Legal

Club Rules

  1. To fly Club aircraft as PIC, pilots must be paid-up members of the Kurusha Club or suitably-qualified instructors or examiners. Instructors and examiners are automatically included on the insurance when they are instructing or examining Club members, whether or not they’re members themselves.
  2. Pilots flying Club aircraft must not have claimed on any aviation insurance within the last five years.
  3. Club instructors are not bound by the recency rules in this section, but if out of date may not fly as PIC without the agreement of the Club manager or Chief Instructor.
  4. Club members may only fly as PIC if they have been checked out by one of the Club’s instructors and been signed off as competent. A flight with one of the Club’s instructors is required at least once per year, regardless of the circumstances. This includes instructors.
  5. Pilots flying Club aircraft are liable for the insurance excess, should they have an incident that requires an insurance claim; this currently stands at £1200. If the Club management decide not to claim on insurance, pilots having an incident will be liable for an amount that will not exceed the insurance excess. This paragraph does not apply to students flying under the authorisation of an instructor, in which situations the instructor will also not be held liable for the excess.
  6. Club members must have at least an NPPL, LAPL(A) or PPL(A) with an appropriate rating that allows them to fly the Club aircraft, as well as an appropriate medical, in order to fly as PIC. They must have completed and correctly recorded any differences or familiarisation training that may be necessary. It is each member’s responsibility to keep their licence, ratings and medical in date. Copies of each member’s licence and medical must be given to Club management prior to flying PIC; these will be returned or deleted on request, but pilots should note that they will not be allowed to fly PIC unless the Club holds up to date copies of both licence and medical.
  7. If two Club members fly together then one must be nominated as the PIC.
  8. Members must keep their paper logbook up to date and produce it for inspection if requested by Club management.
  9. Members must fly at least one take-off and landing every six weeks on Club aircraft as PIC or under the supervision of a Club instructor. Members who fail to achieve this must undertake a dual flight with a Club instructor before flying PIC.
  10. Members must have an aerobatic rating and be checked out by a Club instructor who is authorised to teach aerobatics before they can fly aerobatics as PIC in Club aircraft. In addition, they must have logged at least half an hour of aerobatics or demonstrated aerobatic competence to a Club aerobatics instructor in the previous month.
  11. Club instructors may not teach aerobatics unless their licence permits this and they have received instruction in recovery from inverted spins.
  12. Instruction notwithstanding, members may not use the aircraft for any purpose other than pleasure. Cost-sharing with people who were not personally known to the pilot before the flight (e.g. using cost-sharing websites) is not permitted, although it is permissible for members to receive a proportionate contribution towards the cost of a flight from friends and family. This is not to be abused, and the CAA guidance on the matter must be strictly adhered to.
  13. Club members are not to carry out any maintenance on the aircraft themselves other than the following:
    • Topping up the engine oil;
    • Removing and refitting engine panels for inspection in accordance with the pre-flight drills;
    • Tightening dzus fasteners and screws.
  14. Pilots flying Club aircraft are responsible for ensuring:
    1. The safety and security of the aircraft and any passengers from the moment that they or one of their party first boards the aircraft.
    2. That they carry enough fuel and oil, and that these are the correct types. For the purposes of this paragraph, ‘enough fuel’ means sufficient for start-up and taxy, take-off and climb, trip + 10%, diversion + 10% (if IFR), approach and landing, while maintaining a 30 minute reserve.
    3. The safe hangaring of the aircraft (whenever possible) or secure picketing and covering of it, in the event of an overnight stop, including the fitting of all available ‘remove before flight’ items (e.g. the pitot cover).
    4. That aerobatics are not flown in such a way as to cause nuisance to persons on the ground. The absolute minimum height above ground is to be 2000 ft unless practising for or competing in an organised aerobatic contest, in which case such practice must be at a location that has been specifically notified for the same and the minimum height is then in accordance with the minimum box height for the level of competition. Members are personally responsible for following up any noise or nuisance complaints made against them.
    5. That personal items such as maps, pens etc. are removed from the aircraft after flight in order to ensure that there are no unknown loose items left in the aircraft.
    6. That copies of all required documents are in the aircraft prior to flight. The documents that must be carried are:
      • An up-to-date map of the area in which the flight will take place. A moving map phone/tablet app is acceptable but pilots are strongly encouraged to carry a paper map as backup.
      • Certificate of Airworthiness;
      • Airworthiness Review Certificate;
      • Certificate of Registration;
      • Noise Certificate (if required);
      • Insurance Certificate;
      • Mass and balance data;
      • Radio Installation Certificate and Radio Licence;
      • Pilot licences and medical certificates;
      • Interception procedures.
  15. Club members may only take aircraft away for extended periods if this is agreed in advance by management. There must be provision for hangarage or secure tie-down facilities at the destination.
  16. Club accounts will be made available to members on request.
  17. Club members may have their membership terminated if they fail to comply with any of these rules. The manager’s decision is final in this regard.
  18. Club membership and aircraft hire will be charged at the following rates. Note that we are not registered for VAT.
    • Flight experiences / sample lessons: £130 for 30 mins / £190 for 45 mins;
    • Self-fly hire: £220 per hour;
    • Instruction: £250 per hour;
    • Groundschool (extra to pre-flight briefs, as arranged with the instructor): £40 per hour;
    • Use of instructor in own aircraft: £50 per hour.
    • Full membership: £20 per month, payable in advance by Standing Order. Gives access to the clubhouse, aircraft and social events.
    • Associate membership: £5 per month. Gives access to the clubhouse and social events.
  19. Financial
    • We are doing everything we can to keep prices as low as possible, so the office is not normally manned. Nick lives just a few minutes away, however, so if you arrive and there’s nobody there just call and if he’s free he’ll pop along to say hello and put the kettle on.
    • As another way to keep prices low we won’t be registering for VAT until we absolutely have to, but this means we have to keep our turnover below the VAT threshold. To this aim, when the aircraft is refuelled after a sortie we might ask you to pay for the fuel – this will be considered the norm for SFH – and the amount you pay will be taken off your invoice. This will make no difference to the amount you pay but it will reduce our turnover, which means we won’t have to add VAT just yet.
    • Because the office will not normally be manned, payment will not normally be taken on the day; instead pilots will be sent an invoice shortly afterwards, which will be payable on receipt.
    • Payment should normally be made by bank transfer. Only in cases where members do not have access to this will payment be taken by credit/debit card. Cash will not be accepted.
    • Regardless of what times pilots record in the flight record sheet, flight times for billing purposes will taken from CloudbaseGA (a GPS device in the aircraft) and are accurate to the nearest minute.