As others have noted, it can work out good, and it can work out pretty ugly too.
No experience as a partner, but good close firsthand experience watching one partnership work for years, and another fall apart in less than a year.
One was two friends in a Cessna 170. One was an owner of a bearing and drive business with four locations within an hour of each other in the airplane. The other fellow was a gentleman cow farmer. They frequently flew together on short fun trips with the EAA chapter guys like myself. the airplane also helped out in the business ocassionally delivering a part from one store to another or looking for a missing cow. They got along well, both were reasonably conserative with the expenses and alternated months as whose airplane it was. If it was not your month and you wanted to fly, you called the other person for permission. After about 15 years the cow farmer quit flying and the bearing and drive owner agreeded to sell as he had bought into a older 210 partnership.
Other partnership was two mechanics at work. One had a private license and wanted an instrument rating and one was learning to fly, the older 172 was in pretty good shape. Things went well for awhile and then the already licensed pilot began spending money on things that didn't have to be replaced and little nice to have items but not needed, all without consulting the other, but expecting him to pay. A couple of small things were OK then the items got more expensive. Something turned out to be very expensive and the partnership degenrated real fast into two guys who hated each other, one because the other was abusing the partnership privledge for spending too much money, the other for "not paying his way". The airplane was sold.
Charles
