southport-and-merseyside-aero-club

Join the Club

The availablity of the aircraft is high for members who wish to fly regularly at minimum cost (We are a Not-for-profit Limited Company).

Constraints on members are very few, with recency requirements, destinations and possession times as limitless as would be possible if you owned your own aircraft.

Availability: The aircraft is frequently available at short notice, particularly on weekdays, and with Liverpool being a 24-hour airport, evening and night flights may be booked by members with a night rating.

Minimum Flight Duration: If the aircraft has not been previously flown for at least 30 minutes airborme time (approximately 45 minutes chock-to-chock), on the day of the intended flight, then the intended flight must be for a minimum of 30 minutes airborne time. This is to avoid long-term damage to the engine.

Bookings for more than one day: There is no general requirement to fly a minimum number of hours per day, although out of respect for other members and club finances, we operate a fair usage policy which requests members average a minimum equivalent of 2 hours per day of their trip away.

Flying time is paid for by tachometer unit. The tachometer is a sub-scale on the engine rpm gauge, rather than the more common Hobbs meter. The number of tacho. units clocked is a function of engine rpm.  Typically for a long distance flight at 2300rpm and 100 knots indicated airspeed, the engine clocks about 100 tacho units per airborne hour. A leisurely flight at a cruise rpm of 2200 will last longer and cost less - a win-win situation, whereas rushing about at 2400rpm/110 knots will be a shorter but more costly flight - a lose-lose-lose situation.  (The third "lose" is shortened engine life!).

Cost-share flights: Please note that while the club encourages the cost-sharing of flights between club members and/or their friends/relatives, it does not permit the aircraft being advertised for this purpose on public media including but not limited to Wingly, Coamvi etc.

Current Fees:

One-off Joining Fee: £830

Annual Subscription: £360

Flying Cost: £1.90 per tachometer unit

Landing Fees (payable to the Club)
£31.46 per landing at Liverpool
£13.12 per touch-and-go at Liverpool
£12.00 per day for Sleap Airfield which includes unlimited landings/touch & goes

Fuel purchased away from Liverpool is reimbursed by the club at cost, but landing fees, parking etc. at other destination aerodromes are the responsiblity of the pilot.

In addition, to encourage longer outings, if a trip totals more than 250 tachometer units in one day, then the Club will pay the return landing fee at Liverpool.

Please Contact Us for more details.