On Thursday, January 3, 2019 at 8:35:00 PM UTC-7, Bruce Hoult wrote:
On Thursday, January 3, 2019 at 4:59:36 AM UTC-8, WB wrote:
Here's how you can afford to get a club glider: Finance it with a loan with the longest term you can and that will allow you the option of paying interest only. We did that to buy our first 2 seater. Some months, we could only afford the $50 interest. However, it got us going and we ended up actually paying off the loan early. Some people will cringe at this strategy and tell you it is financial idiocy. However, with a glider club, where we typically have a lot of membership turnover,no single individual ends up paying much more with this type of financing than with just buying a glider outright. If you have enough interest to keep the glider busy, it will soon pay for itself.

Not only that, but a glider isn't a car that will depreciate to nothing in ten years. It's not even a power plane with big engine overhaul bills every 2000 hours.

Gliders have a 50+ year lifespan (especially plastic ones) and require next to no maintenance (especially plastic ones), so it's perfectly sensible to pay them off over 20 or 25 years. If the club folds before that, you'll be able to sell the glider for enough to be able to pay off the loan.

I think this is far too long.

Many clubs have multiple gliders. Some include use in the dues (aka no use charge), or have a fixed per flight fee. Both of those approaches seem to me to be a bit short sighted. I suggest that each glider in the fleet have an amortization schedule and a sinking fund (for replacement). So, say a G-103 should be fully amortized in 1000 hours of club use (or pick some other number, but be conservative). That would set a reasonable hourly cost to the member and be goal oriented and met in a reasonable time. Now, perhaps the club has 3-4 club gliders. If the club is growing, the combined sinking funds could expand the fleet within a reasonable amount of time. If the club is not growing, then upgrading the fleet would be perhaps the preferred goal. IMVHO, remaining stagnant is not a desirable path.

So, once the operating (replacement) costs have been established, then deal with the fixed costs (e.g. those costs that must be paid in order to fly; annuals, AD compliance, insurance, minor repairs, and storage). Those fixed costs establish the dues rate. There's a little wiggle room (ADs, TNs, XPNDRs, ADS-B, etc), but the sinking funds should establish the margin for growth. The dues allow the club to operate.

Tow planes are a different topic.

FWIW,

Frank Whiteley