Donnette

Flying is a very expensive endeavor and thus joining a flying club is a great way to save money, but what if you are a poor college student? Well, why not start a College Flying Club of your own. First, you need to find some friends who are serious about flying and form a committee, yes probably meet for coffee and come up with a decent mission statement, with goals and objectives.

Next, you need to establish Bylaws and form a legitimate Legal Entity and find aircraft owners willing to go for a Tax Strategy, where their aircraft becomes a piece of "business" equipment for them or collect monies from the members to buy a few used aircraft. Of course, you will need to create release of Liability Forms, Aircraft Owner Rental Agreements and establish a Tentative Fee Structure.

Starting a flying club makes sense as you can "Capitalizing on the Economies of Scale" by working-out special prices for fuel and recruitment of an FAA Certified A & P or AI mechanic. You will also need Certified Flight Instructors that are looking to build Flight-Time to log more hours. With these economies of scale you can Negotiate Special Rates and make highly Discounted Fees for Aircraft Owners which are also needing instruction.

It is best not to compete directly with the local Fixed Based Operators, but rather develop a working relationship with the FBO. You must also keep the aircraft clean and find Aircraft Washers to Trade for Flight Time and you will need Ground School Instructors, perhaps you can establish a College Aviation Course, as that will help to recruit local talent or FBO Sponsorship. You will also wish to negotiate Tie Down Fees.

No serious club is without rules and you will need Rules for Pilots and Student Pilots

• Aircraft Fuel: Aircraft to be Topped-off After Flight; Penalty $.50 per Gallon if Aircraft Not Topped Off.
• Flight Forms: Squawk Sheets; Destination Flown - Tachometer Time- Before and After; Check Oil and Record.

Flying is serious business and so is safety so you will need to make sure the pilots are proficient and also want to learn how to actually land the aircraft. So they will need Pilot Proficiency Check-out Flight. Club members should also vote who gets to join. Club Votes on New Members 85% to join and then the members need a CFI Checkout and Verification of Ground School Completion. Later on you must insist that there are additional Check-outs for each Aircraft.

You need to make sure there are no incidents or accidents to keep the insurance low for your new College Aviation Club. If you have any questions; look me up and shoot me an email.

L. Winslow is an Economic Advisor to the Online Think Tank, a Futurist and retired entrepreneur http://www.worldthinktank.net . Currently he is planning a bicycle ride across the US to raise money for charity and is sponsored by http://www.Calling-Plans.com and all the proceeds will go to various charities who sign up.