AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2014 - 35

AIRPORT STORIES

It's a good day
Glider club soars after buying Indiana airport
B Y A LY S S A J. M I L L E R

ANY DAY AT THE Alexandria, Indiana, airport is a good day for members of the Central
Indiana Soaring Society. They haven't always
had carefree time to lounge around the clubhouse,
eating doughnuts and drinking coffee, and enjoying
the airport.
Based at Indianapolis Executive Airport for about
40 years, the club's glider operations became incompatible with other operations at the field. They moved
to Alexandria in 2004 where Duane Knotts, an avid
pilot, welcomed them to his privately owned, public-use airport. Knotts rented a hangar to the club
until 2007 when he said he needed to sell the airport
because he was getting older.
Nearby farmers reportedly were interested in purchasing the land, but Knotts wanted the airport to
survive-he had built it on a cornfield at the family
farm. "He said many times to us, 'You are going to keep
it as an airport,'" recalled George Saunders, president
of the nonprofit club at the time of purchase. The land
needed to be rezoned from a farm to an airport. The
group raised money, used $100,000 from reserves, and
secured a $200,000 loan to buy the airport and some
additional land from another farmer for $375,000 in
2008. The club recently refinanced and is scheduled
to pay off the loan in nine years.

Full membership in the club
costs $1,000, which is payable
in one $500 installment to join
and then two $250 installments over the following two
years, and is good for the entire
family (spouse and children
under 21). Monthly dues are
$48. Student memberships are
steeply discounted so they can
earn a certificate for $3,000.
(Soaring Society of America
membership is extra.) Flight
instruction is offered by club
members for free, and tow
rates range from $16 to $50.
Members can rent either of
the club's two Blanik L-23s, a
Grob 103, or a Schweizer 1-34.
(The club also owns two Piper
Pawnees.)

Saunders credits the 54-yearold club's "good financial history"
and forethought for being able to buy
and maintain the public-use airport. Ten
to 12 gliders are usually based at the airport and pay rent to the club, and $4 of
every tow fee goes into the runway fund.
While ensuring the club's financial
security, members also have made sure
the dues remain affordable. One way
they do that is by requiring members,
now about 65, to donate their time, AOPA
Airport Support Network volunteer Mike Nichols
said-whether offering free flight instruction, taking
turns flying the towplane, being crew chief, or helping with aircraft and airport maintenance.
"It's been a big change for us. We've been used to
having somebody else mow the grass, and somebody
else fix the roof, and somebody else take care of the
runway," Saunders said. "We've actually had to form
a separate committee that takes care of the airport."
Fees and sweat equity in the facilities are a small
price for a day at the airport to savor soaring.

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AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2014

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