Love the idea of sharing a flight.

I joined a flying club here in NJ about an year ago and I feel its a more economical way of flying compared to renting (given that you're billed tach time and there are no daily minimums). Having a group of fellow pilots whose experience you can tap onto is also invaluable.

Given this, I'm always left wondering why aren't there more flying clubs around?

Wondering which flying club you joined ?

I agree with Amod! The Paramus flying club is one of the best around. they have a large experienced pilot base and some great CFII's.

I live in Southern CT. Can you recommend any flying clubs around here? I am going to start taking lessons (I hope) in Januray or Feb. thanks Josh

Josh, I am sure there are clubs either flying out of your local airport or you can ask the FBO's of clubs based there and of course the internet. Good luck with your flying, Mark

Since this thread has been dormant for a while, let's try to revive it. With costs of flying being high, and still going up quite a bit year after year, the more we share the more affordable it is for all involved to stay in (or get back to) flying and to enjoying everything we love about it.

I'm regularly flying out of MMU nowadays, and always willing to take someone with me, to share both flying costs as well as excitement of flying. Let me know if anyone is interested. On those occasions I'm flying solo, I almost always wish there would be a fellow pilot (or even an excited non-pilot passenger) in the right seat.

If we get to practice simulated IFR, both of us get to log time, which could be an additional benefit if you are looking to log hours. But in either case (whether logging time or not), there's always something we can learn from each other.

I'm open to any of the following: you joining me on my flights, me joining you on yours, you suggesting specific destinations/missions (even if you are not a pilot) and us going there, etc.

Without a doubt, the cheapest flying I've done in a real airplane has been with a flying club. If you can find the right one, it's hassle free and very much like having access to your own airplane.

Keith

Once I had to work in Singapore for a while.
This would have the effect of interrupting my flight training, alas it was interrupted several times for other work-related travel, and other reasons (family, money, travel, crashed trainer).

My solution for maintaining training and currency while traveling is to find a local flight school.
This is POSSIBLE in Singapore, but is very difficult and expensive. As with other things, the price of petrol is high in Singapore. Also, there are user fees. And every flight, even training flights, are treated like a commercial flight.

At the very least, it makes one appreciate the freedom of GA we have here in the U.S.

Try non-powered flight. There are many reasons why flight training gets interrupted (I think I've personally experienced almost all of them). One big one is Financial - happened to me when I built a new house three years ago. My solution was to take up Soaring. Gliders (sail planes) are much less expensive to operate. for one thing, then burn no fuel. And the cost of an Annual is measured in hundreds, not thousands of dollars.
A club I belong to (as an inactive member, since I have returned to "powered" flight) would rent a trainer for $23/hour, and more advanced gliders for about $30-40 per hour. This was club pricing, and rates at a Commercial operation would be a little more, but not much. Each launch with a Tow Plane could cost about $22, depending on altitude released. Typically, on a training flight, we would release at 2,500 msl. With decent thermals, you could get a lot of air work in - sometimes a flight (in a "dirty" trainer) would last an hour. This includes working thermals where we could climb 500 or even 700 fpm. With no engine!!
It wasn't uncommon to release at 2500 ft and climb to 5,000.
Sometimes however, a flight might last for 15 or 20 minutes. And then you would launch again and get more airwork. And you were BUSY doing airwork, so it was like getting an hour of airwork in a powered plane.

The upside of a club over a commercial operation was not only cost, but also instruction: You would get some championship competitors who really know their stuff. And club instructors (at least in my club) do not charge for their time. All volunteer. In a commercial operation, you might pay $25/hour for a glider instructor.
The downside with a club over a commercial operation is that you might wait a long time for your chance to fly. If you expect to fly at an assigned time in a two-hour window, you would be better off going commercial. However, if you like comraderie and don't mind just hanging out at the field, helping out others, and eventually getting a chance to fly, then it is a great thing.

(It is also good if you are a youth - you can get your PPL at age 16 - and add a "powered" endorsement when you are 17). Or you could simply get a glider rating added to your powered PPL.
To the FAA, it is the same license - the only difference is whether you may operate powered, non-powered, or both aircraft types.

Soaring: The best way to fly on a budget!
PS: and the best way to learn to use your feet! :)