How do we inspire pilots to truly take up cross country soaring ?

If you want to be a member, you need to buy a share worth $400. If you want to leave, the club will buy it back at the same price. (I take 1 CHF = 1 US$).
Annual membership fee is $500-600.
Cost per hour is $20-40. However, you can buy 30h block for $700, or unlimited hours for $1400.
Tows are expensive because (1) we pay the fuel with $10/gal or more, and (2) we have to get from 400m MSL to 2000m MSL in order to connect with thermals. At $5-6/min, a tow is typically $100. Early students pay $30-40 for their 600m AGL tows. We can't operate a winch on our field (700 m rwy, gliders, SEP, helicopters, commercial parachuting operation, high-power lines parallel to the runway).
Each member is required to supervise operations for 1 or 2 days per season (that is, making sure that things run well on the ground). That does not include instruction. Each member is also required to participate 1 weekend per winter in glider maintainance (it typicall takes a team of 4 for 1.5 days to do annual maintainance of one glider).
Instructors don't do ground service or maintainance (well, they are at least not required to...), but they spent 5-10 days per season instructing. Instruction is for free.
We sell introductory rides (something like $200 for 1 hour); that and the tows is what brings in the biggest part of the funds.

Bert
Ventus cM TW

Am Dienstag, 8. September 2015 14:38:38 UTC+2 schrieb :
So what sort of fee structure do you have at your club to support all of those aircraft? Initial buy in cost? Monthly dues? Price per tow? Price for use of each plane?

2-33: $8-10k
ASK21: $80k (???)
Duo: $100k
LS4: $40k