Aviation Board Wants Changes In Flying Club
November 15, 2017 at 7:51 p.m.
Instead of evicting the Warsaw Flying Club from the airport Tuesday for an unauthorized event in September, the Board of Aviation Commissioners gave it some criteria to meet.
But Club President Jon Fussle said they weren't really a flying club after all but a single member LLC so meeting criteria for a non-profit club might be challenging since the club is his business.
On Sept. 19, the club hosted a barbecue and flour bag drop at the airport without notifying Airport Manager Nick King. King happened to drive by and noticed the activities, and witnessed children and golf carts on the runway. King brought the issue to the Aviation Commissioners at its Oct. 18 meeting, adding that the Federal Aviation Administration was investigating. The board sought a written commitment from the club as to what steps the club would take to make sure the problems weren’t repeated or else face eviction.
Board President Jay Rigdon opened discussion on the club Tuesday by saying the club provided the report as requested.
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Fussle, standing among about 40 club members, said, “I just wanted to reiterate what my email said. That we take very seriously the risk, the threat that we’re facing today and I want you to know that we appreciate you guys giving us the opportunity to speak here. It’s our priority to run a safe, effective flying club. We provide excellent flight training. We have a pass rate of over 93 percent. We have a phenomenal staff, and our ultimate goal is to create the safest, most proficient pilots possible.”
He said the club considers itself very fluent with the rules.
“I’ll tell you, this event was an eye-opener for us in that while we’re good at what we do, we’re not Nick. And we found a newfound appreciation for all that stuff he has to keep track of, all the moving parts. It’s not an easy job,” Fussle continued.
The club also got a copy of the airport rules, which Fussle said was informational for it as the club was not aware of those and they were disseminated among the members.
Fussle said when he started the flying club 14 years ago, “It was very much about me. To this day, the part that’s about me is the satisfaction, gratification I get out of teaching people to fly.”
As he and the club have grown, he said it’s no longer just about him.
“Going into this, with the fantastic idea I came up with at the time for this bomb drop and the spot-landing competition, from a pilot’s point of view, is a fantastic idea. The way I went about it was completely wrong,”Fussle said.
He also talked about how the club has trained over 40 percent of the pilots in the county, and Katye, club vice president, said the club was awarded the 2017 Flight Training Excellence Award for the fourth year from the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association.
Fussle told the commissioners he sent them the club’s plans for the future; he has communicated the airport rules to the club; and the club requests a standing appearance on the board’s agenda to keep it up to date. He said he wanted to work toward the club having a “fantastic” relationship with the airport like other clubs do with other airports.
After Fussle was done speaking, Rigdon asked the board members for their thoughts.
John Yingling told Fussle, “Based upon what I read, I think what you wrote was all great, wonderful. What I’m concerned with is, everything you’re saying there, I’ve seen you break in the past some of those things. I’ve been a pilot at this airport for many years now, and I can’t count the number of times I’ve had complaints from other pilots on things that you have personally done in the air that were unsafe things. As an example, not calling out position when you’re in the pattern.”
He said the board and the airport also had issues in the past with Fussle over where he parks his club planes and not paying bills. He said he didn’t want to hurt the club as a whole, because it’s a great thing, but safety is a priority.
Gene Zale, board member, said his one concern arose from an email from Mike Williams stating that Williams is a recent pilot who has “always felt anger against this board.”
“Now, if this is a new pilot, how would he have anger against this board? I’ve never met the man. I don’t know if he’s in here right now. The only place he can get anger is from you,” Zale said in a loud voice to Fussle. “You had to say something to him about this airport board that they weren’t kind to you or weren’t doing what you wanted done. And that is an absolute lie, and I want to take you up on that problem right now. What kind of attitude do you have with this airport board on saying that we don’t cooperate? This is what we’re here for. We’re here to sell fuel to you people so we can keep this airport going.”
Fussle responded that while he can’t speak for Williams, it must have been something that was misdirected.
Dan Robinson, commissioner, applauded the passion for flying that Fussle was engendering, the huge number of people he brought into aviation and that he hoped it continues. “We all have to play in the same sandbox, and that’s a key thing,” he said. “I would like to see the problems of the past not hinder the future.”
Rigdon said he looked up the FAA rules on what a flying club is. The FAA defines a flying club as “a non-profit or not-for-profit entity – that can mean like a corporation or an association or partnership – organized for the expressed purpose of providing its members with aircraft for their personal use and enjoyment only.” He said he also had a good handle on what not-for-profit entities should be doing, and part of that is turnover of leadership. Rigdon said club members at the October meeting said the club was going to be run like a not-for-profit organization.
Rigdon then read his five-point motion on the issue, which was to table indefinitely any consideration of termination of the Warsaw Flying Club’s agreement to operate; request the club impose term limits on all its leadership and put the limits into effect immediately; clarify that the leaders of the club have responsibility for the club’s actions or of its members during club-sponsored activities; any actions or directives of the FAA regarding the club and its activities will be followed by the airport and aviation commissioners; and the club was to provide a status report to the board by Dec. 31.
Fussle said he contacted the FAA and they are not investigating the club or the Sept. 19 event. He then pointed out that while Rigdon’s motion was fair, the club is not a non-profit but a single member LLC. “We are for profit, though we never make one, and I’m the sole member,” he said.
Rigdon said this was an opportunity for Fussle and club members to fix that. He said if they try to be a flying club without meeting the FAA regulations, “it is truly only a matter of time before those participating in it have problems from an aviation standpoint and potentially a tax standpoint, too.” He said the board was going to assume the club met the FAA definition of a flying club, but if the FAA?found out something different, that’s a problem for them.
The board voted 3-1 for Rigdon’s motion, with Robinson opposed. He said he voted against the motion because Fussle was operating the training side of it as a business, but there’s also a club atmosphere to it.
Instead of evicting the Warsaw Flying Club from the airport Tuesday for an unauthorized event in September, the Board of Aviation Commissioners gave it some criteria to meet.
But Club President Jon Fussle said they weren't really a flying club after all but a single member LLC so meeting criteria for a non-profit club might be challenging since the club is his business.
On Sept. 19, the club hosted a barbecue and flour bag drop at the airport without notifying Airport Manager Nick King. King happened to drive by and noticed the activities, and witnessed children and golf carts on the runway. King brought the issue to the Aviation Commissioners at its Oct. 18 meeting, adding that the Federal Aviation Administration was investigating. The board sought a written commitment from the club as to what steps the club would take to make sure the problems weren’t repeated or else face eviction.
Board President Jay Rigdon opened discussion on the club Tuesday by saying the club provided the report as requested.
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Fussle, standing among about 40 club members, said, “I just wanted to reiterate what my email said. That we take very seriously the risk, the threat that we’re facing today and I want you to know that we appreciate you guys giving us the opportunity to speak here. It’s our priority to run a safe, effective flying club. We provide excellent flight training. We have a pass rate of over 93 percent. We have a phenomenal staff, and our ultimate goal is to create the safest, most proficient pilots possible.”
He said the club considers itself very fluent with the rules.
“I’ll tell you, this event was an eye-opener for us in that while we’re good at what we do, we’re not Nick. And we found a newfound appreciation for all that stuff he has to keep track of, all the moving parts. It’s not an easy job,” Fussle continued.
The club also got a copy of the airport rules, which Fussle said was informational for it as the club was not aware of those and they were disseminated among the members.
Fussle said when he started the flying club 14 years ago, “It was very much about me. To this day, the part that’s about me is the satisfaction, gratification I get out of teaching people to fly.”
As he and the club have grown, he said it’s no longer just about him.
“Going into this, with the fantastic idea I came up with at the time for this bomb drop and the spot-landing competition, from a pilot’s point of view, is a fantastic idea. The way I went about it was completely wrong,”Fussle said.
He also talked about how the club has trained over 40 percent of the pilots in the county, and Katye, club vice president, said the club was awarded the 2017 Flight Training Excellence Award for the fourth year from the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association.
Fussle told the commissioners he sent them the club’s plans for the future; he has communicated the airport rules to the club; and the club requests a standing appearance on the board’s agenda to keep it up to date. He said he wanted to work toward the club having a “fantastic” relationship with the airport like other clubs do with other airports.
After Fussle was done speaking, Rigdon asked the board members for their thoughts.
John Yingling told Fussle, “Based upon what I read, I think what you wrote was all great, wonderful. What I’m concerned with is, everything you’re saying there, I’ve seen you break in the past some of those things. I’ve been a pilot at this airport for many years now, and I can’t count the number of times I’ve had complaints from other pilots on things that you have personally done in the air that were unsafe things. As an example, not calling out position when you’re in the pattern.”
He said the board and the airport also had issues in the past with Fussle over where he parks his club planes and not paying bills. He said he didn’t want to hurt the club as a whole, because it’s a great thing, but safety is a priority.
Gene Zale, board member, said his one concern arose from an email from Mike Williams stating that Williams is a recent pilot who has “always felt anger against this board.”
“Now, if this is a new pilot, how would he have anger against this board? I’ve never met the man. I don’t know if he’s in here right now. The only place he can get anger is from you,” Zale said in a loud voice to Fussle. “You had to say something to him about this airport board that they weren’t kind to you or weren’t doing what you wanted done. And that is an absolute lie, and I want to take you up on that problem right now. What kind of attitude do you have with this airport board on saying that we don’t cooperate? This is what we’re here for. We’re here to sell fuel to you people so we can keep this airport going.”
Fussle responded that while he can’t speak for Williams, it must have been something that was misdirected.
Dan Robinson, commissioner, applauded the passion for flying that Fussle was engendering, the huge number of people he brought into aviation and that he hoped it continues. “We all have to play in the same sandbox, and that’s a key thing,” he said. “I would like to see the problems of the past not hinder the future.”
Rigdon said he looked up the FAA rules on what a flying club is. The FAA defines a flying club as “a non-profit or not-for-profit entity – that can mean like a corporation or an association or partnership – organized for the expressed purpose of providing its members with aircraft for their personal use and enjoyment only.” He said he also had a good handle on what not-for-profit entities should be doing, and part of that is turnover of leadership. Rigdon said club members at the October meeting said the club was going to be run like a not-for-profit organization.
Rigdon then read his five-point motion on the issue, which was to table indefinitely any consideration of termination of the Warsaw Flying Club’s agreement to operate; request the club impose term limits on all its leadership and put the limits into effect immediately; clarify that the leaders of the club have responsibility for the club’s actions or of its members during club-sponsored activities; any actions or directives of the FAA regarding the club and its activities will be followed by the airport and aviation commissioners; and the club was to provide a status report to the board by Dec. 31.
Fussle said he contacted the FAA and they are not investigating the club or the Sept. 19 event. He then pointed out that while Rigdon’s motion was fair, the club is not a non-profit but a single member LLC. “We are for profit, though we never make one, and I’m the sole member,” he said.
Rigdon said this was an opportunity for Fussle and club members to fix that. He said if they try to be a flying club without meeting the FAA regulations, “it is truly only a matter of time before those participating in it have problems from an aviation standpoint and potentially a tax standpoint, too.” He said the board was going to assume the club met the FAA definition of a flying club, but if the FAA?found out something different, that’s a problem for them.
The board voted 3-1 for Rigdon’s motion, with Robinson opposed. He said he voted against the motion because Fussle was operating the training side of it as a business, but there’s also a club atmosphere to it.