Iain, I'd hate to disapoint.
But actually, others have already mentioned the main points.
I'll try to summarise, and probably end up adding in a few new thoughts of my own along the way. There are two areas you need to consider: those relating to the aircraft (which would be exactly the same whether you were buying outright or buying a share), and those relating to the group.
So, for the aircraft itself, first of all find an appropriate type:
- What category of aircraft do you want? Touring? Local flying? Aerobatics? Do you prefer tail-wheels, or do you prefer sticks over yokes, or any other personal preferences? Do you need an IMC-capable aircraft?
- How much can you afford to pay per hour?
- If you're looking at an older aircraft, would you mind if the aircraft was being repaired fairly frequently? (If it's a PFA aircraft, you might enjoy getting involved in the repair work, which can be a bonus.)
The next task is to find an aircraft
- Is the price right?
- Is the paperwork up to date?
- Is the aircraft in the condition you'd expect for the price? If you're not happy to make the decision yourself, pay a licensed mechanic to look over the aircraft and log-books for you.
- Once you're happy with the general airworthiness of the aircraft, go for a test-flight. Check the aircraft is rigged properly, doesn't try to fly off in one direction or anything strange like that, doesn't do anything nasty at the stall or at low speeds. Don't expect to be allowed to land the aircraft, but watch how difficult the owner finds it to land. Most importantly, though - do you enjoy flying it?
For a group aircraft, the additional considerations are probably more important than the aircraft itself. Here's a list of the ones that immediately spring to mind:
- What is the group's view on maintenance? If you're the kind of person who will leave things until absolutely necessary but the group likes to spend money to make sure everything's perfect, or the other way round, you won't enjoy being in the group
- How much money does the group have? If the engine is coming up to overhaul time, is there money in a fund for it?
- How many are in the group, and how regularly do they fly? You might need to ask some in-depth questions here. My group has 6 members, but two are retired and one works shifts - they prefer to fly during the week, so there are only three of us who regularly fly at weekends. Hence availability is much better than for many 6-member groups. Find out as much as you can about the aircraft useage!
- I disagree with Keef about all members being equal. Financially, I agree - all members must pay the same, and all funds are group funds. But my group has one person who looks after the finances, one who looks after the maintenance, and one who oversees the whole group, and it works very well. Find out how your potential group runs, and if you don't like it, then walk away... but don't necessarilly have hard-and-fast rules about what's acceptible.
- The location is important, as is things like hangarage... if you like flying at 8am on cold winter mornings, and you're used to taking your aircraft out of a nice warm hangar and firing the engine up, you might not like spending 1/2 hour de-icing the wings first. On the other hand, if money's tight, you might prefer de-icing the wings to the cost of hangarage. The group probably won't change for you - you need to find a group that fits your needs
That's all for now... but I reserve the right to come back with other ideas as I think of them!
FFF
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As promised, here's another thought. You would need to carefully check any rules, whether written or un-written (the un-written ones might take some effort to find out about!) to make sure they fit in with your intended flying. My group, for example, has a rule which says that no one can book the aircraft for more than 3 consecutive days - which is fine by me, but not much use if your intended flying consists purely of going away for a week, twice a year, and few circuits in between to maintain currency.
FFF
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