I bought 1/2 a plane

So for the last few months, I have been renting C172's from Panorama to satisfy my flying addiction. Since I began this adventure, I've been spreadsheeting the costs of creating a partnership to purchase an airplane (in my wildest moments, I've calculated the cost of purchasing 4 planes of various types for a super partnership). What would it cost for 2, 3 or 4 man partnerships? What is the best ownership structure? Who could I find to be the other partners? Could we agree on an aircraft? Since I've only had my license for 3 months, I didn't think I needed to rush to make any of these decisions. My plan was to join the Westchester Flying Club for a year to build up my hours which would make me more attractive to an insurance company and give me time to discover my typical mission profile.

As they say, the best laid plans of mice and men. I found a plane at Panorama owned in a 2-man partnership where one of the partners is moving to Utah and wants to sell his half ownership. The plane is a 2001 Socata Trinidad TB-20 – a 4 place, low-wing retractable with a 250 BHP 6-cylinder Lycoming engine and a complex 3-blade propeller. N242GT will cruise at 150kts and go for over 5 hours on full fuel tanks. It's a great traveling machine, yet it's not too big a step up from the C172s that I'm currently flying. The two biggest differences are the retractable gear and the complex propeller, both of which require an endorsement from a CFI. So the plane clearly attractive for my current mission profile.

The opportunity to buyout an existing partner has many advantages:

1. No need to find a partner nor an airplane.
2. The sales tax has already been paid.
3. The cost of incorporation has already been paid
4. The corporation will retain 4 years worth of reserves
5. Remaining partner handles all accounting and maintenance issues with a track record

So after careful consideration, I took the plunge and purchased half the shares of the corporation, entitling me to use of a fantastic airplane. The insurance company will transfer the the existing coverage to me, although at a reduced liability limit for the first year. I must complete 25 hours of dual instruction with a CFI due to my lack of time in this type of aircraft, so I plan to use most of that time towards getting my instrument rating. The other issue I must content with is this airplane has a traditional “6 pack” of gauges, while I've been trained on glass panels (more to follow on this topic in a future post.) I can't wait to get started flying in my own airplane!