Thinking about joining us? Then you've come to the right place!
As you can already guess, the Akaflieg is no ordinary gliding club where you buy your license with a lot of money and then only occasionally show up on the weekend when the weather is good. We are a club in which only students are active members. And that means: we don't just want to fly, we want more than that! We want to design and build our own airplanes, otherwise we wouldn't live up to the “akademisch” (academic) in our name.
Work on exciting projects
We live from the commitment of our members, who spend a large part of their free time in the Akaflieg. The tasks are very varied and there is always plenty to do; after all, we are both a student-run aircraft manufacturer and a gliding club with active flight operations and our own training. The tasks range from designing our own aircraft parts to manufacturing simple metal components, laminating carbon fiber wings, repairing aircraft trailers and working in PR. But no previous experience is required, we are happy to pass on our knowledge.
Learn to fly yourself
Every April, a two-week training camp takes place at the airfield in Königsdorf. After completing their theory lessons in winter, our new flight students get to take the controls in the gliders for the first time here! In addition to our aircraft fleet, our own hangar also has a lounge, a large kitchen, and even a simple dormitory. For our members, the airfield becomes a second home, and many stay there regularly for several days at a time.
Double-seaters as well as single-seaters are available for training; however, our club's own flight instructors are always present at the beginning. Our instructors are all licensed flight trainers, and the SPL license obtained is valid worldwide within the ICAO area.
After the training camp, flights take place every weekend during the flying season, as long as the weather allows for it. Those who attend regularly and fly frequently will quickly celebrate their first successes, such as their first solo flight without an instructor or their first flight in a single-seater.
Membership in the Akaflieg is free of charge, and both the aircraft and flight instructors are provided to you at no cost. Apart from your working hours, the only costs for the flight training are a fee per winch launch and the membership fee for the Luftsport-Verband Bayern (Bavarian Air Sports Association; including insurance), but this money doesn't go to us. As a rule, the entire training course costs no more than €800–1000, which is significantly cheaper than even a car driving license.
Joining us is very easy
When starting with us, you are given guidance on all tasks and can then quickly take on your own responsibilities. Before becoming a full member, you are first an Anwärter (aspirant), which gives you enough time to consider whether Akaflieg is right for you. This means that you are not committing to anything at the beginning and can leave at any time. Students from all Munich universities are welcome to join us.
In order to use our aircraft, 200 hours of work must be completed in the first year and 330 hours per season thereafter. That may sound like a lot at first, but the tasks and opportunities for working hours are varied and, with enough motivation, definitely feasible alongside your studies. We are flexible about when and in which project you'd like to collect your working hours. It is absolutely worthwhile to participate in this uniquely affordable and eventful flight training program!
By the way, you can also do your pre-study internship with us! This works differently than at a company, as we do not offer full-time positions. Instead, you can participate alongside your studies like any other aspirant, and once you have accumulated the necessary working hours, we will be happy to issue you a confirmation. As a student group, we cannot pay you for the internship, but you can, of course, exchange your working hours to use our aircraft and flight instructors free of charge. Whether it is recognized as a pre-study internship ultimately depends on your faculty. So check with your internship office before you decide.
You'll meet new friends here!
In addition to work, the Akaflieg loves celebrating and socializing! Our parties are legendary, and both the annual flying camp in the Italian Alps and joint events with other Akafliegs in Germany (see Idaflieg) are wonderful opportunities to meet new people. In the summer, we sometimes spontaneously fire up the grill behind the workshop, and of course all Akaflieg members are happy to lend a hand and offer advice.
Since we are open to all students in Munich, you will also meet people from other universities who share your passion for designing, building, and flying. So there are many reasons why it is worthwhile to become a member of the Akaflieg and combine your hobby of gliding with practical workshop work alongside your studies.
Interested?
Write a short informal e-mail to neu@akaflieg-muenchen.de in order to receive all the next steps to get started with us. Just letting us know that you are interested is already enough, but of course we would love to know a bit about who you are, what you are studying and how you found out about the Akaflieg!
It’s important to mention that our working language is German, and you should know at least some basics in order to be able to participate. Around level A2 should be enough to start working in our workshops. But if you want to take on more responsibility later on, and especially if you want to start the lessons for your pilot license with us, you will need a good degree of German, something around B2.
We suggest you just come by and see if it works for you. We have several members who came with only a basic knowledge of German but improved rapidly while working with us.
Your contact person at Akaflieg
Juan
Aspirant representative
