As a novice pilot, I would like to see my club (and every club) charge lesson fees. I think it is very rare for people to appreciate something that is given for free.

Obviously, they couldn't be much, but even $5 per session would at least make you think that you should listen enough to get your money's worth. Charge in advance and you might cut down on the absenteeism. I firmly believe that flying at an AMA field is a priviledge, not a right.

And, if the club wanted, it could use that money to "award" the novice pilot with a hat or t-shirt and wings. I'm 39 and I wouldn't mind a pair of wings (that I'd earned).

In fact, I considered offering the one good instructor money to meet me on a different day than the regular "training night". In our club, there are no standards for instructors and some of them are pretty bad. The instructor-coordinator is worse at landings than I am.

On the engine tuning topic, I haven't heard anyone who whines about the student's fiddling with the knobs say they had walked the student through the process (with his/her hands on the knob). I STILL haven't been able to get anyone to do that for me, they just want to set it up and move on. That's fine the first few times, but eventually, I want to understand how to do it myself.



GB