Pay on Tach Time not Hobbs Time
VFR flight from KLEX to 27K
Our Fleet Headliner: the Diamond Star
Our entire fleet is equipped with IFR panel-mount GPS
About Us
Chartered as a nonprofit Kentucky corporation in 1953, the Lexington Flying Club, Inc. presently can provide you with access to five airplanes. They are three Cessna 172's, a Piper Archer II and a Diamond Star, DA-40.
The club is operated to provide its members with low cost flying, safety training and continuing pilot education. All aircraft are based at Lexington's Blue Grass Airport and are maintained by FAA certified maintenance personnel to assure prompt and qualified service. A Club "Maintenance Officer" is elected for each airplane to assure that any discrepancies reported by Club pilots are quickly corrected. Scheduling of Club airplanes is coordinated through a 24 hour computerized internet based reservation system so members are assured of getting immediate status / availability information about the aircraft anytime they wish to fly. You will find that, if you plan to fly two and a half to three hours or more a month, a Club membership is more economical than renting.
The Club has approximately 150 members (approximately 80 active flyers.) Flying experience is not required for membership; in fact, about one fifth of our members are student pilots, taking lessons from Club approved flight instructors, and working towards that private pilot certificate.
Ladies, please consider us as well; several of our pilots with wallets full of ratings carry those wallets in their purses!
Although the Club is not a flight school, per se, Club approved instructors are available and have helped many of the Club's pilots obtain private and instrument and commercial ratings. We will be glad to recommend an instructor to you if you don't already have someone in mind.
Meetings
The club has regular monthly meetings (in-person and via Zoom) at 6:30pm on the second Tuesday of each month in the WestLEX facility off Gumbert Rd. One monthly meeting each quarter is typically used as a forum for a safety program. The club also has occasional social programs such as an annual banquet, fly-ins, picnics, and wash/wax parties.
Membership Levels
There are two main membership levels, Restricted and Full. Restricted members may fly the Cessnas after a $300.00 initiation fee. Restricted members pay monthly dues of $45.00. Full members may fly all airplanes after a $600.00 initiation fee. Full members pay monthly dues of $64.00.
There is also a membership that bridges the two main membership levels, providing a way to incrementally pay the difference in initiation fees as you continue to fly the Cessna 172's. Once the FULL membership initiation fee is paid off, you can then start flying the Archer and the Diamond Star.
Pilots in the Restricted level of membership fly the Cessna 172's at $8/hr more than the rate shown below. Other restrictions on the Restricted membership level include a restriction on how far out in time you may schedule (7 days) and a restriction to single day reservations. See the Bylaws for more information about the club membership levels.
Planes
Most of club aircraft have coupled autopilots with heading bug. All aircraft are IFR Certified, have two or four place intercoms, dual Nav-Comms, and best of all, IFR enroute and approach approved moving map GPS units! Two of our planes qualify as Technically Advanced Aircraft, which means that you can train in them for your Commercial certificate and take that checkride in one of them. We have GPS simulators available in the Members Area of our website that you can load on your PC and practice with the various GPS units while in the comfort of your own home or office.
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N65641
2005 Cessna 172R. Equipped with Garmin G5, GPS175, GI275, and a coupled autopilot with heading bug.
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N213DS
2004 Diamond DA-40. Equipped with Garmin 530/430 radio stack and King KAP 140 two-axis (pitch and roll) autopilot with altitude hold feature.
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N3001W
1979 Piper Archer II. Equipped with Garmin 430W WAAS Enabled GPS/Nav/Comm system and S-TEC autopilot. Provides wing-leveler capability even after gyro or vacuum pump failure.
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N13821
1974 Cessna 172M Skyhawk.
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N61622
1975 Cessna 172M Skyhawk.
Rates (effective 6/1/22)
| Model | Per Tach Hour | Out-of-Pocket cost (approximation assuming self-serve fuel) | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cessna 172 | $146.25 | $104.00 | Available to restricted members for +$8/hr |
| 2005 Cessna 172R | $153.50 | $108.75 | Available to restricted members for +$8/hr |
| 2004 Diamond Star | $170.50 | $115.75 | Available to full members only |
| 1979 Archer II | $169375 | $129.00 | Available to full members only |
Rates include all gas, oil, maintenance, insurance and related expenses. The hourly rate for an LFC airplane is the tach time rate times the number of tach hours flown.
Here is how we set the tach time rate: we make an assumption that avgas will cost $6.50/gal to refuel the airplane. After you fly you refuel the airplane, leaving the tanks full.
If you pay $5.50/gal the club will reimburse you for the amount you paid for fuel PLUS a rebate based on how much lower the price is that you paid as compared to the $6.50 price we assumed.
Example: you buy 20 gallons of fuel at $5.50/gal. The club reimburses you the $110 (20 * 5.5) plus rebates back another $20 (20 * 1) because the fuel price was a dollar less than the club-assumed price of $6.50/gal. Couple that with the fact that an actual hour of flying time (hobbs-measured) will result in a typical tachometer reading of about 0.8 hours. That 20% savings over actual time, plus the savings due to the fuel rebates yields the estimated "out of pocket" rates shown on our website.
The Club carries $100K per person / $1,000,000 per accident liability insurance in the event of an injury or accident. This policy protects both you and the club!
If you fly one of the newer aircraft offered in the area, be aware that you are exposing yourself to a $150,000+ liability if you prang one of their airplanes. Typical FBO coverage covers only the FBO and provides no liability coverage to you, the renter. And, you can expect that they will come after you for their $2,500 - $5,000 deductible. In fact, if you rent anybody's plane, be sure to consider having renter's insurance to cover you. None of this is needed if you are just flying LFC planes.