Soaring Club Culture

On Monday, March 24, 2014 1:13:17 PM UTC-4, wrote:
The Soaring Club of Houston is considering some changes in our operations to create more of a club atmosphere with ownership for the club equipment. Currently we have a scheduling system where a member can show up, fly the glider, and leave. It is the daily crews responsibility to get the glider ready and on the line, plus put it away at the end of the day. This does not create any ownership in the gliders and as such they are not cared for as they should. In fact some of us call it the rental car mentality. It doesn't seem like we have much of a club culture but much more like a commercial operation. What are other club operations and culture around the world like? Thanks, Tony TS1

Our club had a great deal of problems with making the "work schedule" concept work for us. We have a fairly small staff- 4 instructors(was one), 4 regular tug pilots, and a bunch of commercial pilots. We coordinate among ourselves to ensure coverage every day and expect that whoever shows up to fly will pitch in with line ops and record keeping.
First come- first fly
Stay all day- get more flying.
Training takes first priority in the morning.
Soaring launches have priority during peak launch time(rush hour) , usually from about 12-2, then training goes full bore again.
We run some training all day.
People seem to enjoy coming and hanging out. They understand that if they show at 1:00 on Sunday afternoon, they likely will only get 1 flight.
A lot is learned hanging around and helping.
If someone thinks they are too busy to work our way, we suggest they go to the commercial operator a few miles away that can accomodate them.
It works for us but sometimes the guys that show up early to tow and instruct aren't to happy if they also have to put stuff away.
The expectation that everyone should pitch in seems top work for us.
FWIW
UH

Our club provides a scheduled instructor, tow pilot and duty manager every Saturday and Sunday during the regular season. When joining we stress that in addition to serving as manager periodically, there is a degree of "sweat equity" input that is expected (periodic work parties, waxing, washing, etc). Club plane usage/receiving instruction is on a first come, first served basis; there is no extra fee for either of these. However, there are clear expectations that members should plan on spending half the day at the airport; either arriving early and help set up/start operations, or arrive midday and stick around until everything is put away at the end of the day. It is also expected that people using club ships will spend at least an hour post flight at the flight line, helping with launch and retireval operations, etc. This is in addition to general club members (private pilots, private ships) being expected to help as well. If there are extenuating circumstances and someone can't operate within these expectations on a consistant basis, we offer a variety of other tasks that need to be, and can be done, outside of normal club operating hours (stop by on a weekday afternoon and wash/wax a plane, mow the grass, clean out the hanger, etc). These guidelines have been fairly effective and in many ways, self reinforcing. Overall, there seems to be a very cohesive cooperative effort within the club.