‘You Can Fly” — Local club becomes 150th member of national network

The Bald Eagle Aviation Club in Kalispell recently was honored by the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association as the 150th club to join the nationwide “You Can Fly” program.

The national organization based in Frederick, Maryland, has been working to make aviation accessible to everyone since 1939. Five years ago, the coalition launched its Flying Clubs initiative to help build flying clubs across the country. As the 150th club in five years, Kalispell’s Bald Eagle Aviation Club represents a major milestone for the group as a whole and local aviators alike.

The Bald Eagle Aviation Club took off about four months ago from Kalispell City Airport. The seven current members of the group share a 1957 straight-tail Cessna 182A aircraft with a Horton STOL conversion for better performance at high altitudes.

The group got its start thanks to co-founders Kevin Collom and Mike Whitehill. Whitehill participated in an Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association fly-in at Missoula International Airport in 2018, followed by a flying club seminar. Prior to moving to Montana, Whitehill took part in a flying club in Minnesota, so he hoped to bring that pastime to his new home with help from AOPA.

“Kevin and I were both very committed to forming a flying club, but it was a long process,” Whitehill said. “We love aviation and we want to share it with others and encourage them to start flying. That’s the neat thing about flying clubs.”

The lengthy process involved a lot of advice and support from AOPA, particularly Flying Clubs Initiative Director Steve Bateman.

“Bald Eagle went through tough times trying to find members before taking a leap of faith,” Bateman recalled. “They bought the airplane, they created the club, and as soon as other people could see that it was real, they became believers.”

Those “believers” include members such as George Weyl, whose son Kelvin recently became the first student to graduate with his private pilot’s license from the Bald Eagle Flying Club.

To join the club, members pay $150 in monthly dues and a $120 wet rate per tachometer hour. The initial club membership is $2,050 and is transferable.

The group hopes to organize an airplane wash, a hangar get-together and potentially purchase a complex high-performance aircraft in the future.

So far, the club’s founders are just glad they’re up and running and able to contribute to the overall success of AOPA’s initiative.

“150—that’s pretty cool,” said Collum. “It’s awesome. We’re pretty happy.”