shoreham now. (See the Flying Club addon by Just Flight.)

I don't know how many members or aircraft this club has but what you describe sounds more like a syndicate. These are becoming more popular over here now but most are much smaller & nothing like as organised as the outfit you intend joining. Anyhow, good luck.

PS. Airbase Flying Club
Southern Flying Club

Good morning Sean:

Glad to see you joining the "Flying Club" and I am sure it will pay dividends in many ways as time proceeds on.

Our gang of hoodlums (arm chair pilots who have lost their medicals but still aviate )usually meet Sunday morning for four hours or so.  They will grab a ride with us still medically legal lot and defy the Gods again.

The club has two executive meetings a month and one general meeting a month.  Never on a weekend either.
When you become a member you actually own a piece of the airfield and when you leave you loose all rights to that ownership.  The club has been in existence since 1946 and also has a ten acre lot with docks for float aircraft.  This is connected by a gravel road (all down hill or uphill depends on how you look at it ).

I have had several folks ask about basing their aircraft here and forming a small club but we have resisted that idea for a lot of reasons.

Well good luck on your new venture and enjoy those wobbly pops you folks have AFTER the meetings.

Cheers...Happy Landings...Doug

Sounds good. Things seem a lot different now from how it was in my day.

Maybe it's always been like this in the US but in the UK the traditional Flying Clubs are more like what you would call Flight Schools. For example: The Southern Aero Club at Shoreham where I worked in the 1960s was an old established business with its own aircraft & owned/run by the highly experienced & respected flying instructor Cecil Pashley. The club aircraft were available for tuition or limited hire by the club members, most of whom had learned to fly at the club. There are several similar establishments at Shoreham now. (See the Flying Club addon by Just Flight.)

I don't know how many members or aircraft this club has but what you describe sounds more like a syndicate. These are becoming more popular over here now but most are much smaller & nothing like as organised as the outfit you intend joining. Anyhow, good luck.

PS. Airbase Flying Club
Southern Flying Club

It's probably another example of UK vs American English... like "public school" and "private school". What you describe would definitely be called a "flight school" over here.
I guess technically it is a syndicate in this case (the PFC): it's sort of an extended partnership. Four aircraft and 45 members. That breakes down to each member leasing, I guess, about 1/10th of any given airplane in ther fleet. Sounds a bit tight at first, compared to renting or buying a bigger share of a single airplane, but with rentals, I've found availability is more of a problem, because the pilot/airplane ratio at most flight schools or FBOs is generally much worse. Maintenance concerns are fewer compared to renting, as well- you know better who's been flying the planes, and in what fashion, and all maintenance issues are discussed at each meeting, so there's less worry about that.
As for  a partnership, aside from a much bigger outlay of cash initially, you're stuck with one ship. If it's down for repairs or inspection, you and your partners are grounded. And you'll have to pony up a much bigger share of the bill (a club with over 40 members usually has sufficient cash in reserve to handle amost any maintenance bill without passing the hat).

The other factor for me in this particular case is convenience. Although traffic can be pretty heavy between home and Linden Airport, it's still much much easier for me to get there (it's about 8 miles away, vs. over 20 to 47N). I could feasibly ride a bicycle there, if I wanted to. And there's bus and train service. My pax from the NYC area will have a much easier time of it, too- a quick train ride and a short cab ride will get them there.
That's what had me looking into this club in the first place.

Hmmm, what else? I'd considered spending about the same amount of money in one lump for an accelerated IFR course, but once I spend that, it's gone. My club deposit will be given back when I leave the club, and the rental time for my IR work in a club plane will still be much cheaper in the long run, so that entire process will cost less with the club.
 They use tach time, not Hobbs time, so the meter isn't running unless you're at cruise or climb power. This is a huge money-saver: for example, last weekend I logged 1.0 on the Hobbs in the SP at $115/hr wet. The tach meter showed 0.6, because I was mostly doing circuits with full-stop landings and plenty of taxiing.
 PFC rate for a 180-hp C172 "Superhawk", pretty much the same plane with no leather, is $92/hr. wet. That same flight in one of their planes would've cost me less than $50. It's a no-brainer.
And among the 45 members I will have a large pool of "flying buddies" to draw from; they are very keen on flying in pairs or groups, for fun, cost-sharing, or IFR practice with a safety pilot.
I'm pretty excited; just have to come up with the money. But I can continue with the initiation process meanwhile; if all goes well, when it's time to write that check, I will have been evaluated already, and should have the money.

Sounds like a good plan, Rotty. You get so much more out of flying, from a club, than just renting from a school, or FBO. Just today, after flying back from KPMH, when I checked in.. there were probably 1/2-dozen members there.. and we just talked planes... for hours..priceless stuff  ;D

I'm a member of three clubs here. They're more schools, by the defintions in this thread. No up-front deposit.. but monthly dues and reasonable rates (if you buy them in plane-specific, 20 hour blocks).. Now the one club has two sub clubs; that are more like a true club. The C182/C177RG club requires a token $1000 buy-in (so you can be an owner, technically, for insurance purposes).. no students (you have to have complex and hi-performance endorsements prior to joining). The other; which I'm considering joining (it's still in the works); is an LLC made up of 16 shares @ $25,000 per share. Once finalized; you'll have owner rate access to; two C172s ($66/hour), a Liberty XL2 ($66/hour), a Piper Arrow ($78/hour) and a C210 ($102/hour)..

At the end of every quarter; all owners will split a profit/loss. Regular club members (non student) will have access to these planes too, but at considerably higher rates than owners. And owners have scheduling veto priorty. If none of the planes need unusual repairs; there should always be a profit.

Anyway.. sounds like you're gonna have a blast !