It is vital that members only fly aircraft for which they have the required level of experience. This has not been a significant issue in the club since people are normally very sensible about not flying airplanes that they have not been checked out in, or flying passengers if they have not been authorized to do so. Nevertheless, if there is any doubt about a member’s qualifications they must be checked. The Flight Shack has a folder with an up-to-date list of what each member is qualified to fly. If a member was to fly an aircraft he was not approved for and had an accident there could be serious legal and financial ramifications. So if you are not sure about a member’s qualifications, just check – it only takes a minute or less.
While a member may be properly licensed and checked out for flying a particular glider he or she is not permitted to fly if they owe the club more than $50.00. After a busy flying day a pilot does not usually keep track of the status of his flying account and can quite easily go from a positive to a negative cash position. Once again, the reference “bible” is the folder in the Flight Shack. It lists each members account status and contrary to the usual “negative” being bad and “positive” being good, the opposite is true. This is because it lists what the club is owed. If its negative the club owes you, i.e. your account has money in it, and vice versa. There is sometimes a day or so lag in keeping this information up to date and if you question a member he may say “I just paid in the office”, this is usually the case, but it just take a minute to go the Office and check. If there is no one in the Offic (an unlikely scenario) then give the member the benefit of the doubt. If there is a deficit of $50 or more and they do not make a payment to bring the account into good standing they are not permitted to fly club aircraft or, in the case of a private owner, be given a tow.
While a member may be properly licensed and checked out for flying a particular glider he or she is not permitted to fly if they owe the club more than $50.00. After a busy flying day a pilot does not usually keep track of the status of his flying account and can quite easily go from a positive to a negative cash position. Once again, the reference “bible” is the folder in the Flight Shack. It lists each members account status and contrary to the usual “negative” being bad and “positive” being good, the opposite is true. This is because it lists what the club is owed. If its negative the club owes you, i.e. your account has money in it, and vice versa. There is sometimes a day or so lag in keeping this information up to date and if you question a member he may say “I just paid in the office”, this is usually the case, but it just take a minute to go the Office and check. If there is no one in the Offic (an unlikely scenario) then give the member the benefit of the doubt. If there is a deficit of $50 or more and they do not make a payment to bring the account into good standing they are not permitted to fly club aircraft or, in the case of a private owner, be given a tow.