How to join a flying club: application, fees, checkout and the rules that follow

How do you join a flying club? You apply, the club approves you, you pay to join, and you fly a checkout before your first booking — but each club sets its own version of those steps in its bylaws, fee pages and operating rules. We put together what the clubs we have read for our earlier guides publish on each step: who decides on your application, what joining costs, what the checkout and insurance look like, and the rules that keep you flying once you are in.

Short answer: find a club near you with room for a new member, apply — Westchester Flying Club, for one, wants your pilot certificate and medical — and pay the joining fee — $100 to $1,000 at the five US clubs we read that state an amount — and sometimes a deposit. The board or a vote of the members approves you; Westchester Flying Club, for example, decides "by a majority vote of members present at a regular Club meeting." Then a briefing and a checkout flight with a club-approved instructor, and you can book — paying monthly dues ($50 to $230 at the US clubs we read) plus the hourly rate, and keeping to the club's currency or checkout rules, which 16 of 22 clubs set. Not every club requires a licence to join: some take student pilots, who then train with club instructors.

Joining a flying club, in five steps

1. 1

   Find a club with room

   Compare clubs near you on aircraft, rates, dues and how full they are; some cap membership per aircraft and keep a list

2. 2

   Apply and pay to join

   An application (some clubs ask for your certificate and medical), a joining fee ($100–$1,000 at the US clubs we read that state one) and sometimes a deposit; approval by the board, club officers or a members’ vote

3. 3

   Club briefing and checkout

   A briefing on the club’s rules and a checkout or flight review with a club-approved instructor, often in each aircraft you want to fly

4. 4

   Insurance

   Usually the club policy covers you; some clubs encourage or require a policy of your own

5. 5

   Book, fly, pay — and stay current

   Monthly dues ($50–$230 at the US clubs we read) plus the hourly rate, and the club’s recent-flying rule to keep booking

1. Find a club with room

Compare more than the hourly rate: the aircraft, the dues, what joining costs, and how busy the schedule is. Some clubs limit their size to keep the aircraft available. Westchester Flying Club's bylaws: "Maximum membership is 12 times the number of aircraft operated by the Club." Hokie Flying Club's board may limit the number of pilots, and Fox Flying Club keeps an application list — a returning member "will be placed at the top of the application list". Ask whether there is a waiting list before you count on a start date.

If you are not a pilot yet, ask whether the club takes student pilots. International Flying Club: "You do not need to be a licensed pilot to join the club." Training at a club works differently from a flight school — see flying club vs flight school.

2. Apply and pay to join

The application can ask for your pilot certificate and medical. Westchester: "No person may be accepted for membership unless full payment of the application fee has been received and a copy of his or her current pilot certificate, FAA medical certificate" and other requested documents are in. Who approves you differs:

• A vote of the members: Westchester ("Applicants are initially accepted or rejected to Club membership by a majority vote of members present at a regular Club meeting."); Hokie ("Applicants become Members after their application is approved by a simple majority of the Active Flying Members and they pay the appropriate fees.").
• The board: Fox ("Any three Board members may approve a member."); Desert Flying Club ("Approval of application by 2 club officers or members of the Board of Directors").

What joining costs, at the US clubs in our flying club cost table that state an amount: a $100 application fee (TSS Flying Club), a $200 initiation fee ($100 for student pilots, Hokie), $300 (Oregon State, $150 for full-time students), $350 (Fox) and $1,000 (Mitchell). Some ask a deposit on top: TSS $1,200 and Hokie $400 or $800, both refundable; FAA Flying Club's $1,500 is not. What you get back when you leave — and when — is in the club's bylaws; flying club bylaws compares how clubs refund a deposit or buy back a share.

Some clubs ask for a minimum stay or a trial period. Hokie: "The minimum Membership period shall be 12 months unless the Board approves a period of shorter duration." International Flying Club: "Minimum club membership length is at least four months." Paramus Flying Club: "during the first year (365 days) of Club membership, each new member shall be subject to removal by the Board of Trustees for just cause." Westchester: "New membership status shall be considered probationary from joining the club until 90 days after the member’s first completed WFC aircraft checkout."

3. Club briefing and checkout

Before you fly alone, the club checks you out. Desert Flying Club's bylaws spell it out in two stages: a provisional membership after "Receipt of briefing on club operations and safety by any club officer or designated briefer" and payment of the fees, then full membership after approval by two officers or board members and "Completion of a Flight Review by a CFI approved by the Board of Directors or Chief Flight Officer". Many clubs ask a checkout in each aircraft you want to fly: Fox Flying Club wants a club check ride in the aircraft before you can book it, and TSS Flying Club a club checkout in each plane a new member wants to fly solo, then a yearly checkout within 12 months of the last club or FAA check ride. What a renter's checkout looks like at flight schools is in how to rent a plane.

4. Insurance

At most clubs you fly under the club's policy. TSS Flying Club: "Members are named insureds on the club insurance policy. That means that the insurance company can’t subrogate against you." If you damage an aircraft, you usually pay up to the deductible or a club cap — $500 to $5,000 in motion at the nine US clubs that state an amount — and some clubs encourage or require a policy of your own: Westchester requires "a basic non-owned aircraft insurance policy". Flying club insurance compares the limits, the deductibles and what members pay.

5. Book, fly, pay — and stay current

Once you are in, you pay two things: monthly dues, whether you fly or not — $50 to $230 a month at the eight US clubs we read that publish a monthly amount — and the hourly rate for the hours you fly. Pay on time: at Westchester an unpaid bill grounds a member automatically on the due date, and at Desert Flying Club unpaid dues suspend a member after 15 days.

And keep flying. 16 of the 22 clubs in our booking rules overview set a currency or checkout rule — Hokie asks 1 hour and 3 takeoffs and landings every 90 days or a check flight; Michigan Flyers 9 takeoffs and landings and 3 hours in club aircraft in 90 days, or a club instructor checkout. At those clubs, falling behind usually means a check flight with an instructor before you fly alone again.

For the club on the other side

Every step above is work for a club's volunteers: approving a member, billing the joining fee and the dues, checking who is current, and holding a booking when the account is overdue. In Pilot-Next an administrator adds the member, bills the joining fee and the dues to the member's account balance, and the club's booking rules — including a minimum balance to book — apply whenever a member books for himself. Pilot-Next does not track checkouts or currency; the club's checkout records stay with its instructors.