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Ultralight Club Bylaws - Warning Long Post



 
 
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Old June 11th 04, 05:07 PM
MrHabilis
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Default Ultralight Club Bylaws - Warning Long Post

Hi everyone,
I have been lurking here a while, lots of good stuff. Thanks to all of you.
I have been invited to join two different flying clubs in my general area, but
both are some distance away. Just for fun, I have been thinking about trying
to start a club. I have googled for "ultralight club rules template", plus
many variations, but have yet to find anything useful. So, just for fun, I
wrote my own. Please tell me what you think. Any and all coments welcome (try
not to be too brutal).
- Thanks, Habilis
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Cloud Hoppers Ultralight Club
Mission, Constitution, bylaws, rules, and regulations.

On this day, the ultralight aircraft club known as the "Cloud Hoppers
Ultralight Club of [insert locale]" is born. It was determined by its founders
that since there was no viable ultralight aircraft club in existence in this
area, one should be created. As of this declaration, there are no members
(except me), no plane, no field, no hanger and no experience whatsoever. What
the club does have in abundance, is the desire to fly! With this in mind, the
following is hereby proclaimed:

Article I. Mission:
It is the purpose of this club to provide its members with the means to
fulfill their desire for safe personal flight, and to share the cost of
purchasing and maintaining the (as yet, undecided) club-owned flying machine.
It is not the purpose of this club to get bogged down in bureaucratic
mumbo-jumbo. We just want to fly.

Article II. Constitution:
Section 2.01 The club shall hereby be known as the "Cloud Hoppers Ultralight
Club of [_ _ _]" and its members are hereby known as the "Cloud Hoppers", or
simply "Hoppers".
Section 2.02 The Cloud Hoppers Ultralight Club shall be answerable to those
in the club and to those (unfortunate) rules and regulations set forth by the
Federal Aviation Administration – and, of course, their spouses. It should
also go without saying that gravity and God will also play a big part in our
operation.
Section 2.03 The club shall have no regularly scheduled meeting dates nor
times. If we need to decide anything, it will probably be done while standing
next to the flying machine. If circumstances dictate a different meeting venue
(i.e. before we have a flying machine to stand next to), then a Saturday
morning breakfast meeting at a mutually agreed-upon restaurant is desired.
Section 2.04 The name "Cloud Hoppers", was deliberately chosen to to be
gender neutral, ethnically neutral and everything else neutral. If you want to
join the club, your gender, ethnic and national origin, parentage, age (except
must be at least 21), etc., will only help to make the club more diverse.
Section 2.05 The Cloud Hoppers shall never knowingly endorse nor condone any
illegal or unsafe activity, either through direct action, indirect action or
inaction.
Section 2.06 The membership as a whole, shall not be held responsible for
the actions of any individual member.
Section 2.07 The club shall not restrain any member from participation or
membership in any other organization, nor will it require any other
association, membership or participation.
Section 2.08 It is the intention that the membership observe the spirit of
this declaration and not necessarily the letter of it. If there are any
disparities, or conflicts, it is hoped that they can be resolved in a manner
that is most beneficial to all the Hoppers – and then move on.
Section 2.09 The membership may, at its discretion, add to, amend, append,
change, delete, or clarify any or all of this constitution and rules, however,
it is not intended that it get too concerned with minutia. Just fly safe and
have a good time. Most everything else will take care of itself.

Article III. Club Offices, Officers and Responsibilities:
It is an unfortunate inevitability that there needs to be clear provisions for
who does what. Therefore it is hereby proclaimed that the one and only office
is that of "Head Hopper" who will act as the president, treasurer, den mother,
referee and whatever else is needed during his/her term in office.
Section 3.01 The Head Hopper will serve for approximately one year, at which
time, the position will pass to the next member in the club. The position of
Head Hopper will rotate among the membership based simply on "whose turn it is
next". There are no nominations, no campaigning and no elections.
Section 3.02 No one shall serve consecutive terms.
Section 3.03 The club's finances will be handled by the Head Hopper.
(a) It is up to the sitting Head Hopper to decide whether he/she wishes to
secure a separate checking account, or not.
(b) The Head Hopper may elect to simply keep the club's treasury reserves
in his/her personal checking account, as long as a distinctly separate record
is kept of the funds income and expenditures.
(c) Said record and funds are to be transferred to the next Head Hopper at
the start of the next Head Hopper term.
Section 3.04 For legal purposes, the ownership of the club flying machine
will officially reside with the Head Hopper. When the office of Head Hopper is
transferred, the new Head Hopper will pay the old Head Hopper the sum of $1.00
for the flying machine at which time a receipt will be signed by both the
seller (old Head Hopper) and the buyer (the new Head Hopper).
Section 3.05 In those instances where the membership is an even number of
people, the Head Hopper will have a vote equal to 1.00001 making his/her vote
ever so slighter more than the others and therefore will automatically avoid
any tie votes.

Article IV. Requirements for Membership:
As with any organization, there are inevitable requirements to be considered
for membership:
Section 4.01 The candidate must have the desire to fly.
Section 4.02 As previously stated, the candidate must be at least 21 years
old and have a valid Driver's License.
Section 4.03 The candidate must have the desire to fly.
Section 4.04 The candidate must have sufficient monetary means to share in
the costs associated with buying and maintaining a flying machine.
Section 4.05 The candidate must have the desire to fly.
Section 4.06 If married, the candidate should have the enthusiastic support
of his/her spouse. If not married, there is no such concern, but it is desired
that membership should never cause someone to go from "married", to "not
married".
Section 4.07 A candidate, who meets the above requirements, will be
considered by the existing members and then voted on. Even though they may
join, they will not be allowed to fly the club-owned flying machine until they
have received suitable training (outside of the club and at the candidate's own
expense).

Article V. Membership Fees and Dues:
Although, at this writing, the actual expenses have yet to be determined, it
is likely that a membership of three (3) to five (5) people will be required to
actually purchase a suitable flying machine and still stay within a reasonable
budget. With that in mind, the initial investment and monthly membership
expenses are expected to be as follows:
Section 5.01 Depending on the number of members and which flying machine the
club decides to buy, the initial, non-refundable membership fee is expected to
be about $4,000.00 (four big ones).
Section 5.02 Besides the initial membership fee, the club will also assess
each member monthly dues of $40.00 (forty bucks) to cover on-going maintenance,
consumables and other recurring expenditures of the flying machine.
Section 5.03 On top of that, every member will pay into the treasury a flat
amount of $10.00 (ten dollars) per hour of airtime in the club-owned flying
machine. Each member will buy his/her own gas and oil for his/her flights.

Article VI. Sharing the Club-Owned Flying Machine:
While it is likely that the entire membership will often meet and take turns
flying (while those on the ground play poker or flight sim), it is also
advisable for provisions to be outlined for other circumstances regarding the
use of the club-owned flying machine.
Section 6.01 Any member who decides on an impromptu flight may simply go to
the airfield and take the club-owned flying machine on a short one-tank flight
as long as it originates and terminates at the home field and does not conflict
with a previous reservation by another member. A calendar/log book shall be
kept at the home field so any other member who shows up at a slightly later
time, with the same impromptu desire, will be able to see who took the plane
and when to expect their return.
Section 6.02 Any member who wishes to reserve the club-owned flying machine
(for flights which originates and terminates at the home airfield) shall simply
call the Head Hopper and make the request. Although not required, it is
desirable to have at least 9 days notice. It is also desirable for the
calendar/logbook (at the home field) to be updated regularly so that
reservations are recorded for all the members to refer. In the event of a
conflict, the member having the lesser amount of flying time in the previous 30
days shall take precedence.
Section 6.03 Any member who desires to take the club-owned flying machine on
a multi-day or multi-leg flight shall make their request to the Head Hopper no
less than 30 days in advance, and it will be open for review by the other
members and if needed, called to a vote.
Section 6.04 Anytime any member notices a problem with the club-owned flying
machine, which jeopardizes its safe operation, the machine will be grounded
until the problem is corrected. It is desired that the entire membership work
together to make the necessary corrections. It is also hoped that any member
who might have been inconvenienced by not being able to fly when he/she had
made a reservation, will be understanding of the situation. It is further
hoped that the inconvenienced member be given special consideration in making
up for the missed reserved flight time.

Article VII. Member Resignation:
Provisions are hereby made for any member wishing to officially leave the
club:
Section 7.01 Should it become necessary for a member to resign, he may elect
to sell his/her share in the club to an outsider, however that person will
still need to meet the membership requirements and be voted in by the remaining
membership. (The resigning member will not have a vote.) In this way, the
outgoing member will be able to recover his/her original membership fee (or
some portion of it), which will be a private matter between the outgoing member
and the new member. Since the new member will be replacing a previous member,
the club will not require a membership fee.
Section 7.02 Should the outgoing member be unable to find a buyer for
his/her share, no compensation will be offered by the remaining membership.
Sorry.
Section 7.03 Should an old member wish to be reinstated into the club, it
will be up to the existing membership to vote on his/her reinstatement. It is
expected that with reinstatement, the new member will pay a new membership fee,
however it may be at a discount decided on by the membership.

Article VIII. Getting Thrown Out of the Club:
Although it is unlikely, and as distasteful as it may be, there needs to be
provisions for removing a member from the club. Therefore, should it become
necessary for a member to be removed, it will require a unanimous agreement by
the remaining members at which time the ex-member will be bought out. If there
are insufficient funds in the club's treasure to pay the ex-member for his/her
initial membership fee, it will be up to the remaining members to make up the
difference.

Article IX. Finally:
It is acknowledged that there is no way that this declaration could possibly
foresee every eventuality and every contingency, so I didn't even try. I just
tried to hit the big stuff and figure that all the little stuff will fall into
place. Besides, this is way too long as it is. ~ Let's go fly. ~

 




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