About Upper 15

Upper Fifteen, Inc. is a flying club which has been based at Albany County Airport for over fifty years. New members do not need to be licensed pilots to join. We're looking for people who are enthusiastic about flying and about continuing to improve their flying skills and experience. Safe flying has been our goal from the very beginning. Our fine safety record stems from responsible and cooperative members, aided by dedicated and experienced instructors.
 
Upper Fifteen is the one of the oldest flying clubs in New York State and one of the oldest in the United States. Founded in 1948 as the Siena College Flying Club, Upper Fifteen today provides highly-equipped aircraft and basic-to-advanced training opportunities for Capital District pilots.
 

Limited Membership

The Club limits membership to to assure good access to aircraft. We are currently open to new members as we expand and add a third airplane. Scheduling policies are liberal and flexible, with greater latitude allowed to student pilots.
 

Member Benefits

Convenient base at ALB, a full-service, all-weather regional hubFully-IFR, Cessna 172P & 177RG
Primary avionics are common to both planes. No learning curve in moving up!
Weather-protected storage--no digging out of blizzards or sun-baked avionics!
Convenient pilot lounge for briefing and weather review
Reduced flying costs versus renting
Minimal scheduling competition
A fun group of fellow flyers

Meetings

Upper Fifteen meets on the first Wednesday of each month, 8:00 PM at our T-hangars at Albany International Airport. Guests are welcome, and the aircraft are normally available for inspection. Call ahead to Tommy Thompson, 786-1491.
Click here for directions to our hangars.

Club Facilities

The Upper Fifteen T-hangars are located on the east side of Albany County Airport, on Old Niskayuna Road about 200 yards north of the intersection with Wade Road. The T-hangar complex includes a flight planning/operations office with a telephone and computer with internet access for last minute weather updates.
 

Maintenance

Upper Fifteen aircraft are maintained to a high standard. Licensed inspections are conducted every 100 hours on each airplane.

Club Aircraft

Cessna 177RG N52713

The Club's premier aircraft is a 200 horsepower 1977 Cardinal RG with retractable gear and an adjustable-pitch propeller. A factory overhauled engine was installed in December, 2003. The plane has a useful ceiling of 15,000 feet, for fast, cross-country cruising at about 140 knots. The Cardinal's avionics panel was rebuilt in early 2004, and today offers:
 
Garmin GNS-430 GPS/NAV/COMM

Garmin 340 Audio panel with built-in intercom and music jacks

King KX125 Nav-Comm
King KCS 55A HSI
Apollo 2001 NMS with Argus 3000
Argus 3000 Moving Map (connected to the Apollo GPS)
Cessna 300 A autopilot à wing leveler
S-TEC System 30-Alt altitude hold Autopilot
Insight Strikefinder
Insight GEM 610 engine analyzer
King KT76A Transponder
 
 

Cessna 172P N55144

This is a 1982 version of America's most popular private plane. It sports a160 horsepower engine, fixed landing gear, and a fixed-pitch propeller. Its power and gentle handling characteristics make it an ideal primary training aircraft. In addition, it sports a full complement of Cessna avionics,including:
 
Garmin GNS-430 GPS/NAV/COMM
Garmin 340 Audio panel with built-in intercom and music jacks
Cessna RT358A Navcomm with glide slope
Cessna 300 ADF
Garmin encoding altimeter
Narco 190 DME
Northstar M1 LORAN
 
A 3rd comm antenna is also installed to extend the range of hand-held transceivers. 144's full IFR panel makes it an excellent, inexpensive instrument trainer and medium-range cruiser with about 115 knots of speed. 144 also has factory-installed long-range fuel tanks, providing nearly six hours endurance, and a six hundred nautical mile range.

Insurance

The Club maintains a two million dollar liability policy, hull damage insurance and hangar fire insurance to cover both the building and contents.
 

Come Fly With Us!

We invite all interested people to visit our hangars and talk with us about the advantages of belonging to Upper 15. For more information, contact:

Tommy Thompson 786-1491


Upper Fifteen, Inc.
Albany County Airport
Albany, NY 12211
info@upper15.org