Scudrunners

I came across an ad on Kijiji the other day for a 1/10 share in a Cessna 150. I thought hey might as well ask what they want and what the deal is.

Now in my mind a Cessna 150 is worth about 15K - 35K and the 35K one has good paint decent avionics and a freshly overhauled engine maybe 40K for a very low time and zero time engine after a barnfind.
So I figured it would be fun to grab a share in that (im doing well why not, kids don't fit in a Pitts S1) you know take the kiddos up for a rip get them involved in aviation so they can't afford drugs later sort of thing.

Guess how much I was told the 1/10 share was for said airplane. It had good paint, avionics where basic, fresh out of annual.

Guess I'll wait

I’m going to shoot for the moon and say they were asking $12k for 10% while hoping I’m wildly missing the mark.

I have seen this sort of thing. I have thought before, I should buy something and sell expensive shares then have a nice giant engine fund.

Soon everyone involved would have shares in a plane that would be in much better condition than most, even if the paint is still scruffy.

I’m going to go low and say $7,500.

The problem with "shared ownership" you just need one asshole in the mix and everyone;s life is miserable and no flying.

5500 bucks. Don’t think I could buy a Cessna 150
With a valuation anywhere near that. Nope not even a 152.

Rather drop 20k on something a lot more capable with less partners

A 2 person group is IMO the sweet spot for shared ownership. All fixed costs are cut in half but it is very close to outright ownership because in practice you will seldom have scheduling conflicts.

I was in a 2 person partnership for 15 years which worked great. The reality is I could not have afforded the plane outright or used it enough to justify the costs.

Most privately owned airplanes don’t fly enough and lack of regular use is the worse thing you can do to an airplane. Having a partner helps ensure the airplane gets enough exercise to stay happy.

Before that I was in a 4 person partnership. I bailed after 4 years because it was a pain dealing with 2 of the 4 partners. Finding one compatible partner is a lot easier than finding 3. The larger the group the smaller the savings to you and the more likely there will be problems.

A 10 person group is a recipe for disaster and a guarantee that the airplane will be treated like a rental car.

It really just depends on the people. The best one I came across was Three Hills Flying Club. They have an Archer that currently rents for $140/hr wet. When I was a member there a few years ago it was usually fairly easy to book, and there were no bad apples. The club owns the plane and you don't need to purchase any kind of ownership, just pay for annual club membership and a share of the insurance. Their website seems to be down at the moment, but I just talked to the president of the club and it's still going strong and they overhauled the engine in 2017 (400 hours flown since then).

I've seen people rent out their planes, but it doesn't always work out well. You might want to rent at the same time, or they might not always leave the plane in the condition you expect. When I bought my plane last year I decided not to rent it to anyone, although I might make the occasional exception.

Agreed tens a little extreme for sure.

What does the average ppl owner fly a year ? Maybe 50 hours?

that’s definitely not going to keep a plane working well.

If I get something it’s going to be with 1 or 2 others who I know are not going to abuse it.

I have to wonder if all these people buying planes and RV or trailers over the pandemic are going to realize the costs ain’t for them and flood the market a year or so out.

Scudrunner wrote: ↑

Thu Apr 29, 2021 12:42 am

I have to wonder if all these people buying planes and RV or trailers over the pandemic are going to realize the costs ain’t for them and flood the market a year or so out.

I keep wondering this as well, I have tried even just show interest in 6 planes so far and they have all sold in 72Hrs or less, I don't get it. Has me wondering do I buy now? Or will the bottom fall out and suddenly they will all be selling for cheap?

I don't really even see the driving force, the RV kinda makes sense although I don't see most people keeping those but a plane?

Possibly the new budget is driving this a little.