How much are your club fees each year?

[John Privett]

Vecchio - perhaps you can coment on something.

 

Our perception (well mine anyway!) is that clubs in mainland Europe and the USA very often own their flying site, or have a long lease on it,  and also have permanent facilities like a clubhouse etc. on site.  And consequently their fees have to be somewhat higher.  Whereas UK clubs more often only have a farmer's field and maybe an old shipping container to store the mower in, and not much else.

 

From a Euro-perspective do you think our (my!) perception is right?  Or do we, in the UK, only notice the rich, expensive clubs in Europe with marvellous facilities,  and don't see the ones that are more like what we have, and perhaps are more typical?

[Vecchio Austriaco]

John,

 

we don't own our flying site, it's a lease contract with the site owner, and I don't know exactly for how many years this contract is valid. Also we don't have the facilties like a club house. We have a few weatherproof steel tables, which are so heavy nobody will think of stealing them. We have a coat  rack and a news board, and also a frequency table to avoid interfereces between us.

We have leased also a second piece of land which is the car park - in appoximately 250m distance from the field.

What we have is a very nice view - as we are very close to the alps.

The mower is stored at the garage of a club member which lives near by and is also payed by us for the actual mowing and the necessary maintenance of the mower. (this is part of the annual fee) And we have also a road roller which is stored under plastic in the parking area.

 

Have a look if you are interested. http://www.alalecco.it/home.html

If you go to "campo e regolamenti" you will find also a 360° view of the place.  

 

I saw 2 other fields in Italy in the area where I live - no difference to ours. So the super nice fields are somewhere else.

 

For instance in Dubai. Saw 2 fields there - one of them completely free of charge, asphalt approximately 120 x 40 m. So no problem in bringing your plane to the runway....

tables, light, and I thank also electric sockets.

 

The other one even more serious - a bit outside Dubai on the motorway direction Al Amein - (but in a good distance from the motorway)with a runway of  approximately 200 m of asphalt, also at least 40 m wide, climatised containers as a clubhouse, toilets, tables with sunshades and power sockets.

VA

 

Edited By Vecchio Austriaco on 17/05/2010 14:42:29

[John Privett]

Thanks Vecchio! 

 

So probably for all of us, it's "somebody else" who has the superb facilities!

[IanN]

£77 including bmfa. Two sites.

 

Best of all, a great committee who enforce the rules pleasantly, but firmly and diligently - priceless

[Ross Clarkson]

RAF Brize = £20.

Ewe Farm, Newington = £60.

[Former Member]

[This posting has been removed]

[Martin Harris - Moderator]

Posted by John Privett on 17/05/2010 13:42:52:

 

Our perception (well mine anyway!) is that clubs in mainland Europe and the USA very often own their flying site, or have a long lease on it,  and also have permanent facilities like a clubhouse etc. on site.  And consequently their fees have to be somewhat higher.  Whereas UK clubs more often only have a farmer's field and maybe an old shipping container to store the mower in, and not much else.

 

From a Euro-perspective do you think our (my!) perception is right?  Or do we, in the UK, only notice the rich, expensive clubs in Europe with marvellous facilities,  and don't see the ones that are more like what we have, and perhaps are more typical?

 

Interesting.

 

We own our site (5 1/4 acres bought by a far-sighted  committee in 1982 for £5000 with a mortgage and some loans from members). Fees are (IIRC) £58 plus BMFA which allows us to continue to maintain and improve the site e.g. in the last few years we've built a large garage for our tractor and mower and a 3Metre safety fence, we maintain our small but perfectly formed clubhouse, insure our property and make many smaller investments in tools and maintenance while maintaining a healthy float for unforeseen expenditure.  Oh, and we pay a little over £100 rates...which is really our only compulsory expenditure!

 

So I'd say that our club is now much cheaper to run than one renting a field with the benefit that we can invest in infrastructure.  I could only recommend clubs to invest in their own land if at all possible - even if it's a stretch at the time. It would seem that by buying the field, we have benefited handsomely over the years.

 

 

[John Privett]

Thanks for that Martin - most interesting.

 

My question was based on the thought that we sometimes see pics in the magazines of a club with excellent facilities - large field,  clubhouse, car park, swimming pool (OK - maybe not the swimming pool!) etc.  And those clubs usually seem to be in the US or Europe. Meanwhile the image of a typical club here is a field with a hedge to shelter behind out of the wind if you're lucky.

 

But your example shows that some clubs here have gone down the road of buying their own site - and done very well out of it too.  I wonder, with land prices possibly rather inflated in the last 20-odd years, how realistic a proposition it would be for clubs to do that now...  Location may be a big factor too I guess.

[Martin Harris - Moderator]

We were certainly lucky in that ours was an old sewage works which meant that the land couldn't be used for agriculture for 25 years which no doubt helped on the price and kept rival bidders away. I'd guess that you're unlikely to pick up anything at less than £5000 an acre these days but maybe with a lottery grant or some other funding it might still be within the capabilities of a club with a reasonable membership?

Edited By Martin Harris on 19/05/2010 16:26:42

[Simon Roberts]

I pay £55 a year plus first year you have to pay £20 joining fee, we get BMFA insurance. Only thing is we only get 3 days a week to fly plus any public and local holidays. And thats Blackburn Disctrict Model Aircraft Club.

[Phil Claridge]

your going down the list ken our club CADMAC chichester has 136 current members, two flying sites and a gliding site,fees are £69 including BMFA. we have monthly club nights in a sports and social club with electric park flying and control line in the summer mounths

[Ed Anderson]

Our club fee is $35 US /per year.  

 

We have the good fortune of flying on land that is part of a nature preserve, so we don't have to pay rent for use of the land.  And the local parks department cuts the grass once a month for us.  So our operating costs are low.

 

I would guess that this would be one of the lower annual fees among US based clubs.

 

Ed

[leccyflyer]

Posted by Phil B on 16/05/2010 13:57:32:

why do so mant clubs have an extra fee for new members. I will fall foul of this because my job forces me to move house every 2 or 3 years

Although the club did did very kindly wave this fee for me

 

In our case it is because of the Club Constitution which grants all members a share in the club assets in the event that the club is dissolved. There is also a degree of additional administration, postage, printing etc for brand new members.

 

Club membership automatically ceases if subs have not been payed by a certain date and the joining fee becomes payable, with a certain degree of leeway and individual arrangements in the event of financial hardship, which encourages payment of the subs at the appropriate time in the winter months.

 

If that were not in place then you might expect to get a ruck of members leaving payment of their subs until the decent flying weather comes around.

 

Our club subs are £42  year for seniors, plus BMFA and £10 for juniors, plus BMFA. The joining fee is £10 for seniors only,

[Phil 9]

Posted by Timbo - Administrator on 16/05/2010 15:48:20:
The subject of joining fees has been discussed quite a lot lately - in fact it was reduced at the last AGM from £25.  I think its fair really - as a brand new member has access to and benefits from all that the long term members have put in to the club over and above simply paying their fees.  Several members contribute their time and labour on projects to make a club what it is, and certain facilities and benefits only exist because of past effort.  Another consideration, albeit smaller IMO is the admin cost and work involved in processing a new member. I think joining fees apply to many such clubs, not just aeromodellers.

 

 

  I don’t think you can charge for the previous efforts of others at the club and the admin cost of a new member is negligible . My belief is new members would in turn offer their time and effort for the future running and long term prosperity of the club.

As new members are in most cases beginners who have just paid out for a starter equipment maybe if might be better to offer beginners cheaper rates for the first year. The theory being it might help encourage new members and boost participation of our sport. To keep sites open for flying in this increasingly overcrowded country of ours we have to offer a benefit to wider society. I mean by this more participation in our sport will benefit our sport and clubs become sociable places for many members of the local population (Many clubs are already this). Not just an elite club for the chosen few (like some clubs I could mention)

[neil jones]

south wales valley fliers 80 bucks a year with soon to be bmfa ins included open 7 days a week bargain

[Allan Bowker]

Walsall MAC - £55 per annum with no BMFA membership