At 15:34 15 March 2018, wrote:
Continuing the digression, successful clubs rely on members to do
much or
m=
ost of the work. There's always a question of whether to allow
affluent
and=
/or time-challenged members to buy their way out of their work
obligation.
=
When I was learning to fly at what is now Caesar Creek Soaring
Club in the
=
mid 60s, most of us worked one weekend day a month instructing,
towing, or
=
crewing. If you didn't, your fee for a 2,000' tow was a dollar higher
(IIRC=
, $4.50 instead of $3.50 in a club glider. Yeah, times change.).
Most
membe=
rs worked. A few didn't. Yes, there was a loss of camaraderie with
those
wh=
o just showed up to fly, but the philosophy was that we'd rather
have them
=
as club members than not.

Decades later, there was related discussion involving another club.
I
sense=
d some resentment about a few more affluent members not
working. I've
alway=
s wondered if that led to at least one active pilot I knew gradually
droppi=
ng out of soaring. Probably not the deciding factor. But not feeling
100%
w=
elcome at your own soaring club doesn't seem like a formula for
success.=20

It's a fine balance. We want club members to "pay their dues",
literally
an=
d figuratively. We want them to show their commitment, not just
because we
=
need their support but because we resent investing in them if
they're just
=
going to wander away a year later.=20

But...if they're not as committed, would we rather send them to a
commercia=
l operation or see them drop out? It's a question; I don't have the
answer.

Chip Bearden


It doesn't matter if they are rich or not. If they don't work, and you
don't charge them, they are free-loaders that are leeching off other
people's work and efforts. IMO, it's just not right to let these people
get away with not doing anything at the expense of someone else
having to cover for them. If they can't or don't want to work, make
them pay the difference in money. If they get mad, let them go to a
commercial operator where they will be served by others the way
they want, but then they will have to pay for those services anyway.

RO