You Can Fly: Flying Clubs

That’s exactly what took place at AOPA’s You Can Fly Training Center in Frederick, Maryland. The all-day event was the first Flying Clubs Workshop that AOPA has held. It attracted 22 participants representing nine clubs in the Mid-Atlantic region.

The clubs varied in size, background, and mission, ranging from the five-member, one-aircraft Mifflintown Airport Aero Club, located between Harrisburg and State College, Pennsylvania, to the 65-member TSS Flying Club, which has five airplanes based at Montgomery County Airpark in Gaithersburg, Maryland. Two other clubs from Gaithersburg attended, including members from Congressional Flying Club, which is partnered with the Maryland Civil Air Patrol, and the Octopus Flying Club, which also has aircraft based in Hollywood, Florida.

Some clubs, such as the Reading Aero Club, date back to 1932, while the Chesapeake Flying Club was formed in 2015. Several of the clubs in attendance, such as the Sky-Hi Club in Frederick, Maryland, and the Freestate Flying Club located at College Park Airport in Maryland, have waiting lists, demonstrating the attraction clubs offer pilots looking for opportunities for affordable flying and camaraderie. Members of the Wingnuts Flying Club flew in from Chesterfield, Virginia, near Richmond, in the club’s sleek Cessna Columbia 350.

The workshop followed three tracks: safety and maintenance, communications, and management with two sessions for each track.

Participants attended sessions presented by AOPA Flying Clubs Director Steve Bateman; AOPA Flying Clubs Manager Michael Hangartner; and Les Smith, AOPA senior director of pilot community development, as well as flying club presidents and officers.

“I think that the presentations from Michael and Les were good, but I think the real value they provided was acting as moderators and controlling the conversation between the actual members who were there so that we could share our stories and best practices,” TSS President Andy Flank said. “I only sat in two of the six sessions, but I thought they were both valuable, especially conversations between members of clubs.”

Participants engaged in lively discussion about the issues their clubs are facing and shared experiences of what they found has worked to address the various facets of successfully running a club.

Joe Hoyle from Wingnuts was appreciative of the opportunity to talk to other clubs. “I want to thank AOPA for this symposium. I thought it went very well. We found out that we’re doing a lot of things right, but we found numerous opportunities for improvement. We really benefitted.”