Clubs & Schools

[G_STRING]

I've seen lots of threads on both here and the instructors forum, referring to both flying clubs and flying schools.

Can anybody tell me the difference between the two?

(sorry for my ignorance)

[Bravo73]

Essentially, for a club, you have to become a member.

For a school, you generally don't.


Both will teach you to fly though. They are just organised slightly differently.

[BackPacker]

Agree. As long as you're training for your PPL, there won't be much difference. You pay your money, get flying lessons in return.

But after your PPL, the school, as a commercial outfit (generally) will try to squeeze as much money out of you as possible, without being too obvious about it. Worst case, this means silly checkout rules, tatty aircraft with skyhigh rental prices and silly restrictions on where and how to take aircraft on longer trips.

A club is generally run by pilots for pilots, with (often free-lance) instructors being available for training. This may mean a more relaxed atmosphere with more sensible rules and rates. But since the club is typically run by a board of volunteers instead of full-time commercial staff, organization might be less. And as a member, you may also be expected to do certain things, ranging from washing aircraft and bar duty to doing a term in the board, yourself.

[IO540]

For a school, you generally don't.

I thought all schools demanded a membership fee of some sort, otherwise they can't work the self fly hire + PPL cost sharing business, where the wording is that all passengers contributing to the pilot's expenses have to be members of the "club".

Maybe there are PPL schools that don't do any self fly hire?

Also, an up front fee makes a student less likely to walk out.

[G_STRING]

Thanks for replies

So, a club is generally a 'non profit making' organisation, wheras a school isn't, with freelance instructors who are paid separately by their students.

If that's the case, who owns the aircraft that the instructors use for tuition? Is this also club owned, by a number of people, or does it have single ownership? Presumably, unless it is a PFA organisation/aircraft, it will have to be on a public CofA to be used for training purposes.

I can't imagine that the aircraft used are also non profit making, who would pay for the upkeep, especially as training aircraft are used more, and are subject to being roughly handled?

Sorry, but I still don't understand the two concepts.

[digital.poet]

Sorry, but I still don't understand the two concepts.

There probably isn't a great deal to understand. I don't believe that school vs club has any kind of strict legal definition in the way that Ltd vs PLC does.

Its all in the name really. A school is an institution with the sole purpose of education, teaching and learning, a club is an organistion of people with a similar interest.

I am training with a flying club. Once I get my license, I will be able to participate in club events, They do organised group flights, as well as 'off topic' stuff like quiz nights etc. A school probably wouldn't do this, and just focus on training. Having said that, there would be nothing stopping my club changing their name to 'school' without changing a thing about the running of the group. What's in a name right? There probably are 'schools' out there with just as much social activity as my 'club'. At best, it is a marketing thing.

The issue of who owns aircraft is completely different. For instance, my club is operated as a limited liability company, so the club owns the aircraft and has a board of directors etc. Most schools and clubs probably operate in a similar way, but there is nothing stopping them from being sole traders, partnerships or even PLCs (doubt that there are many schools/clubs that are PLC, some may be subsiduaries (sp?) of PLCs though, maybe Cabair works like this??).

So, I think, don't get too hung up about it. Best just to walk in an ask how the group operates. Can't judge a book.... and all that :)

[Bravo73]

I thought all schools demanded a membership fee of some sort

Ours doesn't. And we still do plenty of SFH.

[Whirlybird]

I've flown at several different places. All were different in terms of atmosphere, membership fee etc. Some seemed to be money-grabbing, some not. Some had a good social scene, some not. Some called themselves schools, some clubs. I haven't noticed that what they call themselves makes the slightest difference.

[Shunter]

I've always been under the impression that clubs weren't in it for the money, but schools were - or at least something of that general ethos. The quality of the instruction/facilities were something of a complete variable and purely an individual state of provision.

Personally I learnt at a school. At a regional airport. There were no membership fees, the instructors were good, the facilities were excellent. I met a bunch of similar guys and we ended up putting a group together. At one point there did seem to be a token effort from the flying school to create a "community", but it seemed to take a back seat to the business of making money.

[Captain Smithy]

Personally, I've always thought that a club is more a group of people who fly for enjoyment and enjoy the company of other like-minded folks, whereas a school is purely dedicated to training.

Either way, shouldn't make a difference to who you train with, as long as the instructors are good.