The Club was founded on March 15, 2013. Founder Ed Murray began research on the idea in late November 2012 and filed the paperwork to form an LLC in January 2013. The club purchased and brought home its first airplane on March 15, 2013. For more information about the formation of the club, please see the AOPA article "Now Taking Off: 51st Aero Squadron Flying Club".
Club meetings are held on the 2nd Monday of every even month (Feb, April, June, Aug, Oct, Dec) at 6pm. Meeting location notices are sent at least five days in advance - including Virtual Meetings (Zoom Calls).
New members are required to pay an initial buy-in of $1500. The recurring dues are currently $100/month. Monthly dues commence the first month after and individual joins the club. We encourage each member to pay their dues via our website at the beginning of each month. Several options are provided for making various payments. You may setup a recurring monthly payment that is automatically executed each month or you can manually pay your dues in 1, 3, 6 or 12 month increments.
See our Membership Page for more information.
Our monthly dues are used to cover the club's “fixed expenses” that come due each month regardless of whether the airplane is flown or not. These expenses include our current loan note, insurance, hangar fee, property tax, subscription fees for the GNS430 database, FlightCircle Scheduling software, etc.
Typically, prospective members will contact/meet with one or more of the club officers to discuss the details of becoming a member of the club. Prospective members are encouraged to attend one of our club meetings as well to meet and introduce yourself to other club members. If you decide to pursue club membership, you must complete the Membership Application form.
Each Club member is provided with their own account on our scheduling software (FlightCircle). They can schedule aircraft based on their current training level and priviledges. Each member receives the codes for the lock-box on each hangar in order to access the aircraft.
If a member encounters personal issues that they feel will make them unable to satisfy their financial obligations to the Club, they can apply to be placed in an “LOA” or (Leave of Absence) status and dues are not required. Inactive members do not have flight privileges and must make application to the Club President for this status. While in LOA status a member can still attend club meetings and outings, but cannot schedule or use club aircraft.
Club members are not required to carry “non-owners,” "renters," insurance to operate Club aircraft. However, the club's insurance is to cover the club in case of inadvertent damage. Members are encourage to have "renters insurance" to cover damages that occur during the time the aircraft is checked out to them, so it doesn't generally come out of their "pockets."
The club subscribes to Flight Circle, an online scheduling service. Once you become a member, you will receive a Flight Circle account where you can reserve aircraft, instructors and misc. aviation equipment.
The Club was founded to achieve a number of objectives including the capability to offer primary flight training to student pilots. Club aircraft are insured to allow for student training and the Club has several certified flight instructors. Please see our Flight Training Page for more information.
Instructors may have differing preferences for training materials. Once you have joined the club and determined your flight instructor, they will offer suggestions on which materials they prefer you to use. Purchasing of training materials is the responsiblity of the student pilot.
No, members can only receive training instruction from approved club flight instructors while using club aircraft.
Club members can provide recommendations for AMEs, but a full list can be found here: FAA Medical Examiner Locator
Note: The FAA has also implemented the BasicMed Rule. For more information on BasicMed, click here.
The Club's aircraft and instructors are fully IFR certified. As long as you meet the FAA's requirements, you can train for and obtain an instrument rating.
Club members are allowed to carry passengers; however, the Club member must occupy the pilot’s seat and a weight and balance calculation must be performed for all flights. We maintain a weight and balance calculator program on our Resources Page.
Yes, the airplane is available for weekend and long-duration flights. There is a "minimum per day charge" for extended period flights. If a club member does take the airplane out for a extended trip, it is their responsibility to return it to the Bessemer Airport.
VFR limited pilots should be especially careful with their flight planning so as not to be “weathered in” and unable to return the airplane within their reserved time frame.
When a club member must purchase fuel while away from KEKY, they are required to provide a receipt via email to the club Treasurer. When paying for your flight, the cost of the fuel is subtracted from the total rental cost of your flight.
In addition to the requirement for the annual inspection we also perform 100 hour inspections on the airplane. We also perform 50 hour oil/filter changes as well as routine oil analysis tests.
We maintain a current IFR database on all our Garmin GNS 430 systems.
