REV DATE 7/17/2025
Only schools and instructors that have registered with the Brace Club and have been verified as
meeting the Brace site requirements may conduct "For-hire (commercial) activity" at Brace.
Approval for conducting commercial instruction is required for the individual launch and landing
zones associated with the site. For-hire (commercial) activity needs to comply with all Site Use
Agreements and protocols.
Being covered by insurance is vitally important to our landowners, who have assets to protect. USHPA membership provides liability insurance coverage to recreational pilots, but only for
flights outside of commercial relationships. Commercial instructors, and pilots under their
guidance, only have insurance coverage IF their instructors have purchased such, and have done
so with the explicit inclusion of Brace as a flying site.
No schools or instructors have been approved to conduct For-hire (commercial) activity of any kind. Anyone carrying out commercial instruction without approval will be sanctioned and reported to USHPA.
Brace is a great place to teach and learn! If you are an instructor or a school wishing to conduct For-hire (commercial) activity, please contact the club officers—we're happy to work with you to make sure you are meeting the necessary requirements.
This is all about when USHPA provides you with (liability) insurance coverage, and when not.
The only instruction/observation/mentorship you can currently receive at Brace is strictly non-commercial. That means your instructor/observer/mentor cannot receive any payment or compensation of any kind, whether from you or from anyone else. This goes for solo and tandem flying alike.
Even if you’re not paying directly for instruction, if the person you’re working with also sells gear, or is a paid tandem or solo instructor at another site, or is teaching in exchange for designing t-shirts, etc., that instructor/observer/mentor is considered commercial. Even if they haven’t received any payment recently, if they received any kind of compensation in the last 12 months, they are considered commercial.
If you're a student (whether tandem or solo) found to be working at Brace with a commercial instructor who has not been approved officially by the Brace Club, you will be asked to leave. Your USHPA pilot liability insurance is not in effect and your flying violates the site rules. You are putting the site at risk.
Not sure whether your instructor is legitimately non-commercial? Ask us! Help us protect the site for the future.
Please visit the USHPA website for general guidance on learning to fly.
...please visit the Tandem Policies page.