Tailwheel Endorsement Program · Program
The single source of truth for every rate and cost figure in this program.
Student-facing documents do carry their own copies of these tables, because a packet that says "see the pricing document" is not a packet. What keeps them honest is program/check.py check 10, which compares every priced row in the packet, the lessons, and the published course page against the figures here, row by row, and fails on any disagreement.
So a rate change is still one edit here. It is then propagated, and the checker tells you if you missed somewhere.
v1.0, 2026-08-17
| Member | Non-member | |
|---|---|---|
Aircraft, Luscombe 8E N1302B, wet | $100 / hour | $175 / hour |
| Instruction, ground and flight | $160 / hour | $160 / hour |
| Club dues | $200 / month | not applicable |
| Instruction discount | 10% | none |
Membership is not a discount scheme. It is the mechanism that makes solo rental of N1302B available at all, and the reduced aircraft rate comes with it. Luscombe Club Membership Agreement §5 also gives members one flight review per 24 months and one annual currency flight, both with no instruction charge, and aircraft time at the standard rate.
The 10% discount covers all instruction, ground and flight, per contract amendment 1. Club §5 currently reads "flight instruction" and is being corrected to match the rate card.
The program is 5.0 ground hours and 9.5 dual hours across five lessons. See PROGRAM-STRUCTURE.md.
| Member | Non-member | |
|---|---|---|
| Aircraft, 9.5 hr | $950.00 | $1,662.50 |
| Instruction, 14.5 hr | $2,320.00 | $2,320.00 |
| Less 10% member instruction discount | −$232.00 | none |
| Club dues, 2 months | $400.00 | none |
| Program total | $3,438.00 | $3,982.50 |
Membership is $544.50 cheaper across the endorsement alone, before any time-building begins. Break-even on the aircraft rate by itself is $200 ÷ $75, which is 2.7 hours per month.
The dues line assumes two months, which is what a student flying roughly weekly takes to complete five lessons. Dues are monthly and non-refundable, and they are not credited against rental time. A student who takes longer pays more in dues and a student who finishes faster pays less, so this line is the only one in the table that moves with the calendar rather than with flying.
| Lesson | Ground | Dual | Member | Non-member |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| L1 Familiarization and basic flight | 1.5 | 1.5 | $582.00 | $742.50 |
| L2 Takeoffs and landing demonstrations | 1.0 | 1.5 | $510.00 | $662.50 |
| L3 Three-point and wheel landings | 0.5 | 2.0 | $560.00 | $750.00 |
| L4 Crosswind operations | 1.0 | 1.5 | $510.00 | $662.50 |
| L5 Crosswind review and power failures | 1.0 | 3.0 | $876.00 | $1,165.00 |
| Subtotal, flying and instruction | 5.0 | 9.5 | $3,038.00 | $3,982.50 |
Dues are not in the per-lesson table because they are charged monthly rather than per flight. The member subtotal plus $400 of dues gives the $3,438.00 program total above.
The previously published estimate of $3,270 is withdrawn. It matched neither path: it applied the member aircraft rate, then omitted the dues, then failed to apply the member instruction discount. A non-member reading it was quoted $3,270 against a real cost of $3,982.50, a gap of $712.50.
Roberto Nunez is honored at $3,270 as quoted. See ticket 13.
The estimate is a good-faith estimate and not a guarantee. Rental Agreement §16 says so directly: the time, lesson count, and cost required to reach any milestone "vary from person to person," and completion is determined by demonstrated proficiency, which North Aero does not solely control.
State it in those terms rather than as a range. Most pilots complete the five lessons as written. Some need an additional lesson or two to reach the standard. The endorsement is issued on demonstrated proficiency, not on hours flown.
Do not publish a range of hours. The earlier "typical range of 10 to 15 hours" is withdrawn. It was ambiguous between dual and total, and read either way it disagreed with the syllabus.
These are in the Rental Agreement and belong in any quote conversation.
docs/adr/0001.A renter is responsible for North Aero's hull insurance deductible, currently $3,200, and never more than $5,000. Rental Agreement §8(b) sets the cap. North Aero's hull policy carries the rest.
Non-owned aircraft insurance is recommended and not required. It covers the deductible and third-party liability, not the hull.
The figure $10,000 appears in the original user stories and in no signed document. It is not published.