Member Training FAQs

Club members have the opportunity to pursue full progression of pilot ratings here, from Private Pilot to Multi-Engine, with guidance from experienced club instructors.

Backcountry flying is some of the most complex and demanding flying a pilot can undertake. For safety, all members must meet a high proficiency standard before beginning backcountry instruction which is all spelled out in our guideline sheet. Once you’re ready, you’ll train with one of our backcountry-certified CFIs, starting with Class A airstrips during your first year.

After demonstrating strong proficiency, judgement, and aircraft handling skills, pilots may progress to more challenging strips in subsequent seasons. Advancement is always based on demonstrated skill, not time alone with safety as our top priority.

In the short run, that may be true. However, an advantage of being a club member in KBOI’s Class C airspace is that from day one you are working in and part of the Air Traffic Control (ATC) system. With that experience, you can comfortably and confidently fly into other large airports or small reliever airports located within “busy” airspace. Flying into Spokane’s major airport or the smaller Felts Field is no different than going in and out of Boise. There are numerous pilots who obtain their primary training from smaller, uncontrolled airports that are reluctant, if not anxious, to land at airports under class B, C and D rules. This is very unfortunate, and limits the utility of flying yourself. Also, KBOI has some of the most “small” plane friendly controllers around.

With a private pilot's license, you can fly pretty much anywhere you like for pleasure or business. Distances shrink dramatically once you can fly there. You can fly to McCall for breakfast in less than an hour. You can fly to Arizona in less than a day. You can fly on a sunny Saturday just for the fun of it. You can carry passengers. As a student pilot, you can’t do that. That doesn’t mean you can fly for hire, though. But you can share pro rata expenses with your passengers. You can fly for business. In other words, if your job requires some travel, and you want to use your piloting skills, your business can reimburse you for the expenses incurred with using an airplane, but it has to be just incidental to doing that business.

We’re a nonprofit organization existing solely for the purpose of providing its members with aircraft for their personal use and enjoyment only, which includes providing education to pilot and non-pilot members. Initial membership is $800 and monthly dues are $105. Annual fees for years 2-5 are $175. After five years' continuous active membership, annual fees cease. Members who fly receive a $30 fly-back credit the month they fly, thus encouraging proficiency and lowering dues to $75. Club aircraft are all owned by club members and leased back to the club. The aircraft are operated at cost; every dollar earned by an aircraft goes back to that aircraft. Salaries and operating expenses are financed by dues and fees.

We use an online scheduler that keeps track of all your flights. At the end of the month, you’ll be e-mailed a statement of all charges made that month. You must pay off that statement by the 15th of the following month. Or you can put money on account and fly that off. A guesstimate of a typical flight lesson would be about 1 hour of flight time (a Cessna 172 goes for $120/hour) and about an hour and a half of the flight instructor’s time (they’re a bargain at $68/hour). The flight instructor is paid the same amount whether he is giving ground or flight instruction. The typical lesson is going to take about two hours of your time. There will be some that take longer.