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This post is directed more to Robbie and Bryan, but I will take any comments with thanks. I am very close to making an offer on a 74 C-150, but also have an opportunity to buy a quarter share in a Cherokee PA-28 140 w/160hp engine. Just wondering, Robbie or Bryan, if you have had regrets about moving to the PA-28? What are this airplane's greatest disadvantages? The 150 is a great airplane and I like it a lot, but the extra seats and speed of the Cherokee, along with the shared costs seem mighty attractive.

Many thanks & best wishes.

Don

Along with the shared costs will come partners using the plane when you want, partners taking the plane and using it when you want without telling you, and generally more BS.

The cherokee is a decent airplane, and if you need the speed and the extra seat in the back (even with 160HP the '2' seats in the back is worth only 1) then go with that. If you have no problem with cruising around slow with 1 passenger, then the 150 is for you.

It just depends on your needs!

1/4 share?......... RUN!!!!!!!!

Problem I see, is everyone who has a share wants to fly on the weekends, too, Just like you. Will you be content squeezing in every 4th weekend?

I've seen partnerships work before and I've seen more fail. Cost wise, it's not a bad deal. Getting to fly when you want, that's another matter.

I'll leave now.

Bengie

The 160 hp PA-28 is still a 2 (adult) person airplane except under very good conditions. I didn't notice where you live Don before begining this comment, but if you're a flatlander using it at relatively low density altitudes it can be a fairly capable airplane. It will have respectable cruise speeds, fuel economy, and comfort. It's a well proven design and pretty much any mechanic should be familiar with mantainance issues peculiar to the type. Personally I'd rather have a C150 to fly as I please than a larger airplane that comes with all of the restrictions and risks associated with a partnership...but that's just my own feelings on the subject. Each pilot's situation and needs are different. Is a PA-28-160 a good airplane? Yes it is. I have a couple hundred hours in one.
Years ago a (somewhat accident prone) buddy of mine was a 1/7 parnter in a Grumman Traveler. He took it to SoCal and clipped a parked fuel truck as he was taxiing. The free-castering nosewheel allowed the nose to swing around abruptly and the prop tore open a fire extinguisher mounted on the side of the truck. It was a heckofa scene when the extinguisher blew, and the airplane was tied up all summer down there for repairs, including a new prop, engine rebuild, etc. Here you had 6 other owners with ongoing expenses and no airplane to fly during some of the best part of the flying year. As soon as the airplane was airworthy again it was sold and the partnership dissolved. Footnote: The guy's wife, who hated flying and had taken a mild tranquilizer prior to departing the home airport, became hysterical and came apart with about the same force as the fire extinguisher...never to set foot again in a small airplane. She also divorced him not long after, but that was over other issues <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/crazy.gif" alt="" />

I did all my training in a Piper Warrior (160HP) and like the airplane a lot. Roomy, stable, easy-to-fly. If I could afford one for myself....

As far as partnerships go - I chose the single-owner route. I had an opportunity to buy a 1/3-share in a Cessna 172 for less than my 150. I bought the 150 instead. Basically, it boiled down to convenience - I wanted to own instead of rent so I could pick and choose my schedule, and I wanted sole-ownership because I perceived a partnership being a lesser form of rental hassle.

In retrospect, I would've down well with the Cessna 172. The other two partners fly it a total of 20 hours between them for the entire year. Essentially, I would've had my own plane for 1/3 the price.

However, I don't have any regrets about buying the 150. It's been a lot of fun and well worth it. One of the advantages of sole-ownership is the ability to leave the plane wherever you'd like. I've exercised this option a couple of times when the weather just wasn't too my liking. Not having the pressure of partners or renters removes some (but not all!) of the get-home-itis.

So, my advice would be to look at the logs for that Piper and see how much it flew in the past year or two. You might find it flies a lot, leaving little time for yourself. Or you might find the other partners simply like having options and rarely exercise them.

I cant comment on "sharing" an airplane...I'm WAY too protective for something like that. I get mad enough when I track dirt into the cabin, let alone someone else.

I went straight from my 150 to the Warrior that I have now. I have NO regrets at all, I am happy as can be! I do miss flying low and slow 300-400 ft and watching the kids wave when I would fly by. But I do like the idea of having nearly 6.5 hours fuel range and more useful load. Also, having a wife and two kids make the Warrior a more practical plane.
If you shop and find one that has been kept out a lot, make sure you check the spar attach fittings. The window seal on the pilots side can leak allowing water to trickle down and rust out the steel attachments.

Given your choices, I'd rather have a 150 all to myself than have a quarter share of a Cherokee.

Just to reiterate what Kirk and others have said, check how it's being used. I own 1/2 a 150 with a really nice, laid back guy who is 25 years my senior. He flies it Sat and Sun mornings 99% of the time. There are plenty of times when he can't use it at all so it's mine whenever. When Clinton comes around he skips the weekend routine and will fly w/ others if I have something special come up on a weekend.

Before that, he was 1/5th owner on a 150 and he was the *only* one who flew it 90+% of the time. People are funny...some just want to own it, not fly it. So do check into how its being utilized.

Hey Don

All I can say is I own a Cherokee cuz it fits my mission. I weighed the benefits and detractions of partnership and - like others said better than I can - be careful. I have no experience in a partenrship.

But as Kirk said - I own for convenience - and as Brian said, I own for the room, range, and family.

I miss my 150 - but I love my Cherokee.

But a partnership is like a marriage - know what your are getting into and with whom, or don't do it.

My 2 cents.

Thank you all for your replies. Haven't decided yet which way to go. Surprised at the prejudice against partnerships! I'm aware of their pitfalls, but also aware of the many horror stories and complaints on this forum of high annual and maintenance costs of sole ownership. Will weight all advice carefully. I especially liked the likening of an airplane partnership to marriage. I recall advice that I received when I married 38 years ago -- "regardless of whether you decide to marry or not marry, there will come times when you will regret your decision." So true, but overall, it has worked well.

I flew the Cherokee today. A nice airplane, a little more power, more responsive, a little quieter, a little faster, not much more expensive to operate on an hourly basis. Not bad at all!!

Don

Just before I bought my 150 I had a chance to but into a 1/3 share of a really beefed up 172. A great ifr plane with almost all the bells and whistles on it but I'll tell you what, after just a "little bit" of thought I bought the 150,I did so because I just wasn't fond of having to ask someone if I could use "my" plane. I'd rather burden the expense of the entire plane myself than to try to get money out of people that didn't think that items needed to be fixed on the plane. Just toooooo much hastle for me. I'm glad I bought the 150.