A Brief History
Palm Springs Aviators Inc. was launched in December 2014. The club was the brainchild of Brian Carr who wanted to offer an alternative to traditional aircraft rental options found in the Coachella Valley. Brian had enjoyed personal aircraft ownership for many years and knew others in the area would appreciate having an alternative to typical plane rental options.
Additionally, Brian wanted to have an aircraft available for those wanting to get away for a long weekend or other any other type of extended trip.
Brian new first hand individual ownership of an aircraft can be a bit overwhelming when all the expenses after the purchase are added up. It made sense sharing an aircraft and its related expenses could make plane ownership affordable. Brian began talking to others and gathering the names of fellow pilots expressing an interest in such a club. After attending a seminar on flying club development at an AOPA Fly In at Chino Airport, Brian felt he had the tools needed get started. Palm Springs Aviators, Inc. was founded with a membership of 6 pilots, all of whom worked hard to develop a set of governing bylaws by which the members may share aircraft ownership and operation.
Brian’s personal aircraft, a 1980 Piper Dakota N889JD, was purchased and ownership transferred to the club, then a hangar was rented at Atlantic Aviation at Palm Springs Airport. The club had members, an airplane, and a hangar. All that was left to do was go fly!
We started out with the Piper Dakota but later moved up to our A36 Bonanza.
If you’d like to find out more about the club and meet our members, we meet on the second Wednesday of each month at 6:30 p.m. in the Atlantic Aviation conference room at KPSP (with rare changes in venue), and would love having you attend one of our meetings to see what we are all about.
