Tx_Aggie

Price.

I put together a group of 4 pilots.  We each said how much money we were willing to spend (not all equal).  We then knew how much money we had.  We talked about what we wanted in a plane as a minimum.  We wanted an HSI, GPS, intercom, engine monitor, an accurate digital fuel gauge, and a minimum of a 950 lb useful load.  We knew that we would also have to pay a 6.5% 'use' (aka sales) tax to the state of Washington when registered it and kept that in mind.

Then we started looking.  When we found a potential airplane we would compare the price and equipment and then estimate what it would cost to bring it up to our minimum.  We also decided we did not like the '77 because it had levers instead of push pull/vernier engine controls and the fuel selector valve was between the pilot's legs and was too hard for us old men to reach.

We also formed an LLC and created and signed our rules agreement before we bought a plane.

We ended up buying a GTN650, a used audio panel with built in 4 place intercomm, JPI EDM730 engine monitor with fuel flow, oil temp and oil pressure options, a used CDI that included a glideslope indicator (to connect to the existing KNS80), and an FL202 digital fuel gauge.  We pulled and sold the radar altimeter, audio panel, CDI that did not have a glideslope, ADF, and one nav/com.

The FL202 has not been accurate because of the floats so that's a disappointment.  However, once they are available for our airplane (soon) we are buying the Cies magnetic floats and we should finally get an accurate fuel gauge.

Wow what a great plan. I'd definitely like to go in at least half with someone. Better for both the pocketbook and keeping the mechanical parts of the plane greased and moving. Do you ever have any schedule conflicts? 4 partners seems like a lot of people, but I suppose everything is upfront in the LLC formation. Thanks for all the in-depth detail, I am eager to find someone local to grab a flight with and check it out. I agree on the lever controls, I like the twisting/verneir controls better - easier to make more precise adjustments. 

We have been together about 3 1/2 years and no scheduling conflict so far.  However, one of us is the 'perfect' partner... pays his dues and literally never flies.  One still works for Alaska so he is gone about 10 -15 days/month and usually only flies once or twice/month.  However, he just joined Angel Flight West so he may start flying more.  That means only the perfect partner does not fly for Angel Flight.

We use first come, first served scheduling.  That is, nobody ever has priority.  We keep a calendar on Yahoo.  If you want to fly, check the calendar to see if anyone has the plane reserved.  If not, and you want to fly today or tomorrow, reserve the plane on the calendar and send a text message to everybody else letting them know you did that.  If it is further down the road than tomorrow, send an email.  In either case, we have 7 days or until the day before (whichever comes first) to object if we were also planning on flying.  If nobody objects by then, the reservation is yours.  If somebody else was planning on flying the two parties try to work it out.  If they can't, whoever has the least future days reserved on the calendar gets the plane.  If it's a tie, we vote.  If that's a tie, we flip a coin.

We charge ourselves $25/hour dry tach time to fly the plane.  That money goes into a reserve account to pay for future overhaul, magneto service, prop service, oil changes and other time related expenses.  If our non-reserve account has less than $5000 in it, we charge ourselves $250/month.  If it has at least $5000 we charge ourselves $200/month.  That pays for all non-hourly related expenses including upgrades.  For example we will be buying 4 Cies fuel floats with that money.

We use tach time rather than Hobbs time because we want to encourage ourselves to properly warm the engine and not hurry to get airborne.  With a Hobbs, an hour on the ground costs the same as an hour in the air.  With tach time idling at 1000 RPM costs less than half of what it costs to be flying at 2500 RPM.  We use dry rather than wet time to discourage constant running of the engine at maximum power.  It also encourages running LOP which keeps the engine cleaner, cooler, and saves me money.  I'll gladly give up a few knots to save a lot of money.

The hardest part is finding good partners.  I got lucky.  I didn't know any of them until we formed our group.