New purchase suggestions!

Shane C said:
Apparently they all have exhaust leaks. Is that an un-airworthy issue?
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Exhaust valve leaks? Yes, in my non-A&P opinion. I certainly wouldn't NOT do something that a *seller* actually told me I needed to do, either.

It also begs the question, why do four cylinders have this problem? What technique was the previous pilot using for setting the mixture? Has that affected the last two cylinders? etc.
 
bflynn said:
I'm one of your competitors, looking for the same thing.

My take for you is a Mooney M20C. Although for a 40k budget, you're getting an engine at 1500 hours and non-moving map IFR and it will be harder to find. [...]
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Not necessarily. A buddy bought late last year a pretty nice, well cared for C for $34k, the engine has under 1,000 hrs. on it. Basic IFR but no GPS. I think it was listed for $39k. I thought this was a bargain, and potential buyers apparently lined up for it. Around $40k however appears realistic for a nice, basic, mid time engine C.

E models sell for quite a bit more, you'd be hard pressed to find a decent one for under $50k.

The other thing I noticed is that the really good deals sell FAST, sometimes on the phone. So, if you want to do this whole pre-buy inspection dance, dragging on over several weeks, expect to pay a quite significant premium. Particularly if you expect the seller to fly it somewhere for you to have it checked out. If you're serious about buying a plane, it's probably best to already have a mechanic on stand-by, who you take with you to check out the plane, so that you can make a decision on the spot.

Oliver
 
Sure, you can get a VFR Mooney at 35k, maybe 40 now. I was looking at one in March, but it had sat for years so I didn't go forward.

But the call was for an IFR equipped aircraft. You can get to a 430 with a decent engine and not too much wear for around 50-55 and it goes up from there.
 
Shane C said:
Apparently they all have exhaust leaks. Is that an un-airworthy issue?
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For me, its an 'ok thanks bye' issue. I would not buy something that needed 4 of 6 cylinders replaced all at the same time unless I was ready and able to pay for an complete overhaul. Engines will crap cylinders. It happens. If its crapping 4 all at once, either lots of maintenance has been skipped or someone was flying it like its stolen. It'd be a no for me.
 
bflynn said:
Sure, you can get a VFR Mooney at 35k, maybe 40 now. I was looking at one in March, but it had sat for years so I didn't go forward.

But the call was for an IFR equipped aircraft. You can get to a 430 with a decent engine and not too much wear for around 50-55 and it goes up from there.
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Do you define IFR as being an IFR certified GPS? Mine was IFR certified when I bought it, just no GPS. I found it for within the range he is looking for at just a little over the halfway mark on engine life. This was several years ago now and the market is probably different, but I'm seeing some decent M20C's out there that meet basic IFR requirements within his price range.
 
pigpenracing said:
Screw insurance!
I have been flying without it for 16 years. If I had to insure all my planes I wouldn't be able to put gas in them.
I do not work my ass off to make insurance companies rich.
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I suppose your umbrella covers aviation, or you just roll the dice?
 
LevelWing said:
Do you define IFR as being an IFR certified GPS? Mine was IFR certified when I bought it, just no GPS. I found it for within the range he is looking for at just a little over the halfway mark on engine life. This was several years ago now and the market is probably different, but I'm seeing some decent M20C's out there that meet basic IFR requirements within his price range.
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No, a gps is not required.

I've spent the last 6 months watching the market.
 
Bill Jennings said:
I suppose your umbrella covers aviation, or you just roll the dice?
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My airplanes have 0 insurance... I have owned lots of high performance and hard to land (Pitts and Eagles) airplanes.
I fly several other planes that belong to others and they do have insurance with me as the pilot. If something happens I will just deal with it!
I priced insurance on my airplanes a few years back just for grins. I think the quote was $12,000 a year to insure all of them....
That would be plain dumb to pay $1000 a month for insurance just to fly as a hobby!
 
Shane C said:
I'd love a Bonanza, but I keep hearing that the maintenance is much more expensive. What are your thoughts on that?
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I own a Beech A36. Maintenance is generally not too bad if you don't look at all the "while you're in there" upgrades I've done in the last 3-1/2 years. Keep in mind though, when I say "not too bad" I'm comparing to other Bonanzas. The basic truth is that these are more airplane than something like a M20C, a 172/182 or a Tiger. That means that annuals run about 2K for the inspection and then your gonna pay for the catch up stuff after that. My experience is you should plan for about 3K in annuals each year and sometimes, it hits 5K. Annuals are cheaper on lesser planes, but for the extra money you get an amazing amount of capability. If you are happy with a plane that does 120-145 Knots and is certified in the Normal category (not as robustly built as Bonanzas that are built to Utility standards), then go with the cheaper option. If you want speed, handling, a solid build and more fun to fly, then look at a Bonanza. My A36 can do 190 KTAS with a NA engine (if I want to pay for that amount of gas) and it lifts 1450 pounds - file some paperwork and it jumps another 150#. It has 6 seats with club seating in the back, a new IO-550 and a G3X panel that Garmin would be happy to put on their marketing brochures. Yes, it's absolutely more expensive than a middle of the road M20C, but it's also not anywhere near the same plane. It's just not an apples to apples comparison.

My personal opinion though is that my A36 is WAAAYYYYY more bang for the buck than any of it's competitors, but then again I'm biased like a dad at a kid's dance recital. My kid is prettier and more talented than anyone else's!

I also think the short bodied bonanzas (V tails and 33 series straight tails) provide way more airplane than you could get elsewhere for the same money. V tails though are starting to get to be a bit of a bigger commitment when buying because the magnesium ruddervators are becoming unobtanium. if you get some hangar rash or corrosion issues, your baby and your invested dollars might be hurting bad. If you can up your budget into the 65-80K range, you could be shopping for debonairs though.
 
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JEB said:
I own a Beech A36. Maintenance is generally not too bad if you don't look at all the "while you're in there" upgrades I've done in the last 3-1/2 years. Keep in mind though, when I say "not too bad" I'm comparing to other Bonanzas. The basic truth is that these are more airplane than something like a M20C, a 172/182 or a Tiger. That means that annuals run about 2K for the inspection and then your gonna pay for the catch up stuff after that. My experience is you should plan for about 3K in annuals each year and sometimes, it hits 5K. Annuals are cheaper on lesser planes, but for the extra money you get an amazing amount of capability. If you are happy with a plane that does 120-145 Knots and is certified in the Normal category (not as robustly built as Bonanzas that are built to Utility standards), then go with the cheaper option. If you want speed, handling, a solid build and more fun to fly, then look at a Bonanza. My A36 can do 190 KTAS with a NA engine (if I want to pay for that amount of gas) and it lifts 1450 pounds - file some paperwork and it jumps another 150#. It has 6 seats with club seating in the back, a new IO-550 and a G3X panel that Garmin would be happy to put on their marketing brochures. Yes, it's absolutely more expensive than a middle of the road M20C, but it's also not anywhere near the same plane. It's just not an apples to apples comparison.

My personal opinion though is that my A36 is WAAAYYYYY more bang for the buck than any of it's competitors, but then again I'm biased like a dad at a kid's dance recital. My kid is prettier and more talented than anyone else's!

I also think the short bodied bonanzas (V tails and 33 series straight tails) provide way more airplane than you could get elsewhere for the same money. V tails though are starting to get to be a bit of a bigger commitment when buying because the magnesium ruddervators are becoming unobtanium. if you get some hangar rash or corrosion issues, your baby and your invested dollars might be hurting bad. If you can up your budget into the 65-80K range, you could be shopping for debonairs though.
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Yeah I keep seeing some v tails in my price range, one beauty in particular is this light baby blue g35 with gorgeous interior. But motor is sitting at like 2300 hours (with great compression though).

He wants 30k for it, but I'd be looking at an overhaul pretty damn soon. Otherwise I'd absolutely love to pick that one up. Has everything else I need.

Its on trade a plane in Colorado if you wanna look it up.
 
Shane C said:
How do we all feel about Experimentals?
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Only way to go.
You will not find many retracts - but I have to ask: Do you want retractable gear, or do you want speed? Clean fixed gear can be faster than an open wheel well retract. Do you want a specific horsepower or do you want speed? A smaller, lower power aircraft like a T-18, Tailwind, etc. will have room for two and some (but not much) baggage, but will be faster than many big engine retracts.

What before how.
 
Shane C said:
Yeah I keep seeing some v tails in my price range, one beauty in particular is this light baby blue g35 with gorgeous interior. But motor is sitting at like 2300 hours (with great compression though).

He wants 30k for it, but I'd be looking at an overhaul pretty damn soon. Otherwise I'd absolutely love to pick that one up. Has everything else I need.

Its on trade a plane in Colorado if you wanna look it up.
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I bought my A36 with a 2000 hours on the engine. Compressions were pretty good and the borescope didn't show anything scary. so i flew that engine for another 360 hours before I replaced it. It is possible to fly an old engine for a few years before you take the leap for getting an OH. Just go into things with your eyes wide open. You're either going to be paying for a fresh engine soon or reselling the plane at a discount because you didn't. Just expect that the money is going to be spent and every hour you get before that is "free" engine time - also don't be foolish and risk your life.

On a G35, you should be certain that the ruddervators have zero corrosion, If those go, you might find yourself with a really nice lawn ornament.
 
In regards to the overhaul. Your budget gets into a few aircraft but all fairly high engine time for a reason.

If you leap, my usual advice is to know where the overhaul money is coming from if the thing eats an engine in the next few years.

If no wiggle room or other investments or emergency cash on hand that can be liquidated to keep the airplane aloft and not parked wondering if it needs to be sold, rent.

I do like the Mooney M20C recommendation. It’s about as simple a retract as you can find with very few gotchas in the retract system or engine that cost big big bucks. Also very few have been beat up as rentals. Neglected in single ownership though, yes. Get a very thorough pre-buy inspection from a Mooney expert you trust. Just like anything really.

If you can find like minded people who aren’t broke, consider partnerships. Having one cuts all the bills considerably if you both fly, depending on how you divvy things up. Good partners are worth their weight in gold. Bad partners, well... it can happen. But generally it’s a plus unless you need 100% scheduling access to the aircraft.

Also run out the numbers on rent vs buy and number of hours you plan to fly in a year. With 52 weeks and the — maybe iffy — rule of thumb not to own unless flying 100 hours in a year... that’s two hours every week, or making it up in weeks you do fly if you skip any for any reason, weather, etc.

Personally after owning I like the convenience of a hangar and airplane key on my keychain and flying locally with nothing more than a text to co-owners to make sure we all didn’t have the same idea on a nice day, and that convenience outweighs the rent vs buy numbers by a long shot, but on a tight budget, I’d rent below the crossover point.

The convenience factor is a personal decision.

But mainly this post is a warning that in your purchase range, it’ll be roughly double that price if the thing needs an overhaul. Be mentally and fiscally prepared for the worst case scenario.

I’m also not a fan of buying toys on credit, but that’s a personal decision. I’ll let the guy or gal leasing back to a club take that risk for me, unless the money is in the bank to pay off the note at all times. Job loss, pandemics, other illness, whatever... all sorts of life things change in the amount of time most folks own an aircraft.

Good luck in the hunt if you decide owning a 70s relic that needs TLC is your cup of tea. It is mine. Oh sure something newer would be fine, too... but prices being what they are, there’s still good value in the older stuff.

I liken the OLD airplane to NEW sports car ownership. $30K is pretty light in new sports cars these days. Used sports cars, be prepared to fix things.
 
The Mooney M20c is the biggest bang for your buck in all of GA. More speed on less of everything else. Manual gear and flaps keep maintenance costs down. Nothing goes faster on less money. Nothing.
 
Capt. Geoffrey Thorpe said:
Only way to go.
You will not find many retracts - but I have to ask: Do you want retractable gear, or do you want speed? Clean fixed gear can be faster than an open wheel well retract. Do you want a specific horsepower or do you want speed? A smaller, lower power aircraft like a T-18, Tailwind, etc. will have room for two and some (but not much) baggage, but will be faster than many big engine retracts.

What before how.
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With the two planes you mentioned there, the emphasis is on "smaller". Those are two small airplanes.
 
steingar said:
The Mooney M20c is the biggest bang for your buck in all of GA. More speed on less of everything else. Manual gear and flaps keep maintenance costs down. Nothing goes faster on less money. Nothing.
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So what sorts of speed do you get out of a M20C, short and long body? Seems prices are pretty comparable to a Comanche 180.
 
pigpenracing said:
My airplanes have 0 insurance... I have owned lots of high performance and hard to land (Pitts and Eagles) airplanes.
I fly several other planes that belong to others and they do have insurance with me as the pilot. If something happens I will just deal with it!
I priced insurance on my airplanes a few years back just for grins. I think the quote was $12,000 a year to insure all of them....
That would be plain dumb to pay $1000 a month for insurance just to fly as a hobby!
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Yep. There have been many times in my life where the choice was essentially - fly without insurance, or not fly at all. I wanted to fly.

Even with commercial/instrument/cfi certs, keeping full insurance on multiple tail draggers and floatplanes while flying mostly to beaches, sandbars, small lakes, etc. in Alaska, was not an option. So I self insured... at that time. I am now flying airport to airport with a tricycle experimental and my insurance is quite reasonable, so I carry it. Everyone has to decide what is the risk they are willing to accept to live the way they want. There is no RIGHT answer, IMO. Many people would say we are all idiots for doing personal/recreational flying, at all. Why risk it...?
 
Kristin said:
So what sorts of speed do you get out of a M20C, short and long body? Seems prices are pretty comparable to a Comanche 180.
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The C is the shortest Mooney you can get. Similar to the stones of a great Pyramids, not even a knife blade can fit between the front and back seats on a C model Mooney. Some folks say all C models will do cruise at 145-150 knots. Others who have owned say they rarely saw better than about 140. The C model I used to fly had some speed mods and would do about 143-144 at altitude pretty consistently.
 
Kristin said:
So what sorts of speed do you get out of a M20C, short and long body? Seems prices are pretty comparable to a Comanche 180.
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please don't feed the trolls...……. :biggrin: :popcorn: :goofy:
 
I still like the Super Viking suggestion. You will need a hangar though, that's one you don't really want to leave sitting out in the sun all the time.
 
Kristin said:
So what sorts of speed do you get out of a M20C, short and long body? Seems prices are pretty comparable to a Comanche 180.
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I routinely see 140 knots on a little less than 9 gallons an hour. That’s for an aircraft you can easily pick up in the 40s if not the 30s. Rock stable and one of the best IFR platforms.
 
Rent a 4 seater when u need one. Buy a used rv6a with steam gauges for 45k, do 150 knots on 7gph, have 1200 dollar annuals and enjoy all the cheap flight time.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
 
steingar said:
I routinely see 140 knots on a little less than 9 gallons an hour. That’s for an aircraft you can easily pick up in the 40s if not the 30s. Rock stable and one of the best IFR platforms.
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That is about Comanche 180 performance. Money is about the same, perhaps a touch more if the 180 has been well-maintained and upgraded. Comanche has tons more room inside.
 
Kristin said:
That is about Comanche 180 performance. Money is about the same, perhaps a touch more if the 180 has been well-maintained and upgraded. Comanche has tons more room inside.
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I'm sorry, but this is patently untrue. A Comanche 180 won't come close to keeping up with a Mooney. Same engine, and a much bigger frontal area. All that room has to come from somewhere. A Comanche 250 will handily keep up with an M20c, but you're feeding and paying for two extra cylinders. I meant what I said. A vintage Mooney is the biggest bang for your buck in GA.
 
steingar said:
I'm sorry, but this is patently untrue. A Comanche 180 won't come close to keeping up with a Mooney. Same engine, and a much bigger frontal area. All that room has to come from somewhere. A Comanche 250 will handily keep up with an M20c, but you're feeding and paying for two extra cylinders. I meant what I said. A vintage Mooney is the biggest bang for your buck in GA.
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So 140 knots in a Mooney M20C is faster than 140 knots in a Comanche 180? Perhaps you would like to explain before suggesting that what I post is untrue.
 
Kristin said:
So 140 knots in a Mooney M20C is faster than 140 knots in a Comanche 180? Perhaps you would like to explain before suggesting that what I post is untrue.
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My google fu says...
75% power: 139 KIAS for Comanche 180
The Mooney M20C is suppose to do 158 KIAS.

But if those are marketing numbers, you’re not going see those in the real world.
 
MooneyDriver78 said:
My google fu says...
75% power: 139 KIAS for Comanche 180
The Mooney M20C is suppose to do 158 KIAS.

But if those are marketing numbers, you’re not going see those in the real world.
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I asked and was told 140 kts for the M20C. I have flown them once, and that was over 30 years ago and I don't remember the numbers, I am taking Steingar at his word. If an M20C, with 180hp, will really do 158 kts, then it is faster than a Comanche 180.

I have seen Comanche 180's that could only manage 135 and I have seen ones that were sufficiently tricked out to so 152 KTAS. IMX, 140 is a reasonably figure for the 180, but given the number of speed mods available, etc, there is a range.
 
Kristin said:
I asked and was told 140 kts for the M20C. I have flown them once, and that was over 30 years ago and I don't remember the numbers, I am taking Steingar at his word. If an M20C, with 180hp, will really do 158 kts, then it is faster than a Comanche 180.

I have seen Comanche 180's that could only manage 135 and I have seen ones that were sufficiently tricked out to so 152 KTAS. IMX, 140 is a reasonably figure for the 180, but given the number of speed mods available, etc, there is a range.
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Put enough speed mods on a Comanche 180 it can run with a Mooney M20c. Problem is by the time you have the Comanche modded out you've spent enough to acquire a Mooney M20J, which will handily outrun any Comanche 180 and keep up with a Comanche 250. Mod out a Mooney M20C and it will come close to J speeds too. Mod out an M20E and it'll outrun a J and just about any Comanche.

Mooneys aren't cavernous because they're fast. That's the point. Like I keep saying, biggest bang for your buck in GA. You won't find anything that can do vintage Mooney speed for the same price, and you certainly won't find anything that can lift a half ton while doing it and still burn 9 gallons an hour.
 
steingar said:
Put enough speed mods on a Comanche 180 it can run with a Mooney M20c. Problem is by the time you have the Comanche modded out you've spent enough to acquire a Mooney M20J, which will handily outrun any Comanche 180 and keep up with a Comanche 250. Mod out a Mooney M20C and it will come close to J speeds too. Mod out an M20E and it'll outrun a J and just about any Comanche.

Mooneys aren't cavernous because they're fast. That's the point. Like I keep saying, biggest bang for your buck in GA. You won't find anything that can do vintage Mooney speed for the same price, and you certainly won't find anything that can lift a half ton while doing it and still burn 9 gallons an hour.
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140 kts is still 140 kts, regardless. It doesn't take speed mods to get a 180 to 140 kts. Getting it past that does. You are being evasive regarding whether a stock M20C will exceed 140 kts. You are not showing me that the M20C is significantly faster.

As for the biggest bang for the buck, it depends on whether one values comfort or not. I never fell in love with the Johnson Bar landing gear, and apparently neither did the marketplace as Mooney ditched it. The Comanche is also easier to work on. Later Mooneys are nice airplanes. Panel space is bit at a premium too in the earlier Mooneys. For one person and a brief case, they are pretty good. I liked the M20J and I thought the Bravo was pretty cool, though I only had a couple of flights in the latter. They were, to me, a bit more useful than the early, i.e. cheap, Mooneys.
 
JEB said:
I'm really not trying to squash your dreams, but ... 30-40K is probably not going to get you what you are you describing (Portland to LA, most likely IFR required, decent speed and legs...) unless you are also planning to invest in solid improvements every year. You would be better off looking to spend 60-80. Yearly costs will be lower and capabilities will be higher. If you do stay with your budget, look for a solid M20C.
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I have to admit that I am interested in your progress. Contingent upon regaining at least a Class III Med. Cert. I will be looking around for an airplane myself, so I thought that I might throw out a couple of my own ideas to see what you think about it, and to see how others on this board may have handled it.

First of all for my pilot qualifications: ASMEL/RWMEL, Instrument Rating in both fixed and rotary-wing aircraft and Type Certificates for a Boeing 234 & Sikorski S-76. Total Flight Time ~9,000 hrs., ~65% RW & 35% FW. Virtually all of the RW time is turbine-powered, multi-engine helicopter while the FW time is ~60% SEL & 30% MEL. Total Instrument Time is ~1500 hrs.

What I am looking for is a multi-engine aircraft, with a range >1,200 nm that has the capacity to hold 4-6 adults. Since anything in this class will be "outrageously" expensive to own as an individual, I am looking for proportional ownership of an aircraft as described, with a group of 4-6 people with somewhat similar flying experience (to keep the insurance rates from costing more than the airplane itself). I can wrangle up 1 or 2 other pilots that I flew with while in the military, so it will be an adventure finding the other 2-4 partners that we can all get along with each other, and would be just as happy if I could find a military flying club that had at least one airplane that met my needs.

Bentley & I will be watching your progress, perhaps adding a comment or two, and/or even asking a question as I/we move ahead, perhaps at a bit slower pace than you are intending to do so, but hopefully successfully "piggybacking" off of your experiences and opportunities.

I would agree with the comment that you will probably need to spend more than the $40,000 that you are budgeting to acquire a plane that will meet your requirements as specified, and even if you found one that appeared to be able to do everything that you wanted its condition would be such that you would be spending more in repairs, maintenance, and upgrades than would be necessary for you have a reliable, safe and comfortable aircraft to fly. Perhaps you might do well to consider something along the lines of proportional ownership unless you will be using it as a corporate aircraft for your business, or have a lot of free time on your hands and really need an availability rate for your own use that would make such a "shared-usage" impractical. My thoughts are that I would rather fly the airplane that I really liked and that met my needs even though I could not afford to own it on my own than to buy a lesser aircraft and always be unhappy with the one that I could unilaterally afford to own. How many hours do you intend to fly the airplane that you will be purchasing? I am pretty much semi-retired now, and can virtually make my own schedule, but I doubt if my utilization rate for an airplane per annum would be sufficient to justify owning one on my own. Of course, should I hit one of those multi-hundred million dollar Powerball drawings one day my Jetstar 731 Series II will share my own private hangar with my S-76, and some version of a ruggedized piston or turbo-prop iteration like a Twin Otter, and I will be able to own 100% of each of them, but until then cooler heads, and more realistic bank account balances, must prevail.
 
Shane C said:
I'd love a Bonanza, but I keep hearing that the maintenance is much more expensive. What are your thoughts on that?
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Are you talking about one of those proverbial "forked-tail doctor killers". If so, we had a flight surgeon who stayed in the ARNG just to keep his 0-6 paycheck in so he could afford to keep it flying, It was a nice plane though, back then the MEL for IFR flight was a much shorter list, and the only glass in the cockpit contained either Coke or Pepsi.
 
steingar said:
Mooneys aren't cavernous because they're fast. That's the point. Like I keep saying, biggest bang for your buck in GA. You won't find anything that can do vintage Mooney speed for the same price, and you certainly won't find anything that can lift a half ton while doing it and still burn 9 gallons an hour.
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In the certified world they are the best bang for the buck.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Pro
 
Dr. Stephen Spies said:
I have to admit that I am interested in your progress. Contingent upon regaining at least a Class III Med. Cert. I will be looking around for an airplane myself, so I thought that I might throw out a couple of my own ideas to see what you think about it, and to see how others on this board may have handled it.

First of all for my pilot qualifications: ASMEL/RWMEL, Instrument Rating in both fixed and rotary-wing aircraft and Type Certificates for a Boeing 234 & Sikorski S-76. Total Flight Time ~9,000 hrs., ~65% RW & 35% FW. Virtually all of the RW time is turbine-powered, multi-engine helicopter while the FW time is ~60% SEL & 30% MEL. Total Instrument Time is ~1500 hrs.

What I am looking for is a multi-engine aircraft, with a range >1,200 nm that has the capacity to hold 4-6 adults. Since anything in this class will be "outrageously" expensive to own as an individual, I am looking for proportional ownership of an aircraft as described, with a group of 4-6 people with somewhat similar flying experience (to keep the insurance rates from costing more than the airplane itself). I can wrangle up 1 or 2 other pilots that I flew with while in the military, so it will be an adventure finding the other 2-4 partners that we can all get along with each other, and would be just as happy if I could find a military flying club that had at least one airplane that met my needs.

Bentley & I will be watching your progress, perhaps adding a comment or two, and/or even asking a question as I/we move ahead, perhaps at a bit slower pace than you are intending to do so, but hopefully successfully "piggybacking" off of your experiences and opportunities.

I would agree with the comment that you will probably need to spend more than the $40,000 that you are budgeting to acquire a plane that will meet your requirements as specified, and even if you found one that appeared to be able to do everything that you wanted its condition would be such that you would be spending more in repairs, maintenance, and upgrades than would be necessary for you have a reliable, safe and comfortable aircraft to fly. Perhaps you might do well to consider something along the lines of proportional ownership unless you will be using it as a corporate aircraft for your business, or have a lot of free time on your hands and really need an availability rate for your own use that would make such a "shared-usage" impractical. My thoughts are that I would rather fly the airplane that I really liked and that met my needs even though I could not afford to own it on my own than to buy a lesser aircraft and always be unhappy with the one that I could unilaterally afford to own. How many hours do you intend to fly the airplane that you will be purchasing? I am pretty much semi-retired now, and can virtually make my own schedule, but I doubt if my utilization rate for an airplane per annum would be sufficient to justify owning one on my own. Of course, should I hit one of those multi-hundred million dollar Powerball drawings one day my Jetstar 731 Series II will share my own private hangar with my S-76, and some version of a ruggedized piston or turbo-prop iteration like a Twin Otter, and I will be able to own 100% of each of them, but until then cooler heads, and more realistic bank account balances, must prevail.
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Well you have a lot more experience flying than I do, and I intend on using this aircraft for recreational purposes only. I'm starting to lean more towards a partnership, especially since I'm buying in cash. I'd prefer not to put myself in debt, so if I can find a couple stand up guys to go in with me, we could probably get a nice one for 50-60k it seems.

But no one in my area seems to be biting at my craigslist ad =(
 
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