"Flight Club" ... Allows Pilots the Opportunity to Rent To Pilots

Flying in Canada ... eh!

Patrick Hickey

**I originally posted this information in June 2024, but have recently updated

A few years ago I went home to Canada (Almonte, Ontario ... birthplace of the inventor of basketball - Dr. James Naismith) with hopes of renting a plane to fly friends and family over my hometown. I was able to rent a Cessna 172, however the local airport owner had to fly in the plane with me as I did not have a Canadian PPL! I learned that it is okay to fly our own planes into Canada from the US as long as you adhere to Canadian Customs regulations and airspace parameters, however you cannot rent a plane in Canada without having a Canadian PPL. Additionally, there are few airports that will outright rent you a plane (after checkout procedures) due to insurance liability concerns, but there are many "flight clubs" in almost every airport that are very eager to have you join their group to rent their planes.

In order to set myself up to be able to rent privately, or through a flight club, I first had to get my Canadian PPL! This required getting a medical exam by a Canadian AME in Canada, and then writing the Canadian FAA conversion exam! To write the Canadian exam required lots of preparation as there are many differences in terminology, radio communications, cross country expectations, etc. The entire process took over a year, but was well worth it as I finally acquired my Canadian PPL a year ago. The actual PPL looks like a Canadian passport with many pages for stamps/validations.

This past summer I went home again with Canadian PPL in hand and a determination to rent a plane. I decided to do so with a group named "Flight Club". Flight Club is a national organization in Canada and is slowly starting up "Flight Club" locations in the US! In fact, EAA 242 President Jim Herpst and I had a conference call with Mat Fernandez (Co-Founder and CEO) regarding the potential for Flight Club to get established here in Columbia, SC! The call went great and we are hopeful that many of our local pilots at KCUB will see the value of participating in the Flight Club program. As an owner of a plane, you get to control who rents your plane and when ... a great opportunity to cover some of the overhead involved in owning a plane!

According to Mat, he and his team are happy to introduce the Flight Club concept to pilots that are willing to have their plane be used for rental via Flight Club. I know that we may have many pilots that will see the value of having their plane made available for rent via Flight Club, and I know for a fact that we have many pilots that would be very willing to rent as there are few local opportunities to do so!

Through Flight Club I was able to rent a Grumman Cheetah, which I have always wanted to fly, and to do so I had to register with Flight Club (free) and then had to complete an open book test on the plane, and a checkout ride. The Grumman Cheetah was but one of many choices to fly ... it was great to be able to have an opportunity to choose between planes! The owner took me for an inaugural flight, followed by a checkout ride the next day with a CFI. It was this checkout flight that impressed me the most as the CFI had me do things that I have not done in some time, all of which I was semi-prepared for as guided by the onboarding process of Flight Club. In addition to slow flight, steep turns, and stalls ... including what the CFI called a "Canadian Falling Leaf," we also did engine out/failures at altitude, and proceeded all the way to almost landing in a field, to engine out/failures during the downwind leg, and proceeded all the way to land on the runway! Additionally, we practiced radio communications as it is expected that VFR pilots make frequent position reports on a common frequency. We made certain that we did not fly more than 25nm from our departure airport as pilots are required to file a VFR flight plan or flight itinerary for every cross-country flight when more than 25 nm from the departure airport or when operating between Canada and a foreign country.

This "old dog" learned a few new tricks while getting checked out to fly the Grumman Cheetah and I walked away with a renewed self-confidence as I had performed many maneuvers that helped me to be a safer pilot. On reflection of this experience I would highly recommend to all of my aviation colleagues to consider the opportunity to "freshen your skills" by intentionally putting yourself through some of the same drills that I performed. I recommend that you reach out to a pilot that is "proficient" in the maneuvers that you want to perform, or to a CFI, and get out there and push yourself through your comfort zone!

Following is information on how to get started with Flight Club:

Create your own account here: https://flightclub.life/

Or reach out to Mathew or Paul with any questions you have. 

Paul.Mulko@flightclub.life 

Mathew.Fernandez@flightclub.ca

**It was very timely that AOPA recently had an article on Flight Club (November 2024) so I have copied/pasted below for your review!

Flight Club wants to convince pilots to share their aircraft

A company called Flight Club has introduced an aircraft-sharing program designed around owners who make their airplanes available for others to rent.

(AOPA - November 26, 2024)

Flight Club offers pilots a system for starting, building, and managing their own flying clubs using the leverage of its larger club network to help lower costs and overcome challenges such as insuring a club’s fleet and finding time-building opportunities for pilots seeking commercial aviation careers.

Many are likely to ask how such a system could overcome pilots’ natural reluctance to hand over their airplane keys to random strangers. The Flight Club model seeks to avoid or lessen such potential conflicts and ease concerns through several procedures.“When aircraft owners have hesitations about sharing their aircraft, it is often rooted in fears of the unknown,” said Ehsan Monfared, one of Flight Club’s founding members who helped introduce the platform in the United States after operating it successfully in Canada.

Monfared cites the perceived difficulty of finding and vetting responsible, proficient, and trustworthy pilots to rent their airplanes as a top concern among aircraft owners. Sorting out insurance, scheduling, and other basic administrative tasks tends to be another hurdle for owners who might consider participating. “Our goal is to address all these points through the Flight Club marketplace,” he said.

Flight Club has a regimented application and approval process for pilots wishing to use members’ aircraft. “Simply put, there’s no instance where an aircraft owner lists his/her plane, and pilots can just start flying the aircraft without the owner’s involvement,” Monfared said. “The aircraft owners remain in full control.” Under the club’s system the owner can choose to approve or reject pilots who apply based on a range of factors, from the applicant's qualifications and experience to the types of missions they intend to fly. Once approved, the applying pilot completes a qualification flight with a CFI in the club’s network or another pilot of the owner’s choosing. The owner can also set limitations on their aircraft’s use beyond the club’s minimum standards, such as restricting users to daytime flights and paved airfields.

The club’s overarching goal is to prevent the cost and complexity of aircraft ownership, and the difficulties associated with aircraft access, from becoming barriers to entry. As the appeal of general aviation flying grows among aspiring private and professional pilots, the demand for time building, personal flights, and instruction will increase as the supply of available aircraft tends to tighten. According to Flight Club, its model can ease the difficulty and stress of getting airborne.

For more information or to find the locations of clubs and available aircraft, visit the Flight Club website to set up a demo. The group also helps pilots set up and run their own clubs.

As a member of EAA 242 you can participate in and have access to any/all club events/programs as follows:

• Flight Simulator (X Plane 12): Available 24/7
• Young Eagles Program: 2nd Saturday of each month - kids (8-17) are given their 1st free ride in an airplane (EAA 242 have flown nearly 12,000 Young Eagles).
• Pancake Breakfast Fly-in: 3rd Saturday of each month - meet and greet other pilots/members while enjoying pancakes/sausage/coffee
• Club Socials/Cookouts: Held quarterly
• SC Breakfast Club: Hosted by EAA 242 yearly in Columbia
• Social Media: Access to Facebook/Instagram sites with daily information on aviation news/events as well as weekly newsletter
• Gamecock Flight Club: Mentoring program with USC students interested in aviation ... more info soon!
• **All above functions have opportunities for leadership and volunteer roles.

Additional Benefits:

• Equipped Workshop: for minor repairs and cutting, bending, drilling, etc.
• Sport Aviation Center: (The "SAC") is a fully equipped pilot center for planning flights and socials
• Business Partners: Take advantage of the resources made available to you from our business partners