What Nobody Tells You About Flying a Shared Aircraft

Let me be honest with you. Flying club aircraft are not like flying your own airplane. Nobody who has flown both will tell you otherwise.

The seat is never where you left it. The last person to fly it — whoever that was, whatever their inseam — adjusted everything to their proportions and then put it back approximately where they thought it was. Which is not where it needs to be for you.

The fuel is never exactly full. Someone flew it and brought it back with four hours of reserve instead of topping it off, which is legal and fine and still mildly irritating when you were planning to skip the fuel stop.

There are always squawks. Little things, noted and open, living in the maintenance log. Nothing that makes the aircraft unairworthy. Everything that makes you wonder briefly whether you should fly today.

I'm telling you all of this not to discourage you, but to preempt the mild surprise that comes with your first month in a club. These are the small frictions of shared ownership. They are real, and they are worth it.

Why It's Still Better

Because the airplane is there. Every week. Ready to fly. Not dependent on whether you can afford an unexpected squawk on your own. Not dependent on whether you can cover the insurance premium after a slow month at work. Shared, maintained, legal, ready.

I have flown 340 hours as a flying club member. I would estimate that 200 of those hours wouldn't have happened if I were flying on my own. The access is different. The psychology is different. When you own a share of something, you fly it.

Adjust the seat. Check the fuel. Read the squawk log. Then go fly. It's worth it.