Westchester flying club

J

Johann

Pre-takeoff checklist
Joined
Jul 18, 2013
Messages
372
Display Name
Display name:
Johann
I've been thinking for a while about this club: http://www.wfc-hpn.org.

Anyone here a current or past member? Or anyone that has evaluated them in the past?

Any info would be useful. I know they have a monthly meeting and I'll probably attend at some point.

Feel free to PM me if that's more convenient.

Just for reference for those not familiar: it's $1600 to join ($600 reimbursed when leaving), $165 monthly dues. The rates seem pretty reasonable for the area. Not a lot cheaper than renting I think, but might come with other advantages over renting from am FBO.

Thanks!
 
How does fueling work if you're on an extended trip? You buy it and then get reimbursed or deduct it from your rental costs?
 
I've looked into them a bit. Pricing seems to be pretty reasonable and they will reimburse fuel up to the price per gallon on the the home field.

I was thinking of going to one of their monthly meeting this spring.
 
Expensive, but that is Westchester County. Are you buying a share of the aircraft or are they leased back to the FC. Basically, monthly dues should cover insurance, tiedown, and other fixed costs (res system, mailings, etc).

For a comparison, here is a Texas FC with similar but leased back equipment, lower dues, lower rental rate, and you get your deposit back.

http://www.rfcdallas.com/aircraftRates.asp
 
35B33 said:
Expensive, but that is Westchester County. Are you buying a share of the aircraft or are they leased back to the FC. Basically, monthly dues should cover insurance, tiedown, and other fixed costs (res system, mailings, etc).

For a comparison, here is a Texas FC with similar but leased back equipment, lower dues, lower rental rate, and you get your deposit back.

http://www.rfcdallas.com/aircraftRates.asp
Click to expand...
The aircraft are owned by the club
 
35B33 said:
Expensive, but that is Westchester County. Are you buying a share of the aircraft or are they leased back to the FC. Basically, monthly dues should cover insurance, tiedown, and other fixed costs (res system, mailings, etc).

For a comparison, here is a Texas FC with similar but leased back equipment, lower dues, lower rental rate, and you get your deposit back.

http://www.rfcdallas.com/aircraftRates.asp
Click to expand...
Interesting. My understanding is that the club owns the planes.
In any case, I don't have plans to move to Texas so I can't compare with something there.

It is pricy, but from what I saw those are the numbers in this area, and it's in line with rentals.
 
35B33 said:
Expensive, but that is Westchester County. Are you buying a share of the aircraft or are they leased back to the FC. Basically, monthly dues should cover insurance, tiedown, and other fixed costs (res system, mailings, etc).

For a comparison, here is a Texas FC with similar but leased back equipment, lower dues, lower rental rate, and you get your deposit back.

http://www.rfcdallas.com/aircraftRates.asp
Click to expand...

Keep in mind Westchesters rates are TACH hour, so that .75 to 1 or so.
 
Nothing flies like a rental :dunno:
 
Tach works out well for pattern work, slow flight, training etc. I think the club Archer I used to fly had Tach = Hobbs at 2400rpm.

On the flipside, you can certainly cruise faster than 2400rpm in an Archer, during which time Tach actually runs faster than Hobbs.
 
I flew that Arrow 2500/25", so Tacho ran faster in cruise than Hobbs, but the long'ish (KTPA/KMIA) clearance/taxi times compensated so they were pretty much 1:1 after my trip.
 
tiger said:
Tach works out well for pattern work, slow flight, training etc. I think the club Archer I used to fly had Tach = Hobbs at 2400rpm.

On the flipside, you can certainly cruise faster than 2400rpm in an Archer, during which time Tach actually runs faster than Hobbs.
Click to expand...

Tach was FASTER than the Hobbs... Maybe I haven't had enough tea today, explain how that works.

Sounds like something needs adjusting.
 
Because tach is calibrated at a specific RPM, which is not necessarily redline.
 
Tach is total revolutions / reference*60. If you run higher revs than reference (often 2400), you will get higher tacho reading, running 2500 gives about 1,05 factor to Hobbs in cruise if reference is 2400.
 
Depending on the tach, somewhere around 2200-2400 rpm equals one hour on the hobbs. Big airport, long taxi times, waiting for takeoff, and short flights favor tach time.

This seems to be a club with the XC pilot in mind and dera's results are more realistic.
 
The Westchester prices seem OK. Our V35 goes for $130, but the monthly is $300.
 
So with the tachs in your planes it's cheaper to rent by Hobbs? Something ain't right.
 
I'm actually more concerned about availability. I wish I could look into the schedule system for this past year, that would give me a pretty good idea.
Their member to airplane ratio is 10 to 1.
 
James331 said:
So with the tachs in your planes it's cheaper to rent by Hobbs? Something ain't right.
Click to expand...
The tach is counting revolutions of the prop and (at least in the Archer) dividing that count by 2400*60. If you can spin the prop more than 2400*60 times in a Hobbs hour, tach time will be greater than Hobbs time.

Redline is 2700rpm in an Archer, three Hobbs hours like that and you'll see 3h20m tach. If you always fly that profile, yes, renting by Hobbs would be cheaper.

Obviously, you only see tach >= Hobbs in practice on long flights where you use high power settings. Pattern work, shorter flights (where the descent etc comprise a larger proportion), or just cruising at slightly lower power settings give the 'normal' result.
 
Johann said:
I'm actually more concerned about availability. I wish I could look into the schedule system for this past year, that would give me a pretty good idea.
Their member to airplane ratio is 10 to 1.
Click to expand...
When I joined a club I asked them to show me their scheduling system so I could see. I would expect you'll have to go meet them anyway; they probably won't have any problem doing that.
 
I am a member of WFC.

We have two Archers, two Arrows, two Bonanzas, and new to the fleet is a Cirrus SR-20 - G2. Because of the recent purchase of the Cirrus, the monthly dues is now up to $190. The dues is set to cover all the fixed expenses of ownership, with the flight hour charge set to cover the variable costs.

Most of the information here is correct. WFC owns the planes. Scheduling is done through Schedulemaster, an on-line resource. Access to planes is pretty good with the 10:1 ratio. One of our members recently took an Archer to California so long trips are certainly possible.

Fuel bought away is a direct credit to your flight time charge (up to the price of fuel at KHPN, but since KHPN is the high priced spread, it would be hard to pay more elsewhere). We have a fuel deal with at least two less expensive airports: KDXR and KPOU where the fuel is direct billed to the WFC so that you pay nothing out of pocket to fuel there. Other airports, bring home your receipt. Recently, fuel at KDXR has become more expensive (relative to other airports) so we don't fuel there much anymore.

The Westchester Flying Club began many years ago. I don't know exactly when, but its age is measured in decades. It is a good group of people with (obviously) flying as the common element. If you are at all interested, please attend one of our monthly meetings and ask for me. I don't make every meeting but no matter... come on in and make yourself at home.

-Skip
 
Last edited:
Johann said:
I'm actually more concerned about availability. I wish I could look into the schedule system for this past year, that would give me a pretty good idea.
Their member to airplane ratio is 10 to 1.
Click to expand...

Go to one of their meetings and I'm sure come one would be able to show you the schedule. At 10/1 I'm sure availability is pretty good.
 
Skip Miller said:
I am a member of WFC.

We have two Archers, two Arrows, two Bonanzas, and new to the fleet is a Cirrus SR-20 - G2. Because of the recent purchase of the Cirrus, the monthly dues is now up to $190. The dues is set to cover all the fixed expenses of ownership, with the flight hour charge set to cover the variable costs.

Most of the information here is correct. WFC owns the planes. Scheduling is done through Schedulemaster, an on-line resource. Access to planes is pretty good with the 10:1 ratio. One of our members recently took an Archer to California so long trips are certainly possible.

Fuel bought away is a direct credit to your flight time charge (up to the price of fuel at KHPN, but since KHPN is the high priced spread, it would be hard to pay more elsewhere). We have a fuel deal with at least two less expensive airports: KDXR and KPOU where the fuel is direct billed to the WFC so that you pay nothing out of pocket to fuel there. Other airports, bring home your receipt. Recently, fuel at KDXR has become more expensive (relative to other airports) so we don't fuel there much anymore.

The Westchester Flying Club began many years ago. I don't know exactly when, but its age is measured in decades. It is a good group of people with (obviously) flying as the common element. If you are at all interested, please attend one of our monthly meetings and ask for me. I don't make every meeting but no matter... come on in and make yourself at home.

-Skip
Click to expand...

Thanks Skip.
Any idea what the minimums are to be able to fly the Cirrus?.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top