Assuming this would be able to work out, how much are we talking about per person, ball park?
So here's the basic deal (I'm going to try and lay it out assuming you have no clue, but maybe you know a lot of this already). The club structure is non-profit usually, which means that the costs are actually similar between the clubs. So that means that you can actually get a decent idea of cost by looking at what clubs' rates are. In the NY area, the rates are as follows:
- ~$500 initiation fee, non-refundable
- a refundable deposit (this is where the range is pretty large, which makes sense. It's a deposit, so it's not really a cost)
- monthly maintenance fee of between ~ $60 and $100 per month
- hourly rate (billed by tach hour, not hobbs, and it can include fuel or not - "wet" and "dry", respectively). If it includes fuel, it can be ~$100/hour, and if you have to pay for your own fuel, it can be between $60-$80/hr depending on the type of plane).
The above costs are more than enough to cover tie-downs and basic regular fees. That's intentional, because you need to cover the mortgage and also put money away for expected maintenance costs (like engine refurbs, new lights, etc).
Because of scheduling, most clubs have a limit on how many members they can have per plane that they own. This is another thing that makes the fees more predictable for our hypothetical scenario. If we get 10 members, that will probably make the above numbers pretty realistic I think. And we should be able to accommodate up to about 15 members or so depending on how much we all fly.
Now there is variability. Planes have a wide range of costs (anywhere from 35K-200k or more, but a decent plane will likely be in the 60k-100k range). Also, which airport can have a significant impact on cost (tiedown fees, for example).
Anyway, those are my thoughts.
