Airplane partnerships, why so hard to find?

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TommyG

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why is it so hard to find other pilots to be partners in airplanes. Up here on Long Island it is almost taboo. Like a sin for people to do it. But with the cost of planes and how much people actually use them. To me makes complete logical sense. Am. I wrong?
 
it's been really hard for me to find peeps.
 
A couple of years ago someone set up a website for that purpose. The 'airplane partnership association'. A couple of $$ registration and you could post wanted and offer slots for partnerships. The database interface was horrid and it didn't ggive good matches. AOPA bought them out and made it worse. I think they dropped it at some point.

I found my share from a 'for sale' ad on beechtalk.
 
I tried to set one up and nobody wanted to. I said screw it and bought a 100% interest.
 
I looked around when I was buying my plane and shortly afterwards. Maybe I was being picky, but it's hard to find someone that meshes 100% personally and financially. If my plane sat around months on end, I'd be more agressive seeking a partner. Since I fly it every couple of weeks, I prefer knowing it's available any time I want it.
 
For me, it's about trust and responsibility. Since my 182 hauls my family, I want ALL responsibility for that plane to rest solely on me. The only partner I would consider on my family truckster, would be a close personal friend or family that I trust completely. I suspect others feel the same way. Perhaps for different reasons.

However, I've considered trying to partner with someone on a Citabria that would only be used for my own amusement. A partner doesn't bother me at all on a plane that isn't expected to transport my precious cargo. I would still be pretty selective about the partner.

A few years ago, I nearly entered a partnership with a fellow on a C-175 taildragger. Beautiful plane, and it would have been a great deal financially for both of us. After mentioning it to some other flying friends, I started finding out the owner had done some questionable work on the plane that two different IAs wouldn't sign off on. Red flag. In addition, the owner kept talking about his plans for avionics, engine upgrade, etc., that I had no interest in. So,I think it's somewhat difficult to find a partner in your area that not only wants to drive the same kind of plane, but also shares your same philosophies on MX, general care, upgrades, etc. If you aren't in total agreement on everything, it would be hard to enjoy the partnership, IMO.

Heck, we have group of people that love aviation so much that we sought out a forum on the web, and devote hours each week to it. How much do we agree on aviation related things? Nearly every thread
 
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Looking for a partner that pays their share and bills on time if not early, doesn't mind when I take the plane on a whim, doesn't mind when I leave the plane a little messy inside and doesn't really fly much at all so I can take the plane for weeks at a time and also does all the maintenance, has a hanger twice as big as needed, IA mandatory.... please send picture of the hangar.... :cool:
 
The arrow I'm partnered in has been in partnerships since the early 90's. People have come in and out as they please (some at the price they wanted, some not.)
Ask some cfi's on the field, or talk to some of the mechanics, they might know of some currently available partnerships.
 
TommyG said:
why is it so hard to find other pilots to be partners in airplanes. Up here on Long Island it is almost taboo. Like a sin for people to do it. But with the cost of planes and how much people actually use them. To me makes complete logical sense. Am. I wrong?
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A successful airplane partnership is more marriage than business arrangement. For most recreational pilots, the economics far weigh in favor of taking a partner or 3. But the emotional attachment most pilots have with "their" plane makes it hard for them to give up their baby to another pilot.
 
I started out in a club plane, the owner, myself and two others. I was the only one that really flew the Archer and I participated in the annual along with the wash and wax. The owner spared no expense on maintenance so we always felt comfortable flying. After doing the owner assisted annuals I was starting to get the bug to buy our own plane. A new person replaced one of our pilots in the group and really competed for time, which wasn't the problem. The problem was he left the plane a mess, all the time. I gave notice and we ended up buying our plane.

I guess where I'm trying to go here is that as others mentioned, it is like a marriage, not everyone squeezes the toothpaste from the bottom, little things get annoying quickly. I love the fact that the headsets are in the same place every time, the GPS does not have to be reset to track up, I don't have to clean the cockpit every flight, the fuel is always where I want it and they plane is always there waiting for me to go fly, with no schedule to worry about.
 
OK...the last two posts have compared airplane partnership to marriage, so I gotta tell a story! I met this lady from Ohio on-line who had in her profile "my dream airplane is a Citabria". I just happened to have one in Illinois.

Further investigation revealed she was a tall blonde CFII/Citation IP with a 172. Sent an initial e-mail asking her if she'd marry me, and found out she shared my warped sense of humor when she replied, "Maybe!". :)

Invited her to Illinois for a B.B. King concert, and while she was there got a bonus BFR in the Citabria. Long story short, followed her back to Ohio and living the dream. 8 years of marriage so far which is a lot like an airplane partnership with benefits.

Moral of the story is find a partner you're compatible with at all costs...be it airplane or marriage.

Back to your regularly scheduled thread!

Jim
 
Jim Rosenow said:
OK...the last two posts have compared airplane partnership to marriage, so I gotta tell a story! I met this lady from Ohio on-line who had in her profile "my dream airplane is a Citabria". I just happened to have one in Illinois.

Further investigation revealed she was a tall blonde CFII/Citation IP with a 172. Sent an initial e-mail asking her if she'd marry me, and found out she shared my warped sense of humor when she replied, "Maybe!". :)

Invited her to Illinois for a B.B. King concert, and while she was there got a bonus BFR in the Citabria. Long story short, followed her back to Ohio and living the dream. 8 years of marriage so far which is a lot like an airplane partnership with benefits.

Moral of the story is find a partner you're compatible with at all costs...be it airplane or marriage.

Back to your regularly scheduled thread!

Jim
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man, don't be bringing that mushy sht into an aviation forum! what do you want, a documentary on the Oxygen channel or something? sheesh!

JK, pics of the lil lady or it never happened! I'm talking about the Citabria, of course ;)
 
Lol. Congrats.

As to the original question: The same reason it is harder to find diamonds than quartz.
 
Partnerships in general are hard to run smoothly. All the partners are responsible for the other partners mistakes. All it takes is one bad apple, one guy that can't/won't pay his bills and things are a mess. Consider owning a less expensive airplane, like a Cessna 152 or 172 or an experimental. Or just keep renting.

I know of one partnership. One partner INSISTED that the airplane have a hobbs meter (it had a tach, good enough right?). The others refused to spend the money. Wrecked the whole deal.

Its not like these partners are employees where you can boss them around and fire them. Its more like a marriage.
 
Jim Rosenow said:
OK...the last two posts have compared airplane partnership to marriage, so I gotta tell a story! I met this lady from Ohio on-line who had in her profile "my dream airplane is a Citabria". I just happened to have one in Illinois.

Further investigation revealed she was a tall blonde CFII/Citation IP with a 172. Sent an initial e-mail asking her if she'd marry me, and found out she shared my warped sense of humor when she replied, "Maybe!". :)

Invited her to Illinois for a B.B. King concert, and while she was there got a bonus BFR in the Citabria. Long story short, followed her back to Ohio and living the dream. 8 years of marriage so far which is a lot like an airplane partnership with benefits.

Moral of the story is find a partner you're compatible with at all costs...be it airplane or marriage.

Back to your regularly scheduled thread!

Jim
Click to expand...

Pics or it didn't happen. :D


Seriously, great story. Thanks for sharing.
 
Jim Rosenow said:
OK...the last two posts have compared airplane partnership to marriage, so I gotta tell a story! I met this lady from Ohio on-line who had in her profile "my dream airplane is a Citabria". I just happened to have one in Illinois.

Further investigation revealed she was a tall blonde CFII/Citation IP with a 172. Sent an initial e-mail asking her if she'd marry me, and found out she shared my warped sense of humor when she replied, "Maybe!". :)

Invited her to Illinois for a B.B. King concert, and while she was there got a bonus BFR in the Citabria. Long story short, followed her back to Ohio and living the dream. 8 years of marriage so far which is a lot like an airplane partnership with benefits.

Moral of the story is find a partner you're compatible with at all costs...be it airplane or marriage.

Back to your regularly scheduled thread!

Jim
Click to expand...


Fantastic! So glad you were able to move out of IL.

Oh, the rest of the story ain't bad either. :D
 
I'd suggest that you buy 1/2 of my ride, but it would be a bit of a drive to get to ONZ when you want to use it.
 
One partner is a dawn patrol, and he's finished flying about the time I wake up. One flies only on week end and holidays. I like to fly mid-day, and bouncy air doesn't bother me. The fourth member has other aircraft, and he tends to make two or three trips only occasionally.

The problem most face is finding members who live close enough together to hangar the airplane so all have a short enough drive. For most partnerships, the drive can end up being 1 hr to 1 hr 30 minutes.
 
Tried a couple of times to upload a Citabria pic....the technology defeated me, so far. Hit Upload a File, go to the directory, and although it sees some files in the directory, not the pics I wanted to share. Dunno wuzzup...

Jim

PS- Re the 'move out of Illinois' comment....LMAO! Illinois...where the governor's retirement package includes a (non-pinstriped-) striped suit.
 
Finally figured it out!! Zoom in....she wears this smile every time she flies!!
Citabria.JPG
 
No, I meant the N#!

Just kidding. Yep, no floats! I wish the one in the pic was mine. I would love to have a Citabria (or anything) on floats. It belongs to my seaplane instructor and is the one that I got my SES in.
 
I guess I lucked out last year. After a couple of years, the stars aligned and I found a great couple of guys for my LLC and we found a great plane. Keep the faith. If you stick with it and are careful, you could get into something good.
 
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