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Club vs Buying Debate


paulsalem

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On 7/6/2020 at 2:07 AM, carusoam said:

Hey a Ryoder siting!

Welcome back, Ryan?

Best regards,

-a-

Thanks. I do lurk here and there.  I’ll always be a Mooneyac at heart and I get to see “my” C whenever I want. ;)

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Interesting to read the perspectives here. 
everyone’s reasons are different I suppose, but one thing is consistent, this is an expensive hobby. 
I flew flight school planes, a few rentals and with a lot of people selling planes. 
I had so many equipment failures in the flight school planes it wasn’t funny.
I found myself borderline (maybe full blown, but I’ll never admit) OCD, about condition. 
In my mind when I see any part of a plane poorly maintained, I get paranoid about what else isn’t maintained. 
I didn’t want to feel anxiety about what I was flying and condition was key. 
I didn’t require new, or even nearly new (couldn’t justify on the first one anyway), but I knew I had to buy a plane from someone like myself. 
Example, my first mooney was a 2005 ovation, I had about 250 hours in it, and took off on a family vacation. Had a magneto failure shortly after takeoff, and returned to my home field. 
the mechanic there, whom I didn’t really want to use, recommended one rebuilt mag. 
i did some research and found that a new mag was only about $200 more than rebuilt, furthermore, the plugs and wires were original, and if I bought the whole set together it was almost $1,000 less than buying separately.  
my mechanic said it was unnecessary, but the plane was 12 years old with 1500 hours, and a 12 year old part failed with my family in the plane. 
I spent the money and felt good about it, and I do every time, i make a similar decision.  
I realize, this doesn’t guarantee anything, but personally, I believe it’s prudent. 
You don’t get to do this in a rental, a club, or most partnerships. 
To me, the potential consequences of poor maintenance, abuse, misuse, ignorance, you name it, of someone else flying my plane was just too great. 
I want to get in it every time knowing how it was treated, how it was left and what to expect when I start her up. 
Lastly, but almost certainly not least, and as can be attested by all those who regularly opine here.

You MUST LOVE your plane. 
Mine made the world a lot smaller to me, and gives me more joy than anything else I’ve ever owned
If you do not love her, you will resent owning it, because it is the most financially foolish decision we ever make, if you only look at the money...
Life is about experiences and every time you slip the surly bonds, you have another one...

like my late father in law told me, “if not now, when”?

 

 

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In the past, I've laid out the many positive reasons for ownership. Many of which are touched on above.

 But, it boils down to the fact that shared expenses only work with extremely like minded individuals. Otherwise, MX expenses skyrocket, as none of the multiple owners will do any preventive work, or even employ any cost saving measures. There is incentive to find "the best/fastest nearby shop" (read, most expensive) . For shared ownership (club, partnership or shares) to be financially viable, everyone involved in owning and operating the plane must make a profit. 

Individual ownership has no such requirements. 

Edited by cujet
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