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Old October 9th 17, 08:41 PM posted to rec.aviation.soaring
Frank Whiteley
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Default how does one find a co-owner?

On Monday, October 9, 2017 at 11:40:31 AM UTC-6, son_of_flubber wrote:
I know a number of older glider pilots in their 70's-80's, who own nice gliders, who don't fly very often, who may or may not already have partners, and who still enjoy owning their gliders and belonging to the club. Selling their glider is a rather unpleasant milestone that many prefer to postpone and they are often under no financial pressure to sell the glider. That said, paying the annual fixed costs is annoying, and looking forward, they 'want to get their affairs in order', and part of that is finding a 'new home' for their beloved glider. Part of their motivation is that they want to 'pass on' their love of soaring, and they often have no family members interested in the sport.

I'd get to know guys like this and eventually propose a partnership. I'd not be in any rush. When the time is ripe, rather than 'split all duties equally', I'd propose that as the younger partner, I'd eventually carry all of the hassle of maintenance, annual glider inspections, parachute repacking, trailer tire replacement, etc.. The senior partner would oversee and advise about 'what needs to be done'. Senior partner might be willing to oversee a retrieval crew when I land out (and vice-versa). Senior partner will probably enjoy being involved in my fun.

If you stay in the partnership for long enough, you may end up dealing with the executor of your partner's estate, or their attorney or offspring when they are forced to retire entirely from the sport, so you'll want to have a solid written contract.

One sticking point for this sort of partnership is that the senior partner will probably overestimate the market value of the glider, and if you bargain too hard on that point, he may reject the partnership before it even starts. One way to deal with this is to get all partners to acknowledge that market values are difficult to estimate, and also that the market value of gliders will probably go down in the next 10 years. So to be fair, there should be some mechanism that ascertains the true market value when the partnership is dissolved, and some way to compensate for the possibility that you've overpaid upfront. The estate will be eager to exit the partnership quickly. You may find a new partner to 'buy-in' at that point, or you may 'buy-out' the estate's share. The price that a new partner is willing to buy-in may be used to estimate the market value of the glider. You should retain the right to 'buy-out' the estate at the price that the new buyer is willing to pay.

Perhaps pilot/owners like I describe would comment on whether I've read this opportunity correctly. The only parts that I'm confident about is that glider pilots tend to overestimate the market value of their gliders, and that they have a hard time selling their gliders when the time comes. These two factors might be propping up the prices of used gliders at the moment..


In the UK, joint ownerships were called syndicates. Co-ownership vehicles in the US are Limited Liability Partnerships and Limited Liability Companies, available in most states. Corporations are not generally considered appropriate co-ownership vehicles. AOPA has several articles. At one time AOPA legal counsel recommended avoiding the LLP because there is no liability protection among owners. The LLC has liability limits and entry and exit of owners is fairly easy.

Frank Whiteley