{"121191":{"#nid":"121191","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Yellow Jackets Soar to New Heights in Flying Club","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EIf you\u2019ve ever gazed longingly at a small plane flying overhead and thought, \u201cI\u2019d like to be up there,\u201d there\u2019s a group of fellow yellow jackets eager to help make your dream a reality \u2014 the Yellow Jacket Flying Club (YJFC).\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ELeihong Li, a research engineer in the School of Aerospace Engineering, became involved with the club a year ago because she wanted to have hands-on experience to better understand her research.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cA lot of aircraft designers and engineers never actually fly,\u201d Li said. \u201cIt wasn\u2019t until I started flying that I really began to understand the theories behind, for example, aerodynamics and structure. Now, I\u2019m more effective when I explain these concepts to students.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe YJFC was founded in 1946 by students who served as pilots in World War II. It is the nation\u2019s oldest college-affiliated flying club, said Jud Ready, outgoing faculty advisor to YJFC and a principal research engineer at Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI).\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EReady became involved with the club as a student in the late 1990s and later rejoined when he accepted the job at GTRI in 2003.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWe\u2019re here to support any member of the Tech community \u2014 students, faculty, staff and alumni \u2014 who loves flying, whether they are licensed pilots, looking to earn a license or just want to be around planes,\u201d Ready said. \u201cActually, about 80 percent of new members have never flown a plane.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe club currently has more than 150 members and owns four planes. YJFC meets Tuesdays at 6:30 p.m. in room 211 of the Instructional Center.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EEach meeting kicks off with a half-hour executive committee meeting where new members are admitted and budget, program planning and maintenance issues are discussed. Then, a one- to two-hour program related to aviation follows that might feature a guest speaker or film.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBeyond the meetings, members can schedule lessons, volunteer to clean and maintain the planes or rent the planes as their schedules permit.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThere are costs associated with being a member of YJFC, but Ready points out that they are significantly less than what a person would pay who was not a member.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cFor example, people who want to earn a pilot\u2019s license would usually pay about $50 an hour for an instructor, whereas we charge $25,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd the cost of using a plane is usually around $150 an hour \u2014 with fuel and oil included \u2014 whereas we charge under $100 for the same.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAnnual dues for nonstudents are $90, and nonstudent members also pay a quarterly scheduling fee of about $100, which covers fixed costs, insurance fees, aircraft parking, flight planning facilities at the club\u2019s home airport, four headsets per place, aeronautical charts, and access to the online plane reservation system. (These costs are on a tiered system, so students pay less for dues.)\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ERecently, the club moved its home base from the Fulton County Airport to DeKalb Peachtree Airport (PDK). The move will likely save YJFC about $30,000 a year, primarily in fuel costs.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWe have more maintenance options at PDK, and it\u2019s also a more convenient location, given many club members live in the northern suburbs of Atlanta, and there is a MARTA station less than a mile away,\u201d Ready added.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAnyone interested in joining the club is invited to attend one of the Tuesday meetings.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cDon\u2019t let your worries get in the way of giving flying a shot,\u201d Ready said. \u201cFlying a small plane is a liberating experience that everyone should have. Come out and join us.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EFor more information, send an email to \u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:membership@yjfc.org\u0022\u003Emembership@yjfc.org\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EIf you\u2019ve ever gazed longingly at a small plane flying overhead and thought, \u201cI\u2019d like to be up there,\u201d there\u2019s a group of fellow yellow jackets eager to help make your dream a reality \u2014 the Yellow Jacket Flying Club (YJFC).\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"If you\u2019ve ever gazed longingly at a small plane flying overhead and thought, \u201cI\u2019d like to be up there,\u201d there\u2019s a group of fellow yellow jackets eager to help make your dream a reality \u2014 the Yellow Jacket Flying Club (YJFC)."}],"uid":"27445","created_gmt":"2012-04-02 10:21:29","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:11:56","author":"Amelia Pavlik","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2012-04-02T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2012-04-02T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"120971":{"id":"120971","type":"image","title":"Yellow Jacket Flying Club Planes","body":null,"created":"1449178279","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:31:19","changed":"1475894741","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:45:41","alt":"Yellow Jacket Flying Club Planes","file":{"fid":"194381","name":"planes.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/planes_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/planes_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":307076,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/planes_0.jpg?itok=EYSpVXYH"}}},"media_ids":["120971"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.yjfc.org\/","title":"Yellow Jacket Flying Club"}],"groups":[{"id":"1259","name":"Whistle"}],"categories":[{"id":"129","name":"Institute and Campus"}],"keywords":[{"id":"1173","name":"aviation"},{"id":"28981","name":"flying"},{"id":"28991","name":"flying club"},{"id":"28971","name":"yellow jacket flying club"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:amelia.pavlik@comm.gatech.edu\u0022\u003EAmelia Pavlik\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ECommunications \u0026amp; Marketing\u003Cbr \/\u003E404-385-4142\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}