Club Homepage Forums Classified Ads Buy & Sell - Everything But Airplanes Co-Ownership

We're gonna miss you next week Greg! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" />

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

I concure !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I wouldn't go into an aircraft partnership with my wife, let alone a friend!

Hmmmmm! That didn't come out right, did it?

I've been watching this thread with interest because I'm considering a partnership and I'm glad to see a few positive stories mixed in with the negative. Right now I'm an owner, but my schedule doesn't permit me to fly nearly as often as I'd like. In fact, I end up running down to the airport to sneak in some patterns simply because I don't want the plane to sit too long without being run. I've even been there when the field is IFR running it up for 20 minutes or so. This also drives the hourly operating costs through the roof. This past year, I could have been renting an IFR Cardinal wet and have been training for an instrument rating for less money than my 150. Of course the 150 is more fun to fly. Yes, it is nice to know I was the last person to touch the plane and to make any decisions on spending money without having to consult a partner. But, I would have to think that a partnership with a reasonable person or two would have to beat renting by leaps and bounds. I wouldn't expect a rental to be available at the last minute on a nice weekend. Just my 2 cents, but this is something I've been thinking about alot. Mark, if you're in the same situation AND if you're convinced these people are reasonable, I don't see how it could hurt to try a partnership. Of course, you must look at the rules for scheduling, spending money on upgrades, selling your share when you want to leave, etc.

Lynn:

In our group, if a partner wants to sell or dies, the LLC (remaining partners) has first refusal on the available share. I think this approach is fairly standard. Re new partners, it is not so much an approval as the absence of disapproval -- that is does anyone have good reason to not take in a specific new partner for such reasons as he/she being a student or low-time pilot who would bring a substantial increase in insurance premiums, citations for violations of FARs, citations for alcohol-related DUIs or drug use, poor credit ratings, etc. There should be communication between partners and each should make their opinions known to the others. Many partnership disagreements can be traced to non-existent or poor communication among the partners.

Don

I've owned several airplanes with partners, always worked out just fine. Had a 172 in Poughkeepsie with a partner, we had an ad hoc arrangement on scheduling, work out just fine. Had a couple of partners on a Bonanza, after the first annual I ducked out! Had 1, 2 and 3 partners on a Cherokee at various times, I used the airplane for business primarily, only occasionally on weekends, let the other guys fight out the weekend scheduling. In all cases split the fixed costs, left the airplane full of gas, any betterment work with a consensus.

Geo.

Thanks Geo and to all that replied, I'm going to give them a call and hopefully meet with them this weekend and see what they have to say and what the LLC is in writing. (need to get over to AOPA and read up on this as well) I'll go with an open mind but as Jim said "tread lightly". From the pictures they sent it really does look like a nice plane. Thanks again for the information it gave me somewhere to start. I'll let you know how it goes.

Mark

I met with the owner last Sunday and talked over the co-ownership of the cessna 150. After talking to him for awhile about paperwork, requirements of LLC, and his experience in past co-ownerships he took me up in the 150 and we flew around the airport. I was definitely impressed by the paper work and logs and his aircraft. I do believe that this would probably work out to be a good partnership due to the way he keeps the aircraft and how he looks at the maintenance of the aircraft to be kept. However I'm going to wait on this due to training for commercial rating which hopefully will be finished in November/December. So we'll see how things are going then and if he still has an opening.

Come to find out he is a club member as well for several years, and has attended Clinton the last 5 years. How about that, it is a small world, or is it that there are just that many 150 club members in the world.

What's his name? Dennis Raddant? If so, you couldn't have asked for a nicer person.