U.S. Clubs

On Mar 17, 5:34*pm, jsbrake wrote:
Forgive my ignorance in this question, but I'm curious...
In the U.S., do the clubs provide instruction for free, or paid? *I
know the commercial operators are paid, but I don't know about the
clubs. *Probably depends on the club, I would guess.
I'm in Canada, where the clubs all teach for free; I'm not sure we
even have commercial operations (the clubs all sell introductory rides
with a day membership).
I'll eventually get some flying done in the States... just have to
convince my wife to let me bring the mistress along... or travel
without her and the kids

All of the true clubs that I've been associated with (as a member,
instructor, or guest) have provided free instruction in the sense that
there isn't a fee for the Instructor. There may be a nominal usage
fee for the glider and of course the tow fee. There are a couple of
quasi-clubs that may operate a little differently.

P3

On Mar 17, 6:57*pm, Papa3 wrote:
On Mar 17, 5:34*pm, jsbrake wrote:

Forgive my ignorance in this question, but I'm curious...
In the U.S., do the clubs provide instruction for free, or paid? *I
know the commercial operators are paid, but I don't know about the
clubs. *Probably depends on the club, I would guess.
I'm in Canada, where the clubs all teach for free; I'm not sure we
even have commercial operations (the clubs all sell introductory rides
with a day membership).
I'll eventually get some flying done in the States... just have to
convince my wife to let me bring the mistress along... or travel
without her and the kids

Our club provides instruction at no additional charge to members.
Club members have to belong to SSA, too.

Introductory flights are available and we don't require the guests to
purchase a "membership"; just pay the price for the intro flight.
These flights are made by instructor pilots, but no flight instruction
is provided.

Ray Lovinggood
Carrboro, North Carolina, USA

Introductory flights are available and we don't require the guests to
purchase a "membership"; just pay the price for the intro flight.
These flights are made by instructor pilots, but no flight instruction
is provided.

My understanding is that we include a day membership for liability
purposes -- we're now flying a club member rather than providing a
flight for hire. Most of our intro pilots are also instructors, so we
can provide some instruction if the passenger so desires. Canada only
has one class of glider licence, not "Private" vs "Commercial".
And yes, when I said we instruct for free, I meant for the services of
the instructor... the student pays for aircraft rental and tow fees at
regular club rates.