Jerry Goodrich's view: The sky's the limit for this club

"My wife and I have a lake cottage up north near the Canadian border, and we love to spend weekends there fishing for walleye. It's the reason I joined the Airlake Aero Flying Club," said Gene Erikson, a mechanical engineer and private pilot whose airplane of choice is the club's Piper Archer.

"Early on a Saturday morning, we drive right up to the airplane, transfer our fishing gear, take off within 20 minutes, and have our lines wet by 9 a.m. We don't leave for home till late Sunday evening. If we drove, we would spend half the weekend on the road."

Gordon Krell, president of the Airlake Aero Club in Lakeville, chimed in: "My work requires making sales calls in the upper Midwest. Piloting the club's Cessna 182RG, I can call on three clients in a single day and be home in time for dinner. Driving or flying commercially, my competitors have to hustle to call on a single customer in one day."

Other members' reasons for flying with Airlake Aero include:

"It's great fun!"

"It keeps me young and excited about life."

"The rates make flying very affordable."

"I'm always learning something new."

"I love the heated hangar: Pure luxury."

"It's the absolute best first date with the cute chicks!" (A 25-year-old bachelor.)

Established in 1981 and based at Airlake Airport in Lakeville, the nonprofit Airlake Aero is one of the most venerable and successful flying clubs in the United States. Its impressive résumé is due in large part to an enviable safety record: Not a single injury in its 29 years.

The club is guided by strict operating procedures and governed by a board of directors. Its four aircraft are meticulously maintained, and its eight certified flight instructors are exacting, experienced professionals who can take a member from student pilot all the way to a commercial rating. One young man joined as a student in 2002 and barely five years later was flying regional jets for Delta Air Lines.

Without exception, the instructors are deeply committed to the members' well being. To make points that stick, they can be quite direct.

For example, a middle-aged new member was overheard saying, "It was a couple of months ago. I had just met the instructor, was taxiing out to the active runway, and she barks at me, 'Get your butt on that yellow line!' I was startled and barely able to mumble, 'Excuse me, young lady?!' Then she says, 'Get your BEHIND on that yellow line!!' Those words ring in my ears every time I turn onto a taxiway." (Keeping the airplane's nose wheel on a taxiway's yellow center line ensures that a wing tip will not, for example, strike a taxi light or a snow bank.)

Featuring a unique "3-D" aerial chart, Airlake Aero's new training center was christened with a ribbon-cutting last spring. Refresher classes on all aspects of flying are held there each Thursday evening. As a result, Airlake Aero's appeal is greater than ever, and the club's 45 members (shareholders) feel privileged to be part of such an outstanding operation.

If you would like to join and become part-owner of four airplanes plus the heated hangar, contact club treasurer Steve Holewa (steve.holewa@ affinetysolutions.com ) to begin the process.

And once on board, be sure to "get your butt on that yellow line" and keep it there!

Jerry Goodrich of Prior Lake is a former Air Force officer and magazine editor, a private pilot, vocalist and avid bicyclist.