[l2ridehd]

I am trying to determine if there is enough interest in flying to start a flying club within The Villages. It will take a minimum of 5 and up to 10 or 12 current or can become current pilots to make a successful flying club. I have been a member of several flying clubs and it is a much lower cost way to continue flying, learn and share with other pilots. I have also learned what makes a club successful and what causes them to fail.

First as most pilots already know, flying is expensive and probably why most of us stopped flying and sold our planes. I am open to suggestions and all decisions would be made by those that decide to join. I would like to have the plane based at the closest airport that has available hanger space, probably Inverness, Ocala or Leesburg but again am open to others ideas.

There are usually 3 costs associated with a successful flying club. These are based on my research and experience and the final costs would be determined by aircraft type and would be voted on by the membership. These 3 costs would be using 8 members as an example.

1. Share cost, 1 share for each member who would own 1/Xth of the plane and include cost to purchase aircraft and club set up.
2. Monthly dues which are the cost to always have the plane ready to fly but never fly and include things like hangar, insurance, annual inspections, other fixed cost.
3. Hourly cost to fly based on tachometer hours and include fuel, tires, oil changes, rebuild or new engine fund and any other variable costs.

I can share additional details, how to buy and sell your share, dues and hourly cost build up with anyone who has an interest in pursuing this further. No costs would be incurred until we actually buy an airplane.

Please PM me if this sounds interesting and you would like more information.