AOPA Pilot Magazine - December 2016 - 100

DETAILS

Number of flying clubs in the
AOPA Network:

771

News & Notes
MEMBERSHIP

Join the club!

Flying clubs are one of the
best ways to save money
while you fly more, enjoy
great access to aircraft, and
spend time with friends
and family. Whether you're
brand-new to flying or
you've been a pilot for
years, flying clubs have
something for you.
AOPA is committed to
helping more pilots experience the special benefits
of flying-club membership.
Whether you want to find
out more about flying clubs
in your area, join an existing
club, or even start a brandnew club, we're here to help.
Please contact our flying
clubs staff at flyingclubnetwork@aopa.org or call
800-USA-AOPA.

Texas club awarded airplane
OF THE 57 new flying clubs eligible for AOPA's Flying Club 150
Giveaway, the application from the Nate Abel Flying Club stood
out. AOPA President Mark Baker delivered the good news in a
Skype conversation with the club's officers arranged to tell them
their Reimagined Cessna 150 is on the way.
"That's awesome," said Nate Abel Flying Club Vice President
James Smith, who had been given a mistaken idea about the true
purpose of the call-and who would be on the other end. Baker surprised him by awarding the association's Reimagined Cessna 150.
"The family is going to be floored, they will not believe it."
Tom Barry, the club treasurer, said AOPA's online resources
were the key to getting the club started. "We were able to leverage all of those resources and be successful because of it. All that
information was amazing," he said.
Applicants who did not win the prize will still get something
for their effort, said Les Smith, AOPA senior director of Pilot
Community Development and a member of the AOPA staff who
reviewed the applications for the program that Baker announced
in April, as part of an initiative that aims to promote flying clubs as
an affordable alternative to individual ownership or rental.
"Those other 56 clubs have done everything there is to do short
of obtaining an aircraft, and we want to work with them on that
next step," AOPA's Smith said.
Flying clubs promote safety, camaraderie, and affordable
flying, and foster growth in the pilot community that benefits
everyone. The reviewers agreed that the Nate Abel Flying Club
application included every element of the best practices and

100 | AOPA PILOT December 2016

guidance AOPA has developed based on the experience of successful clubs around the country.
"Their application scored very highly in terms of hitting all the
key points we were looking for," Smith said.
The Texas club was named for Nathan Abel, an avid aviator who
succumbed to cancer in 2013. His passion for flying had inspired
many in his community, and beyond. Abel held various pilot certificates and was working to become a flight instructor. The club has
already held a "Fly Kids For Nate" fundraiser, and plans to make it
an annual event supporting flight training scholarships.
Nate Abel Flying Club will base the Reimagined Cessna 150 at
Hicks Airfield, just north of Fort Worth, Texas. AOPA teamed up
with Aviat Aircraft to restore the Cessna 150 to like-new condition, and provide a flying club with an airplane that can be owned
and operated at low cost.
The 150 Flying Club Giveaway contest was made possible
through AOPA's flying clubs initiative under its You Can Fly program (see page 58). AOPA launched You Can Fly in January 2015 to
build a vibrant, growing, and self-sustaining community of active
pilots. You Can Fly is moving the needle when it comes to building and sustaining the pilot population with programs to improve
student completion rates, bring lapsed pilots back to the cockpit,
introduce young people to aviation careers, and provide a costeffective way to fly and share that experience with a community
of fellow pilots.
WEB

http://youcanfly.aopa.org

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of AOPA Pilot Magazine - December 2016