Hangar Ratting
Hi Lewi-,
Wash aeroplanes, pump avgas, clean windscreens, sweep out hangars, get paid in flying hours - sounds good doesn't it?
It doesn't always work.
When I was in my late teens I tried this.
At first, I got a reasonable amount of flying in return for my labours, (about twenty minutes at the end of a whole weekend's work,) but as the club became busier I got less and less because paying customers came first.
In the end, I worked every Saturday and Sunday for several weeks without a break and got nothing in return. The assumption seemed to be that I must be so flying mad that I would be content just to be working with aeroplanes. The person who followed me was treated the same - as a sucker.
So if you do go down this route, make sure you have a formal agreement with the club management about how much work equals how much flying - and keep tabs.
BP.