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I was asked to share my experience in avaition partnerships and thought it would be interesting to see if others would add their insights as well. If there is already a similar thread in mooneyspace, perhaps someone can post a link. Background: Pfter obtaining my ppc, i was able to buy into a club with 3 airplanes and more than a dozen active members. My learning curve benefitted tremendously, rubbing elbows with a number of experienced pilots thru the club. With a year in the club under my belt, and an increase in flying time to approx. 120 hrs/yr, it was time to step up to a partnership. I was fortunate to locate a local mooney in an established LLC with an existing partner wanting to sell. 3.5 yrs later, my flying hours increased enough to warrant my own ride. The club and the partnership were helpful to a rookie pilot learning the ropes. I highly recommend both options for anyone flying 150 hrs / yr or less with access, or a sufficiently strong local community to start one. Partnerships: Here is a "Top 10" list from my bag of lessons learned. I hope others will chime in with their lessons as well. 1. The value proposition makes partnerships an obvious choice. In a four way partnership for example with 100-150 hr partners, for the price of 25% of the capital and maintenance costs, each partner has 80 - 90% availability access to the airplane. Upgrading to a kfc500 or a glass panel? How about a 75% discount since you are sharing costs among the other partners. 2. The challenge with partnerships is seldom the aircraft. It is more often interface issues among the partners. Buying into an existing partnership should include extensive interviews with the existing partners. Consider 80% of your decision determined by the partnership compatibility interviews and 20% by the aircraft. 3. Establish a charter, an operating agreement, and by-laws. These documents shouldn't need to be dragged offnof the shelf unless you have an unruly partner. Howeevr, well developed documents are critical as they may have to stand up in court. 4. Keep an electronic calendar for on-line scheduling, and keep it up to date. On-line calendars allow for backup schedules as well as mx schedules, squawk lists, and notes. 5. Be sure all partners are engaged with the airplane as owners. A "renters" attitude from a partner can become problematic. 6. If possible, identify a single cfii that all partners can use for proficiency flights.The cfii can help normalize best practices among all the partners over time. 7. Optional upgrades and non-airworthy repair issues may be debated but safety issues should always be repaired when discovered. 8. Keep an engine reserve. Among other things, it makes transferring ownership to a new partner much easier as the buyer gets an effectively zero-time engine. 9. Keep the flying rates dry and keep them low to encourage more flying time among the partners. 10. Require (in the by-laws) that the existing partners retain voting rights of approval (or rejection) for new candidates into the partnership. Some partnerships allow the exiting partner sole discretion on the new partner. This is a bad idea on several levels (see rule no.2) Parting thought: If you can afford to own an airplane outright, why not own 25% of four airplanes with four different mission types? Cross-country, aerobatic, seaplane, heli - my dream team.