A partnership is like a marriage. First meet the person, have them come to the hangar so they can see the airplane. Talk about what is expected, my co-owner and I have a list of 25 things about operation/finances/selling of a share/death of a partner, etc. Find out their qualifications, I flew with a gentleman who had enough hours for our airplane, however after an evaluation flight I found out he was just WAY to far behind the airplane to be safe and needed an airplane that flew a little slower. You can get a good feel about someone just from meeting face to face. Ask yourself would you let this person fly your family around in the airplane? Saying yes to that should mean you trust them. The new partner will have as much to loose as you will so keep that in mind. Remember they are buying half your airplane so don't hide anything, If they find out later you new about a big maintenance item and didn't fess up, well that's like lying to your wife, it just doesn't fly!!

Good Luck

Russ

I'm in a partnership with 3 others, it has been great so far.
Spell everything out in a contract including what happens when a partner passes away.We have a very good contract that was developed by a contracts lawyer and I would be happy to send you a copy.
Make sure you carry good insurance, AIG has accident forgivness and that is nice in a partnership.Also make sure all of the partners are in the same category i.e.all working and only fly the airplane on long trips maybe once a year, you don't want three working guys and a retired person who wants to take the airplane on one month excursions.
There is nothing wrong with having a partner with less experience, the insurance will require X amount of hours to qualify in a make and model anyways and if you have accident forgivness then the other partners won't be penalized anyways.

AW

I have been in a partnership for over 3 years now and it has been great. I first bought in with him on a Cherokee 140 when his partner had medical problems and wanted out. We co-owned that plane for over a year. Then in that period I decided I wanted something larger, faster and more of an x/c plane. I found a wonderful Turbo Arrow III. At first he was not thrilled about it mainly due to the negative talk about turbos. But he liked the plane so much he then bought into it. We sold the 140 a few months later to a guy we met at a flyin and lived nearby. He took the plane and the hanger we had since we needed a bigger hanger for the Arrow. He now flies out of our field also. We are all great friends. We will do just about anything to help each other out after family and work. The airport is our country club. It is all any of us care about. My partner has turned out to be one of my best friends. We get along great. He is much more qualified than I. He is a CFI(soon to be II) commercial, multi and is working on being a corp. jet SIC. He knows more about a/c than I ever will. He grew up in Oshkosh so how could you not. We don't always agree on everything, but we yield to each other's expertise areas. We have never had a serious disagreement. We handle our finances well. We had a written agreement on the 140, but never did one on the Arrow...I have never really worried about it. Both of our wives know the business arrangements and are also friends. I have had many folks comment on what a great partnership we have and wish they could find someone like he or I to partner with. I think in our case it is that we are both generous caring types and are both Christians and always try to do what is right for the situation. I feel blessed that we got together and hope it lasts for a long time. I just recently bought a C150(sorry that I went to the dark side) for my own pleasure. He helps me a lot with it and I let him fly it anytime he wants to.

George Cumbee
Classic Aviation LLC
N20RN Turbo Arrow III
Metro Flyers LLC
N10505 C150L
M30, KPAH



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 05/23/2008 07:57PM by George Cumbee.