On Oct 12, 8:51 am, wrote:
It seems to me that these ideas are frought with CFR, legal and
insurance issues and the line between a club a commercial operation
would be crossed.

i dont know about insurance issues, but there is no reason why a CFI
of any type cannot be paid for instruction or a commercial pilot can
be paid to give a local sightseeing ride. and as long as the towpilot
is commercially rated he can be paid for the tow. I dont think the
FAA cares if its a commercial or club operation. the same rules apply.

Im with Matt on this one. I love to teach and give rides in gliders,
but if I walk across the runway (literally) to the power FBO i can
make some measley money. as much as i love soaring and teaching
soaring, i also love fresh ramen noodles waiting for me at home.
thankfully for my students i insist on giving the same high quality
instruction whether i get paid or not.

when i took my first instructional flight in a glider and Matt told me
'no charge' I was aghast. how could someone get training to be a
professional at anything and then not get paid? needless to say, in
return he didnt have to pay for any instruction on his way to his ASEL
certificate.

The only part of power flying that i've ever heard of that involves
free instruction is desperate young time building CFI's. In general
the practice is looked upon in a poor light. My power flying club
also aims to keep costs low, and CFIs are paid well and no one
complains.

As a professional CFI (that's all I do to earn my living) I expect to
be paid for my time when I give instruction. My glider club has
always had paid instructors and the rate is up to the instructor.
When we give club directed instruction (as part of a 5 lesson intro
package) we are paid at the rate of $30 per hour. I think a few of
the instructors charge less than that when they work with their own
students and some may ask more. I do some advanced training where I
increase the charge for that training.

Just to give some details about the club; Our club has about 80-100
active members, 35+ privately owned ships, 9 club sailplanes and three
tow planes. There are around 15 instructors of whom about 4-5 are
actively working with more than one or two students. We just minted a
new instructor and are about to get another one. On any given weekend
we have many intro rides (not sure of the exact numbers but I know
that it is not unsusal to have 10-15 on a day). Most training gliders
are busy on the weekend with both instruction and rides (both public
and club members). Surprisingly our single place ships are less used.

Just wanted to put my $.02 in.

Mike