"Mike" wrote in news:xCxik.44$iM5.32@trnddc07:

"Andy Hawkins" wrote in message
...
Hi,

In article ,
Bertie the wrote:
Yeah, it's the way to go if the other guys aren't ****s, especially
in your
part of the world where the costs are outrageous. Do you have to
chip in for things like rebuilds on top of that, or is that rate all
inclusive?

There's usually a monthly payment that covers hangarage, insurance
and 'routine' maintenance. Some groups also use this monthly payment
to build up
an engine fund for when the donkey needs to be replaced. However,
some groups *don't* do this, on the theory that the money is better
in the group
members accounts earning interest, than in the group account (better
for the
members that is).

It's something I always check when enquiring about a group though,
whether the monthly payment includes some sort of 'extra' as a
contingency.

Back when I belonged to a club they really had their act together.
The monthly payment covered hangar, insurance, and some of the
maintenance. So your monthly dues covered all of the costs to keep
the plane airworthy if it flew 0 hours per year. The hourly rate
included all of the costs associated with operating the plane,
including an engine fund, a prop fund, and a general maintenance fund.
The fixed costs just covered what a "basic" annual would cost.

They also charged a wet rate that changed each month if the price of
fuel changed on the field. If you refueled somewhere else, they only
reimbursed at up to the home field rate. Paying a wet rate actually
worked out better because you didn't have to worry about someone else
shorting you on fuel and if you brought the plane back after the FBO
closed, it was no big deal.

The problem with throwing "extra" into the monthly rate as a
contingency is it means everyone pays that equally, but it's really
those who put the most time on the plane who should be paying more if
the plane breaks. Putting the "contingency" on the hourly rate works
out to be a bit more fair.

The biggest problem I had with the club environment is sometimes it's
hard to get people to go along with making improvements to the plane.
If you want something like an HSI or a nice autopilot, but most of the
members are VFR only, you can forget it.


How do you reckon they're improvements?

More weight, for one thing..


Bertie