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I'm sure this has been brought up before but I've recently been asked about joining in with a few folks on a co-ownership of an aircraft that is based here locally. What are some of the pro's/con's of folks that have tried this before?

Mark

Co-ownership is kinda like marriage without the honeymoon.

It's better if you go in without being friends first. It's easier to lay down the ground rules if you're not afraid to hurt anyone's feelings.

I was offered a 1/3 share in a 172 for $13,000. But like Tracey I didn't want to share and paid $18,000 for my 150. In retrospect I might've been better off with the 172 - the other two partners only fly 20 hours a year in total. I would've had my own plane for 1/3 the price.

However, I have no regrets about the 150 and I would've missed out on this great club if I didn't own one.

Mark:

I've been in the Cherokee partnership for nearly a year now and my experience has been only positive. My partners rarely fly and it's almost as if I'm the only owner. I have not had a scheduling conflict in the time I've been a partner. Cost savings are significant. My entry was 1/3 of what I was on the cusp of paying for a 150 and the insurance, hangaring, maintenance are all pro-rated accordingly. Convenience is excellent. The airplane is hangared 3 miles from my house and we have a maintenance agreement with a local FBO. I have x amount of money to spend on flying and I'll probably fly about 70 hours this year. That's about 20 hours more than I could have flown the 150 I was going to buy.

My experience may be unusual, but I find the partnership approach appealing and beneficial. I recommend it with the obvious caveats. You probably have read the AOPA stuff on partnerships, if not see the AOPA home page. There is also good information in Geza Szurovy's book FLY FOR LESS: FLYING CLUBS & AIRCRAFT PARTNERSHIPS.

The pitsfalls are obviously there, but look closely at the other partners, see how much they fly and when, what the maintenance arrangement is, what the fixed costs are (monthly fee), what the per-hour cost is and how it compares to comparable rental, and what the partnership agreement says. Also, consider what the airplane is worth and the asking price for a share. I looked at a 1/3 interest in a local 150, but the buy-in was much more than what I thought the airplane was worth times 3. My current buy in was a little high for the airplane alone, but there was a good cash balance in the bank, it was more airplane than a 150, and it was much less than what I would have spent for a sole-ownership 150, so I took it.

Good luck and best wishes.

Don

I've had good experiences here too. We formed an LLC to cover the liablity and scheduling has rarely been an issue. We've already made several upgrades and with a high time engine, it is nice to have partners to share the bills.

Regards,

A bud of mine was in a partnership on a Grumman Traveler years ago. While on a flight to SoCal he had the stupidest taxi accident I've ever heard of and the aircraft was down for repairs the better part of a whole summer. As soon as it came back home it was sold by the rightfully disgusted partners.

In the end, your partners will determine how happy you are with the arrangement.

Mark,

Over the years I've had the impression that for the most part, partnerships are tough. This is not just with planes but anything else in life.

Don seems to be happy with his arrangements for now so this proves that sometimes it does work but long term someone will die, get divorced, need some money, loose interest or who knows what else and things will change.

Tread lightly my friend, the more partners there are the higher the risk of failure.

By the way, this opinion is only worth what you're paying for it.


Jim

I've had a very positive experience with my partner since we bought together in June, 2003. We split the cost of most everything except each of us takes care of our cost for insurance. We each pay $20/flight hour to a joint checking account and we pay for our own fuel.

We alternate each month paying the hangar bill. Most importantly, we don't sweat the small stuff.

He's in his 60's and flies sat and sun morning only. I'm in my 40's and fly any other time I want.

Only once has this presented a real conflict, and that's for a pancake breakfast flight I was planning on making next weekend to Van Wert. He knew all about the flight but has asked me to cancel because of a EAA sponsored Young Eagles event that has suddenly materialized and is in direct conflict with my plans.

I was a little miffed, but I got over it. It's only once in over three years this has happened and I take it for a whole weekend once a year to CWI anyway.

We don't have anything formal drawn up. It's all gentleman's agreement. Really, there's not enough money tied up in it that I worry too much about it. We both are comfortable enough with each other now that if there's a safety of flight issue or something we're not going to budge on, we can get our point known without hard feelings or problems.

Oh, and my wife loves the fact everything costs 1/2 price, (except the fuel and monthly charges.)

What happens in a partnership when one partner wants out? Do the others have first choice to buy and/or do the others have the right to approve the new partner? How do you guys handle those issues?

I am in a co-ownership arrangement that is working out very well. First, myself and my partner are generally pretty mellow guys, and we generally see eye-to-eye on things.

Second, it has very real advantages to both of us. Quite Frankly, without the partner, I could not afford to be an airplane owner. And my partner, who is on a work visa, can not be the registered owner of an aircraft. Those are real hard realities that help everybody keep things in perspective.

We both fly quite a bit, but our schedules are such that conflicts have been minimal. And, as noted above, we are both pretty mellow and working out conflicts has been easy.

My partner and I did not know each other well when we started the process, but we had visited enough to get a feel for each other in terms of temperment and integrity, and in terms of the type of airplane we wanted and the kinds of flying we expected to do.

My partnership experience has been quite positive, but you do need to go into it heads up. Somebody said a partnership is like a marriage without the honeymoon, and that is very true. You will be sharing a valuable asset with someone else, and having to work out conflicting goals. How you get along with the other person (people) will make or break the arrangement.

I guess the best advice I can give is that you need to know the quality of your partner, you need to have common flying goals, and you need to be prepared to give and take.

Reg

An acquantaince of mine is in a C150 partnership. All was well and his partner almost never flew the plane. Recently the partner has decided he wants out, but he is now flying it regularly. The price he is asking is almost what I paid to own. If it was reasonable, I think my acquantance would buy him out, but it's not.

I wonder how club prices compare to partnerships.
I'd be real careful. One of the greatest things about ownership (as mentioned before) is that I turn the key and lock the plane. Next time I fly, it is exactly the way I left it. When I was training last year, I didn't even think about the other students or condition of the planes. I bought because of what I learned after.