I've been PPL flying for a few years now and due to a relocation, I don't fly at the club I learned at.
The particular club/airfield in question is very good at communication/customer service. They pick up phone calls or call back within an hour, they've got a very helpful and knowledgeable Operations Manager and I've always felt during my time there that there were plenty of people I could ask for an opinion if I was unsure of anything. Overall, it has always seemed well-run, just a shame it's now well over a hundred miles away.
After the relocation, I began flying at club number two. It was mainly a warbird operation and the focus was very much on that, there wasn't much of a club-specific ops presence for GA, which took a bit of getting used to. The airfield and club were two very distinct operations and trying to talk to one about the other was hard work, even about things where both were involved. I also felt there was an undercurrent of cliques and politics (there seemed to be a "we've flown here 30 years" lot and everyone else), the airfield is the subject of another recent thread on here (which I've stayed away from) and the verdict seems that it isn't the place it used to be. I decided to move on to club number three.
Club number three started well but a recent change in management and seemingly bad luck with aircraft U/S has left me scratching my head. I arrived recently after a fifty-mile journey to be told the aircraft was U/S, was going to take my prospective partner up for her first GA trip, perfect weather too. No warning in advance (despite the problem having been noticed at least a couple of hours earlier), no apology, just a matter of fact "no flying today, aircraft U/S" followed by a brief chat about why it was U/S and timescales for fixing it. I'm left thinking as to whether I need to choose a club number four.
I recall reading many years ago of a CFI who sat down all prospective PPLs and explained the costs of flying, the commitment required and the fact that price-wise, it was pretty much the top-end of the leisure industry. I would like to think that any organisation operating at the top-end of the leisure industry would be able to communicate reliably with customers/club members. I used to fly gliders before my PPL and even though the club there was not-for-profit, they still did a good job of communicating stuff, were pretty much on a par with the club I learned PPL flying at.
Am I being unrealistic and somewhat entitled? Did the gliding club and club number one spoil me a bit?
The particular club/airfield in question is very good at communication/customer service. They pick up phone calls or call back within an hour, they've got a very helpful and knowledgeable Operations Manager and I've always felt during my time there that there were plenty of people I could ask for an opinion if I was unsure of anything. Overall, it has always seemed well-run, just a shame it's now well over a hundred miles away.
After the relocation, I began flying at club number two. It was mainly a warbird operation and the focus was very much on that, there wasn't much of a club-specific ops presence for GA, which took a bit of getting used to. The airfield and club were two very distinct operations and trying to talk to one about the other was hard work, even about things where both were involved. I also felt there was an undercurrent of cliques and politics (there seemed to be a "we've flown here 30 years" lot and everyone else), the airfield is the subject of another recent thread on here (which I've stayed away from) and the verdict seems that it isn't the place it used to be. I decided to move on to club number three.
Club number three started well but a recent change in management and seemingly bad luck with aircraft U/S has left me scratching my head. I arrived recently after a fifty-mile journey to be told the aircraft was U/S, was going to take my prospective partner up for her first GA trip, perfect weather too. No warning in advance (despite the problem having been noticed at least a couple of hours earlier), no apology, just a matter of fact "no flying today, aircraft U/S" followed by a brief chat about why it was U/S and timescales for fixing it. I'm left thinking as to whether I need to choose a club number four.
I recall reading many years ago of a CFI who sat down all prospective PPLs and explained the costs of flying, the commitment required and the fact that price-wise, it was pretty much the top-end of the leisure industry. I would like to think that any organisation operating at the top-end of the leisure industry would be able to communicate reliably with customers/club members. I used to fly gliders before my PPL and even though the club there was not-for-profit, they still did a good job of communicating stuff, were pretty much on a par with the club I learned PPL flying at.
Am I being unrealistic and somewhat entitled? Did the gliding club and club number one spoil me a bit?
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