Flying Group Proposal - Opinions/Criticism wanted!

[Dan Winterland]

Back again, had to break off the previous post for breakfast!

.....continued.

Have a effective booking system, internet based is the best. You don't want to turn up to find the aircraft is away on the day you booked it because the guy who took your call wrote down the wrong day. And have a prioity system as everyone will want it for the weekend of the PFA rally.

A Public Transport C of A is expensive and will use up all the money you get from occaisional non group members. Also, it may add to insurance costs. You can get group deals for the members only with a minimum experience. You will also find the aircraft deteriorates faster with non group members flying it. For example, the headsets will go missing. And never ever EVER lend it to a flying school!

Chose your group members carefully. You may be mates to start with but be prepared to fall out. Your suggested 6 is a good number, 8 an absolute max in my opinion. If new group members join, get everyone to agree on them. One group I was in needed new members to help pay for repairs, this clouded our judgement and one experienced guy was taken on even though I had flown with him and wasn't happy with his flying. I was vetoed by the rest of the group and he joined. He later proved me right by crashing the aircraft. May i suggest that hours builders aren't the best syndicate members.(INCOMING!) They will hog the aircraft. Two groups I have been in had a no hours builders policy and they stayed happy as a result. Of course, if you're all hours builders and all happy with that - fine.

And to counter Riverboat's pooh pooh with my own pooh pooh (to quote General Melchett) a fiver an hour won't cover an engine. The sort of cash you're prepared to lay out won't get an aircraft with less than a thousand hours. Five grand won't get you a replacement engine. And be prepared to change it earlier than the TBO with lots of different pilots flying it. One group I was in had two engine changes in two years. That hurt!

And setting up a Limited company is cheap. It takes less than an hour and costs about a hundered and fifty quid. Each member has one share at say one pound value each, although the group value is more much than that. It gives you lots of protection, and in one group I was in it saved our aircraft from being impounded.

This is all advice from hard earned experience from being a member of four groups over 20 years. Don't be discouraged, it's worthwhile. But I can guarentee three things.

1. It's more hassle than you think.

2. It will be more expensive than you first thought.

3. You won't fly the aircraft as much as you want.