Plane Shares, where can I find one?
 

HI all,

Basically I have heard a bit about the idea of plane sharing, namely buying a part ownership share in a plane, thereby saving on the cost of plane hire when you want to use it.
Does anybody know where I can find information regarding shares for sale?
Are there for example companies that specialise in selling them?
Have trawled the internet but can't really find a great deal of information.

30 seconds on Google gives loads of results, including this one at the top:

http://ukga.com/classified/viewcateg...edCategoryId=2

It's also worth going to the cafe / clubhouse at the airfield you'd like to be based at, and looking at their notice board.

Finally, Flyer, Pilot, and Today's Pilot all have sections at the back of the magazine, and probably on their websites, where many shares are offered.

DW

what did you put in as the search term?

Having been involved with group aircraft for 28 years shared ownership is firmly supported here.

PFA permit types and privately owned (non public transport) group shares are welcome to be posted here by those involved with a group, as are PPRuNers offering hints, tips and experiences.

Just the search for a share often opens up an entirely new world of aviation in the UK for those who have come through the standard club/school world. Enthusiasm and interest seems to be retained far longer through this route than any other. We are also very keen on the gliding days for the same reason - an aviation community generally far removed from commercial club life.

Positively encouraged and supported here at the Towers.

Hedges - if you look at the group flying section of www.thehangar.co.uk that will give you a good idea of the types of shares available and the costs involved.

"aircraft shares" and made sure it was google.co.uk with UK selected.

I have a share in a Cessna 172 based at Cranfield. It's £60 a month and £65 an hour wet, including landing fees. I think it's at the upper end of the scale cost wise, but it's a very well kept, low-houred aircraft with full airways capability, plus Cranfield's landing fee's aren't the cheapest!

Pro's:

• You can book it as far as you like ahead
• It's a cheap-ish way of hour building - and I can do the first 25 hours of my IR in her
• If the weather deteriorates and you're a long way from home, there's less pressure on you to return than you may experience if you have a club aircraft
• You can take it away for longer periods, without having to fly a minimum number of hours a day
• It's nice to "own your own plane" and develop an attachment
• The costs are shared, so big bills go 10 ways, and if you have a well managed group, with a good engine fund, it's rare that you ever need to cough up more
• You should more or less get your money back when you sell your share
• Chicks dig it! (sorry - couldn't resist - feel free to alter as suits your sex - I'd be very impressed by a lady with her own plane! :)

Cons:

• If you're not flying regularly, the monthly outlay can get expensive
• It may take some time to sell your share when you want to exit the group
• If anything goes wrong with it, you can be without your only wings for long periods of time
• You usually have to stump up a fairly large capital sum at the outset

Overall I'd highly recommend it, and I hope, really hope, I can hang onto my share when I've finished all my training, and maybe got a job!

Hope this helps

DW.

Ah, I was searching for "plane shares", could explain it.

Sounds good to me, Im currently doing my ATPL ground school and need to find a cheap way of hour building towards the CPL. Any plane I bought into would certainly get used regularly. Also, I could do my CPL training in it right? Thus saving even more cash. ,,or would something like a C152 or a warrior be too basic for the CPL stuff, dont CPL planes need to have retractable undercarriage for example?

You need a public cat C of A for training and the aircraft would also need certifying if you were going to use it for a CPL test. You also need some complex time, so that might also preclude the idea. IMO, I reckon using your own a/c for a CPL is probably not economical.

If you're hours building - why not buy a PFA type outright? March PF magazine has a Jodel for £6500. Nice little aircraft and you could probably sell it for the same money if you didn't want it after the hours are built. You can have it all to yourself too for that price!

A "plane" is a device for forming wood. "Aeroplane" or "Aircraft" should serve you better.

Best thing to do is take half a day, visit your local airfields, and look at all of the noticeboards.

And yes, it's the way ahead. Today I did 2:15 in my 1/10th of a very nice 4-seat aeroplane, this cost me £76. (Add in the £60/month I also pay in fixed costs, and I'm still winning by any standard that you care to apply). The fact that I could take it all day, with nobody worrying what I did with it so long as I didn't bend it (and if I'd wanted to take it for a week, the same would apply) and I'm winning even more.

You may however find that a lot of syndicates aren't all that keen on having hourbuilders on-board. In which case, get together with a couple of other hourbuilders and set up your own on a cheap PFA aeroplane- putting it on a convenient and cheap farmstrip. You'll still be well ahead of the game.

If you want suggestions about specific aeroplanes and airstrips, just give us all a few hints.

G

As EGBK says, for CPL a some of the time needs to be in a complex - ie retractable undercarriage, and variable prop. That doesn't preclude share ownership though - two of the guys on my groundschool course have bought into a Rockwell Commander 112 - which not only lets them do all their CPL, but a good chunk of their IR. Your clearly doing ATPL modular, so at least 5 hours of your training needs to be in a complex type. In reality, you want a bit more so you are totally comfortable with the aircraft before your skills test.

If you do your calculations right, it can reduce the cost of your ATPL training, although not by much. It does give lots of other benfits, as previosuly mentioned, though for when you just want to have fun! In fact, in the depths of ATPL theory I have found it essential to just jump in and go sometimes!

Ghengis is correct in saying some syndicates don't want hour builders, but conversely, some do - if the aircraft isn't flying it's costing a ot of money in star annuals etc, so there is a healthy balance to be struck. Plus, hopefully if you are serious about your career, your flying should be excellent, and therefore minimise any risk to the aircraft.

Again, as Ghengis said, I can take my wife, plus my best mate and his wife to L2K or Oostende (but go to Brugges) for less than £260 return - that's Easy / Ryanair territory - but far cooler! (unless one of needs the loo half way across - in which case you really do need to be good friends - and flexible!!!)

Hedges,

Where are you based?

We have 1 share left for sale in our PA28-RT-201 based in Sheffield.
PM me for details.

Julian.

I haven't completed my PPL yet (hopefully soon, however!) and was also looking into a bit of the shares that go on out there... One thing I can't seem to find anything on is the likes of insurance. I checked out thehanger website, and also googled it a few times, but no clear-cut advice. Any ideas?
Regards,
Alex

One thing about using search engines that I've learnt is to always be prepared to rephrase your search key. If I'm investigating something I would change the search terms 5+ times.

Alex,

When you join a group as well as the hourly rate you pay for the aircraft (wet or dry) you will also have to pay a monthly standing order. The monthly standing order will vary in amount depending on the aircraft and location/type of storage but insurance is generally covered in this.

When you find a group ask them what the standing charge is and what it covers, havent heard of any groups myself though where you are expected to sort out your own insurance.

Julian.

http://www.aircraftgrouping.com/

These aircraft are being based at Barton, Manchester

At the risk of going off-topic, it's surprising how few people really know how to get the best out of Google.

Searching for "plane shares" (without the double-quotes) will return pages containing the word "plane" and the word "shares" (but not necessarily both words together). If you include the double quotes, it will only return pages with the two words together.

Also, few people know that you can use the keyword "OR", which does exactly what you would expect. So the best search phrase would have been "plane OR aeroplane OR aircraft shares" (without the double quotes in this case).

Easier said than done sometimes - we have been looking on the Hampshire/ Sussex border for some time now and not found a suitable strip.:{
n.b. Shares going in our 2 Seater Falconar (similar to a Jodel):ok:

hedges81
I am a fan of Google, but as others have said above, you can't beat the personal contact method of finding aircraft groups, especially if you want to find an aircraft based at an airfield reasonably near where you live.
I moved to Dorset from Hertfordshire last year, so I had to start from scratch looking for something to fly and other pilots to fly with.
I joined the local PFA Strut. I also visited all the local G A airfields, read the notice boards, talked to the airfield staff and had a coffee and a chat with any pilots who were about.
Within less than two weeks of starting my search, I had joined a local flying club, joined an aircraft group and made lots of friends. I am now doing far more flying than I was before I moved here.
So, it worked for me :)

what you have to put into perspective is the capital share you have to pay to buy into a group and the monthly fees aswell.

If you are planning on doing a cpl,just think about this.

Capital outlay for your share will probably be £6000. Thats probably about 55 hours time in a club aircraft,including fuel and no maintenance for you to worry about.

It may be better to spend the capital on the CPL and then spend money hour building when you need to.

If youve got the cash though get on and do it!

I think the short answer is that shares, or indeed whole planes, are not (in the UK) advertised in any one place.

And by the time something has been out for long enough to get picked up by google, there is probably a reason why it has not sold.

A lot of shares change hands informally, without advertising.

If I was looking for one (as I was a few years ago) then I would contact the administrator of each local syndicate (operating something interesting) to see if any shares are up for sale.