I am posting this follow up to a previous post because I am troubled by the closing of the Ft. Lewis Flying club. This club has been operating for 47 years and now MWR feels that it needs to close.
The club has been loosing money but if allowed to make a few changes could operate at break even or maybe even a profit.
The changes required to sustain the club for at least a year are very simple and would allow the club to recruit more members aggressively amongst the soldiers and DOD civilians that work in the area, its my understanding that these options were never heard by the powers that be.
During a ground school lesson today I watched as 3 people were turned away from joining because they won't have enough time to complete their lessons before the club is closed.
Its my understanding that there has been more interest this summer than in previous years but they are being turned away still.
The club was loosing money partly due to a lack of members and partly due to other things that I don't have enough details to discuss currently.
I will continue to investigate this matter even if it does nothing to help save this wonderful club because I believe that the decision to close the club was made independent of the facts.
This could be a case of pure business or a lack of understanding about aviation and what it needs to survive. I just hope its not a case of my interest being more important than yours...if you know what I mean.
Soldiers want this club to survive, it can survive if allowed. If this club closes there will be hundreds of soldiers that might have become pilots that won't be able to afford it on the open market.
The training just costs too much for all but the Officers to afford off post and even those that could afford to pay as much as $40 more per hour someplace else would have a hard time traveling that far off post with our work load.
We have a wonderful resource on post now, help us keep it!
Monday, July 23, 2007
Tuesday, July 17, 2007
Search for or list your plane for free
For those of you out there either looking to sell your airplane or searching for your dream plane, I'd like to introduce you to my airplane listings.
You can list your lane for sale by clicking the "sell my plane" link below. There is no charge to list your plane on this site. You can include photos as well as a complete description of your plane for thousands to see.
You can list your lane for sale by clicking the "sell my plane" link below. There is no charge to list your plane on this site. You can include photos as well as a complete description of your plane for thousands to see.
To search for your dream plane click on the "search now" link to view our current listings.
If you don't see your dream plane listed on our site you can add your name to our database of pilots searchig for a specific plane in a specific price range and we will help you find it. Click on the "find my plane" link below for more information.
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
Boeing 787 Rollout video
Here is a quick video of the new Boeing 787 during the public rollout on 7/8/07.
Monday, July 09, 2007
How fishing can be bad for your health
See what happens when a couple of fishermen get in the way of a PBY Catalina flying boat!
Sunday, July 08, 2007
Airbus A350 vs Boeing 787 video
Lets take a peek in to the design room for the Airbus A350 and see how they plan to beat Boeing and the 787 Dreamliner.
Boeing 787 Rollout Live Video
Today the Boeing 787 will be unveiled to the public at 3:30 pacific time.
You can watch this major event live from the Boeing web site or on select satellite channels.
For more information visit the 787 information page below or click on the live feed link at the bottom of this page.
Wednesday, July 04, 2007
New web site is now open
I am proud to announce the opening of my new web site Lets Fly Washington!
The purpose of this site is to offer a place for pilots in Washington State to meet and share information about places to fly, rent airplanes, join a co-op to reduce ownership costs and just meet new people.
We will also be offering a page to sell your plane, search for planes forsale and to purchase shares of a plane through our co-op plan.
The site is still under construction so please feel free to offer suggestions and tell us about your favorite destinations so we can add them to the site.
I'd love to include a video or two of your favorite trips as well!
Don't let the name fool you, Lets Fly Washington is for everybody that loves aviation and we will accept listing for any type of aircraft from any location so don't be shy!
My training hits a snag
I showed up t the airport on June 13th like planned but just before I walked out to pre-flight the plane, my instructor and I were informed that after 47 years of operation the Ft. Lewis flying club was shutting down.
After talking about this a little and trying to figure out what was in our future, we both decided that we just didn't feel like flying that day.
The club will remain open until September 15th 2007 and they have reduced their prices in an effort to keep the students they have.
The price change will allow me to squeeze in a couple more lessons than I could have before the doors are locked on us but I'm still too far from getting my PPL to finish before they shut down.
I spent a couple of weeks in the field for gunnery in my M1A1 tank so I had some time to think about what to do about this situation.
Most of the clubs are a either little out of my price range or just too far away to fit my work schedule.
I might try to pick up one of the planes from the club after they close but I'm not sure what the Army plans on doing with them.
THIS SUCKS!
After talking about this a little and trying to figure out what was in our future, we both decided that we just didn't feel like flying that day.
The club will remain open until September 15th 2007 and they have reduced their prices in an effort to keep the students they have.
The price change will allow me to squeeze in a couple more lessons than I could have before the doors are locked on us but I'm still too far from getting my PPL to finish before they shut down.
I spent a couple of weeks in the field for gunnery in my M1A1 tank so I had some time to think about what to do about this situation.
Most of the clubs are a either little out of my price range or just too far away to fit my work schedule.
I might try to pick up one of the planes from the club after they close but I'm not sure what the Army plans on doing with them.
THIS SUCKS!
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