From: hutton@ncrcol.ColumbiaSC.NCR.COM (ed Hutton ext. 6488)
Newsgroups: rec.aviation
Subject: Re: Instrument Training
Keywords: IFR Instrument Training
Date: 28 Aug 92 13:59:25 GMT
Distribution: usa
Organization: NCR E&M Columbia SC.

In article <1992Aug27.132327.8001@ncrcae.ColumbiaSC.NCR.COM> hutton@ncrcol.ColumbiaSC.NCR.COM (ed Hutton ext. 6488) writes:
>
>You might also need to budget LESS than $4,000. Here's the pricing at my
>club. The plane is an IFR 172.
>
>    Flying:      50 hours @ $35 per hour == $1,750
>    CFII:	  Free 
>    Books, Etc:  			  == $  200
>    Checkride:   (Assuming a D/E)        == $  125
>					    ------
>				   TOTAL     $2,075
>
[information about our CFIIs and Columbia deleted]

	I just received email from Geoff Peck. He brought up a valid
point. What is the buy in and dues for our club? First the numbers:

Buy in:		Stockholder ($1000) 	Member ($250)
dues:			    ($50/mo)	       ($40/mo)

	Yes the stockholders pay more dues! So far we have 9
stockholders and 5 members. The stockholders can vote and it
is the stockholders who actually control the corporation. So the 
best price for an instrument ticket would include $250 to join as
a member and maybe three months dues (three months strikes me as a
realistic amount of time -- you can do it much faster, but it is not
easy). So the new total considering buy in and dues:

				   TOTAL     $2,445

	A little back ground.... I wasn't trying to mislead. I just
don't think about the buy in anymore (I was a founding stockholder).
The dues? Well at $50/mo I have an extremely well maintained aircraft.
At 14 people the availability is no problem. We set a goal of one airplane
per 15 people. We have just started looking for the second plane. It
was a lot of work to set the club up (lawyer, accountant, writing
bylaws and operating rules, recruiting people, etc), but in the end
it is worth it for me. I never have trouble getting the plane. The
price is definitely right. I have a long list of safety pilots to
drawn on.

	I'm working on a commercial rating now (slowly). Another
advantage to being a member of the airport community is that I'll
probably get time in a complex plane for the cost of the gas. 

	I do put in extra time for the club (I'm VP). The President
and I do owner allowed PM. When time for the annual rolls around,
I take the day off and do a bunch of scutt work for the A&P to keep
the price down. A lot of people may say, "I couldn't be bothered!
I just want to fly!" Well to each his own, I don't find any of this
to be work -- I enjoy changing the oil and checking the plugs. I
am intimately aware of the way our engine is performing. I like
tracking compression and oil burn! One of the things I didn't like
about renting was that I knew very little about the aircraft and
nothing about who might have flown it before me. In the club if
the airplane so much as hiccups on run-up, I'll hear about it. 

	Yes I got an instrument rating for an amazingly low
cost, but the way I did it is not for everybody. Some people
will never be happy in a club -- others can imagine no other
way to fly. That is what I meant when I said there are still
good deals--just look around. Did I tell you about the C152
that rents for $30/hour wet owned by a CFII who charges $15/hour?
No strings! Availability is on the instructors terms, but this
is a good deal. There are others... 
-- 
edward.hutton@ColumbiaSC.NCR.COM (Ed Hutton)