Ten minutes felt like hours for the members of the Fairmount Flying Club as they waited to see their first big purchase pull up to the hanger at the Newton City-County Airport Wednesday afternoon.

The homecoming of the first plane owned by the club was delayed due to high winds, but the anxious group remained patient by barbecuing a celebrity dinner for the club instructors.

The club was founded two years ago, and until Wednesday had held their program using a plane they leased from Tulsa. After a couple years of devoted and strong membership, the club felt that they needed to start thinking long-term.

“We’d been leasing for awhile, and we realized that we’ve been coming to a point in our financial situation that we can afford to get an airplane,” said James McMullin, president of the Flying Club. “That’s always been the goal of the club is to start leasing and then move towards ownership.”

The club purchased a 1971 Cessna 172L model they found online in Montana for $29,000. They received a loan and made the purchase with funds solely generated from club members.

As the plane landed, the group flocked around to inspect it. The purchasing of an airplane is a symbol of group’s legitimacy.

“Paying it off and having this airplane for students to use is definitely the right way for us to go,” McMullin said.

Fairmount Flying Club is striving to be a realistic avenue for WSU students looking to earn a pilot’s license in an economic but professional way.

McMullin said the program costs roughly 40 percent less than other commercial flying schools. The Fairmount Flying Club is a nonprofit that charges to insure themselves as a resource for prospective pilots.

“The number of students has dropped significantly in the last 20 years. Fuel prices are part of the reason, and the economy being the way it is, [the price of] everything has gone up. There is going to be a lack of students going to fill airline positions later on,” said Georg Schirmer, chief flight instructor and founding member of the club.

The club currently has 30 members and is continuously looking to grow. Most group members are from the Aerospace Engineering program, but no specific major is needed to join the club.

Offering classes from the basics as well as private and commercial classes, the club is open to all WSU students, faculty and staff. It also allows 25 percent of its membership to be open to the general public.

“We are trying to prove a point here with this club that there is a demand amongst students,” McMullin said.

The nonprofit club has focused most of its efforts internally to create a long lasting foundation. Schirmer started the club himself, and is now instructing students. His greatest hope is to see the program take off and the new administration takes interest in the program.

“We’d hope for it to grow. There isn’t really all that much of a relationship right now,” Schirmer said in reference to the clubs relationship with WSU. “We’re hoping to prove that there is a demand amongst students.”