Membership

Membership Categories

AACIT is a membership flying club. AACIT currently has 3 categories of membership:

Regular – regular members must be part of the Caltech community. This includes Caltech students, staff, faculty, retirees, alumni, contractors, JPL employees, contractors, retirees,  and the immediate family of any qualifying person living in the same household. Caltech undergraduate and graduate students in good standing enjoy lower membership dues and have their joining fee waived. Barring any problems in the application forms, regular members are automatically accepted to the club.

Associate – for those who are not part of the Caltech community, there are a limited number of associate membership slots. By AACIT bylaws, this category is limited in number of available slots (as a percentage of total membership). Associate members have voting rights in the club and may serve on the Board.

Adjunct – for cases where associate slots are not available, there are adjunct slots available at the discretion of the board. Adjunct members do not have voting rights and may not serve on the Board. Adjunct members pay higher monthly dues than regular and associate members.

Both Associate and Adjunct members must be interviewed and approved by the board. The club has historically preferred that these applicants already have their pilot’s license, though there are exceptions.

Joining

All applicants must complete, sign, and submit all of the club application forms (there is a checklist in the application package). In addition, associate and adjunct candidates must be sponsored by a regular member and attend a board meeting for an interview. All newly accepted members pay a joining fee, refundable deposit, and first month’s dues to start. These costs vary by membership category, as well as by the types of planes to be flown. The club’s information and application package gives greater details and is available upon request by contacting a Board member.

  • If you do not qualify for regular membership, you need to make a connection with a club member to sponsor you
  • Request the club’s information/application package from the club secretary
  • Fill out and sign all required application documents (includes member information form, pilot proficiency form, liability release, proxy, and release to allow background check)
  • Scan all application documents, as well as copies of pilot certificate, medical, and required logbook entries and email to the secretary
  • If you are a regular member, mail your check to the club’s PO Box
  • If not a regular member, schedule your interview at an upcoming monthly board meeting and prepare a letter of introduction. When you come to the interview meeting, bring a check for the appropriate amount in case you are accepted to the club

New members should carefully read the club’s rules and procedures. For pilots who have flown elsewhere, you may find many differences from your previous FBO or club. Newly accepted members must be set up in the club’s online airplane scheduling system, ScheduleMaster. This normally happens within a week of acceptance.

All pilot’s will need to find an instructor to work with, either for their training (new student pilots) or for area familiarization and aircraft checkout. A list of approved instructors is also included in the information and application package.