On Thu, 8 Sep 2005 17:02:46 -0700, "J. Severyn"
wrote:

The high airframe time is not the main problem. Really.

The problem is you want to lease it back. That is where you get to pay the
maintenance for all the screw-ups of all the students and renters that will
fly your aircraft. I hope you have very deep pockets.

My advice......RUN

John Severyn

In the flying club I belong to, all members are named insured and any
screw-ups beyond maintenance are covered by insurance. Owners are
liable for maintenance. My understanding is the owner gets a third of
the $72/HR, club overhead (insurance, tiedowns, expenses) gets a
third, and a third goes to fuel. If the plane flys 50 hours a month,
the owner would gross about $14,000 per year. Maintenance is
maintenance and the more hours you put on the plane the more often
maintenance has to be done, but the more hours put on the plane the
more income to the owner. We have (3) 172's (N & M's) that get flown
30-50 hours a month each, and their owners seem to be have been happy
for the past two years I've been a member. Two of those planes have
new engines in the last year. The cosmetics leave a lot to be desired,
and there are lots of minor problems like broken sun visors, ripped
carpet, broken knobs etc. Every club member (CFI's must be club
members) has the right (& responsibility) to ground any plane that is
un-airworthy. Obviously the owners want the plane on-line ASAP.
I do agree that some club members have a "renter" attitude, and don't
show pride of ownership in how they treat the aircraft. If you are
picky about cosmetics and details, lease-back is probably not for you.
If you treat it as a business, a way to defray your own costs of
flying, and put away the income for those maintenance headaches, it
can be run without "deep pockets".