The LAA Membership changes on 1st March 2009 to a tiered system.
This was approved by the 2008 AGM and publicised in the January edition of the LAA magazine.
Now there are two categories of membership – ‘FULL’ members and ‘FULL PLUS’ members.
The LAA team is here to assist through this transition to the new system and we've produced these FAQ (frequently asked questions). If in any doubt, just email office@laa.uk.com or call us on 01280 846 786
1) What is a ‘Full’ member?
Answer: A ‘Full’ member is a member of the Association, with all the rights of previous members, except access to engineering services. Subscription £48 per year* but see table of charges below.
2) What is a ‘Full Plus’ member?
Answer: A ‘Full Plus’ member has all the rights of ‘Full’ members, plus access to LAA’s extensive engineering services, including advice, modifications, project registrations, inspectors, Permit renewals, etc, etc. Subscription £69 per year*
3) We have a syndicate of 6 equal owners. Do we all need to be Full Plus members?
Answer: No. Whilst all owners in a syndicate need to be members of the Association, only one needs to be a Full Plus member to enable access to engineering and to be the primary point of contact. Of course, all the engineering information for the aircraft will be supplied via this member of the syndicate, so they will be responsible for cascading the information around the others. For larger syndicates, we recommend more than one member takes out Full Plus membership. This ensures engineering access if the only Full Plus member is not available, on holiday, ill, etc.
4) My membership doesn’t renew until June2009, does this mean I don’t have access to engineering until then?
Answer: All current members (those who renewed before 28th Feb 2009) will have Full Plus privileges until their renewal date.
5) If I join / renew as a Full Member and then decide to commence building an aircraft, register a project or purchase an LAA aircraft, etc, etc during the year, do I have to upgrade my membership? Will I have access to engineering services before I renew as a Full Plus member?
Answer: No need to upgrade immediately. Just upgrade to Full Plus on your next membership renewal. Our engineering team are very understanding and our membership renewals department don’t want to be charging 3/12ths (or whatever calculation) of the upgrade price differential. This is contrary to the magazine article, but keeps it simple.
6) What if I sell my aircraft part way through the year? Can I downgrade from Full Plus to Full and receive a rebate?
Answer: No rebates – it costs too much to administer, as per question 5, but going the other way. When you renew, you can renew at the lower ‘Full’ rate.
7) I am a Full Member, but want to ask a question about a particular kit. Do I have to upgrade to Full Plus membership before talking to engineering?
Answer: Not at all. Today, we often have calls from non-members and we try to answer questions immediately if possible. This will continue. Of course, if you have a Permit aircraft ‘Hangar Queen’ and want to ask a question concerning re-permitting it, we’d expect you to become a Full Plus member if you commence work on it.
8) I am an LAA inspector. Do I need to hold Full Plus membership?
Answer: Just like everyone else. Inspectors with their own aircraft need Full Plus, Inspectors without aircraft need only purchase Full membership.
9) I am an inspector. Is it my responsibility to check that owners of aircraft that I inspect have the correct membership category?
Answer: No. It is not an inspector's responsibility to check the status of an owner's membership. However, we like to think that inspectors are willing and able to provide useful advice on such matters and to remind owners that they have no right to receive inspection services if not Full Plus members. We aim eventually to introduce an online system for inspection signoffs and integral with this system will be the need to enter membership numbers, requiring the correct membership category.
10) I am a senior citizen. Is there a discount?
Answer: Yes. Full members over 65 of age pay just £40 per year. If you operate an aircraft and need engineering services, then you need Full Plus membership at the £69 per year. There is no Full Plus Senior category.
11) My wife/husband and I have joint membership. What’s the new arrangement?
Answer: You select the type of membership as everyone else – Full, or Full Plus. The new fees are £58 per year for Full Joint members and £79 per year for Full Plus Joint members.
12) I’m a student. How much do I pay and can I operate an aircraft under a student category?
Answer: Full time students under 23 years of age pay £15 per year. If you have an aircraft, then you need engineering services - that's a Full Plus membership at £69 per year (Full Member if in a syndicate where another syndicate member is Full Plus - as per question 3 above).
13) What about overseas members?
Answer: You select the appropriate category, but there’s a surcharge of £7 per year. This is to help towards the extra postage on the monthly magazine.
14) I need Full Plus Joint membership, am living in Italy, as a student, with an LAA RV10 (operating in the UK of course), but pay by direct debit. What is the correct charge?
Answer: Full Plus Joint (see table below) is £79. Overseas surcharge is £7, you pay by DD, so £4 discount, total £79+£7-£4 = £82. Although a student, you operate an aircraft, therefore you pay the Full Plus rate. No, there’s no joint student category if you sell the aircraft.
15) I am an existing member with a Permit aircraft, but accidentally renew as Full, rather than Full Plus membership. When I try to renew the Permit, will engineering refuse to issue the Permit?
Answer: Engineering operate a light touch. Your paperwork will get processed, but you will be expected to pay the Full Plus upgrade difference of £21.
16) What about engineering fees – Permit renewals, modifications, etc?
Answer: Engineering fees for operation (registration, renewals, etc) remain unchanged. However, the modification arrangement is evolving. We’re trying to make simple mods more accessible, but make fees more representative of the work involved for complex mods.Standard mods are mostly FOC. They can be downloaded from the engineering section of the website.Some standard mods attract a small fee (generally £22.50) if some engineering work is required. e.g. if a flight test authorisation is required.Repeat mods are those which have been done on another aircraft, but the documentation, or the mod itself is not suitable for the ‘standard’ process. The fee for this is £22.50. New mods are £45 each, but complex mods may attract a higher fee, by egotiation.There are now two modification forms available. The first is a ‘conceptual’ application. You provide general details, keeping it simple and engineering will provide some feedback about what information will be required and what fee it might attract if not a ‘standard or repeat. The second form is the primary modification application form, where all relevant details will be included.We recommend you visit the engineering section of the website for further information in our leaflets. If in doubt, give Engineering a call to discuss.