Please don't let enthusiasm and emotion get in front of your business head.
What happens if you have just paid out for your share of a big service and then the true legal owner just flys off with the machine ?
Or what if you fly very little one quarter and then there is major works to be done.
You really must get a legal document in place. Who is the legal owner ? If you set up a company to do this then who are the directors and shareholders ? What happens if you want out ? How are voting right split ?
The list goes on but, in the current economic climate when people may appear to be flash with cash one moment but bust the next, I would prefer to take the time to get something more formal than a handshake in place.
Yes, I have been there. I let emotion run ahead and did not have a firm contract. All worked out just fine in the end as I was dealing with decent people but you can feel very exposed at times wondering if you will ever get your money back. I would not do it that way again as, with most things helicopter related, any dispute is likely to involve a sum of money far greater then the cost of a lawyer to draw up a contract.