What should I do?

40 posts and only one says keep the mooney via a partnership. I say sell it. IF you keep an airplane in partnership DON'T keep the mooney for reasons already stated.
 
Let's review so I can get this figgered out.

The OP's father bought him a Mooney 4 seater. The OP is 18. He has a job, near, but under $50k/year. The plane requires mx which is costly at this time, but once done the repair will be good for >20 years. Father want's OP to sell the plane that father bought. As an incentive, once sold the father will then buy the OP an RV4 or like.

Do I have this roughly right? If I have it down, then surely I'm the OPs long lost brother, and tell dad I want a RV10, and I also want mx for the next 3 years too. :yikes:
Yup, the boy's definitely got 1st World Problems!
 
Sell it, get the RV4 or RV3 or something, pocket the rest and use it to get your Multi. You'll be broke at the end, but then you'll have an RV4, Commercial, Instrument, Multi, and be pretty close to ready to go for ATP.

Sell it.
 
Sell it, get the RV4 or RV3 or something, pocket the rest and use it to get your Multi. You'll be broke at the end, but then you'll have an RV4, Commercial, Instrument, Multi, and be pretty close to ready to go for ATP.

Sell it.

I think he has a multi... FWIW
 
Add some flexibility in employment in the future...
 
Forget the CFI he is working without it, if he gets it he might have to use it.:lol:
 
How about asking his dad if he would have been buying airplanes and paying for his kid's flying if he had chosen a career in aviation?
 
As always, mission. If the mission is to fly around large distance by yourself, and RV3 or Midget Mustang would make good sense. However, that mission could change pretty dramatically and pretty quickly under the right circumstances, if one takes my meaning.
 
As always, mission. If the mission is to fly around large distance by yourself, and RV3 or Midget Mustang would make good sense. However, that mission could change pretty dramatically and pretty quickly under the right circumstances, if one takes my meaning.


Don't you have to be married to need a divorce attorney?

Or investing in some form of surgery to limit # of dependents?
 
How about asking his dad if he would have been buying airplanes and paying for his kid's flying if he had chosen a career in aviation?

Tell that to our neighbor Joe who is retired from his airline career and splitting time between a Tartan sailboat in the islands and his waterfront house on the Chesapeake bay.
 
Getting the CFI before selling the Mooney is a solid plan.
 
Getting the CFI before selling the Mooney is a solid plan.

I agree..not sure what career desires you have but a CFI and instructing is heavily weighted in airlines and other places...some not so much
 
Tiger is doing well playing golf too.

Tell that to our neighbor Joe who is retired from his airline career and splitting time between a Tartan sailboat in the islands and his waterfront house on the Chesapeake bay.
 
Man, sounds like good problems to have.

Personally, Id sell the "Mooneh" and take your dad up on that RV-4
 
I agree..not sure what career desires you have but a CFI and instructing is heavily weighted in airlines and other places...some not so much

I would imagine that it doesn't hurt in the "other places" either
 
At David's age, if he didn't have to pay out that 15k/yr he is estimating, and put 1k/mo in a good investment fund until he is 25 y.o., he would have a TREMENDOUS amount of retirement income to work with due to compound interest.

I'm with the crowd.. Sell the Mooney, keep the job and keep working to improve income, rent the boss's Cherokee Six when you need to go places. And get his own version of a Flybaby for the fun.
 
At David's age, if he didn't have to pay out that 15k/yr he is estimating, and put 1k/mo in a good investment fund until he is 25 y.o., he would have a TREMENDOUS amount of retirement income to work with due to compound interest.

I'm with the crowd.. Sell the Mooney, keep the job and keep working to improve income, rent the boss's Cherokee Six when you need to go places. And get his own version of a Flybaby for the fun.

I'm in line but say keep it long enough to get the CFI done, then likely the best choice would be sell.
 
... after his favorite Triple Amputee Aviator/ A&P IA / Author / Screenwriter / Skydiver gets checked out in it? :confused::D

Sure, I'd say sell it to his favorite...


you...


but it is a low wing after all.
 
Without reading the entire thread, the answer is obvious.

Daddy is right. Sell the Mooney and go experimental if that is what he is saying.

$$$$ determine flight time. Ugly, but true.
 
At David's age, if he didn't have to pay out that 15k/yr he is estimating, and put 1k/mo in a good investment fund until he is 25 y.o., he would have a TREMENDOUS amount of retirement income to work with due to compound interest.

I'm with the crowd.. Sell the Mooney, keep the job and keep working to improve income, rent the boss's Cherokee Six when you need to go places. And get his own version of a Flybaby for the fun.

assuming he lives long enough to retire.

i agree though, he's done nothing but pay mechanics since he bought the mooney, and had a lot more fun and did more trips with White Lightning.
 
To Dave the OP,
I've read most of the thread and I disagree with them all, I think. Hence, reading only most of it. What you should do is simple:

To become financially independent, you must pay all of your own bills (no brainer). But, that doesn't mean you have to ditch your parents clean and cold. You can wean yourself off their financial support. You can establish a 3-5 year plan. This allows them to continue to pay for the airplane, but allows you to develop a sense of manhood and independence. Allow your parents to pay for maintenance and insurance only, while you foot all other bills. Then, once you are financially able to pick those up, you do so.

While you don't want to burden your parents, awesome, their is no need to go cold turkey, unless that is what they want.

Best of decision to you.
 
I'm back. That was a short vacation - but I'm back with a question.

I have a Mooney as some of you know, a nice Mooney, and I recently started paying for all of my own expenses. I'm installing new bladders in te wings and the price quickly got out of my budget and my dad offered to pay for it - sounds good. Now I was talking to him on the phone today and he told me I should sell the airplane - I CAN afford it, probably, as long as I don't have to put in a new engine tomorrow (I'd get a loan if I had to) but he is right. The plane will be an Albatross around my neck as long as I own it cost wise - I'm not a wealthy guy. I have a decent paying job for an 18 year old, but I make less than 50k/yr. In theory, I should be able to keep the mooney flying for about 15k/yr on a 100hr/yr budget. $150/hr ain't so bad, but if I sold it I would have enough Dave Dollars to buy a nice house.

My dad is a pretty savvy businessman, and he knows I love flying (which is why he bought me a plane - not that it makes any sense from a financial standpoint)

I kinda want to read the thread that Bo posted about why he owned an airplane, but I couldn't find it. So I guess I'm looking for advice. I know it's a decision only I can make, but hearing what other people would do in my shoes would be nice.


See the above
 
assuming he lives long enough to retire.

i agree though, he's done nothing but pay mechanics since he bought the mooney, and had a lot more fun and did more trips with White Lightning.

I seem to remember he had some issues with that as well... ran hot and munched a cylinder or two. That's one thing the M20J does well... stay cool!
 
Dave, only you can answer that question. As an EAB guy, yeah I'd say sell it and have a blast flying an RV-4. It would be substantially cheaper to operate a year but you have to ask if it fits your mission.

It also depends on priorities. Some have said sell to use the money for something else. Me personally, there is no something else. The majority of my money goes to maintaining and flying my planes. If you are single and making 50 grand a year, ownership is doable. If you get married and start a family with that pay, I'd say sell.

As far as worrying about the economy or keeping your job, well worry about that bridge when you come to it. In the rare chance that I get laid off, I sell my planes. Until then, I can continue to maintain them and fly them.

I fly for a job too and while I enjoy it, there's nothing like the freedom of ownership. At work I fly when and where they tell me. On my days off I go where I want, when I want.

So, sell it and go out and have some fun flying aerobatics in the 4...with proper training of course.
 
For the guys advising partnerships remember Dave is a young guy, and a pro pilot, not a married middle manager with a house in the 'burbs. Mobility is necessary part of life, partnerships probably not a good idea.

What I was suggesting since the plane is paid for, is to just do a non-owned partnership. The guy(s) who are his partners don't own the plane at all, just split the costs of flying it. As in they split the hangar, insurance and pay David a fair hourly dry rate for engine overhaul and maintenance/upkeep of the airplane.

This way if David wants to sell the plane or move, there is no complicated partnership to dissolve.
 
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