@Charlie indeed this is exactly the arrangement I am in at the moment and it’s served my purpose very well. Maintenance has always been top notch and all the other aspects you mention are very true.
The downside is that with a growing member base the likelihood of the plane being available on a given weekend when you fancy a flight at short notice are getting less and less and the ability to expand your horizons beyond Le2K or Ostend are more limited
AviatorDelta wrote:
the ability to expand your horizons beyond Le2K or Ostend are more limited
AviatorDelta wrote:
with a growing member base the likelihood of the plane being available on a given weekend when you fancy a flight at short notice are getting less and less
Speaking of which, does anyone know someone who would be interested in a Mustang or CirrusJet syndicate (needs to be based out of somewhere down south, ideally Oxford EGTK given opening hours)? PM me if so.
My syndicate experience is limited but I have considered a few and been put off by the financials as much as anything. I make a point of checking the accounts and the flying hours of each member before anything else.
Most of the syndicates I have considered are being run for the benefit of a small number of members who fly far more hours than the rest. The hourly rate is too low to cover inevitable unplanned maintenance or engine replacement and when the cash call comes those flying the least hours are subsidising the others unless the cash call is related to the hours flown – but I’ve not seen this principal in action.
Of course, joining such a syndicate and flying a lot of hours might be an advantage – if the essentials are in good shape to begin with.
I’ve also seen syndicates selling extra shares to pay the bills. But unless that cash is used strictly for upgrades or major refurbishment they are simply delaying the inevitable call for more funds from the members whilst diluting the asset value.
These deals are typically promoted as ‘cost effective flying’ but they carry a lot of financial risk. Easy to get in to but much less easy to get out!!
I agree with Charlie, non equity has a lot of benefits and few drawbacks. I’m in a NE group and am paying a bit more for the fixed monthly than many similar syndicate members who own their aircraft but I have no capital investment or financial risk and can walk away at any time.
That said, I’ve seen a couple of syndicates with well maintained aircraft, cash in the bank and being run by a bunch of like minded pilots and I wouldn’t rule out jumping into something like that when the time is right.
Whatever your preference – check It out thoroughly.
I bought a 1/6 share in a Jodel DR 1050 for £1600 at the start of 1990. I had some doubts about the aircraft, but reckoned I would break even on renting a C152 by June.
The plane was written off in late May, but the insurance payed up.
Our next DR 1050 arrived in late December. I had good use of her, including night flying and two circuits of Ireland, until May 1999, when she was destroyed in a fatal accident.
Our current DR 1050 arrived in December, and served well until January 2017, when wing deterioration was found. We’re hoping to be flying again by October. We should still have money in the kitty after paying for the wing re-cover.
The share value is now £2200. We have Mode S and 8.33.
We pay £50 per month, which covers hangarage, insurance, and other fixed costs. £60 per tach hour wet makes a good profit, on Tesco unleaded.
For 14 years after the fatal accident, we never met socially as a group.
We now very occasionally do so. The only thing you need in common is to want cheap flying. You don’t need to fly the same no of hours.
I’ve over 2000 hours, PPL EASA Class 2, 76 years old. One NPPL (downgraded from PPL) age 81. Three guys in their 50s, from 400 to 2000+, 2 PPLs and an Examiner. One guy approaching 40, CPL, IR, Instructor.
Think whether the cost of a share justifies the expense of a lawyer. We’ve just a short agreement.
If you’re one against five, or two against four, you’re probably wrong.
Three against three – argue.
I’ve had a good 27+ years flying. The Robin DR400 is a great plane for touring. The only downside is it needs hangared.
The condition of the plane has to be taken along with the kitty. It’s not like buying a plane, where the previous owner walks away. The other Group members have to co-exist with you. They’ll probably give you a lot of information which a seller would hope you don’t find out.
£60 per tach hour wet makes a good profit, on Tesco unleaded.
That illustrates how much lower a marginal cost can be achieved in a syndicate, which you would never get as a renter.
They’ll probably give you a lot of information which a seller would hope you don’t find out.
Except sometimes they don’t 
I know of cases where a group was really keen to sell a share, to almost anybody, because the current owner of it was giving them a lot of grief.
Peter wrote:
That illustrates how much lower a marginal cost can be achieved in a syndicate, which you would never get as a renter.
Lowest hourly wet price you can get in my club is 71.45 £. OK, not 60, but that plane (Jodel D112) also burns Avgas.
Probably double that here in the UK, especially in some parts.
Excuse me if this is slightly off-topic, but I’d like to ask those who advocate non-equity shares: where do you see a benefit compared to club membership? You don’t have a financial risk in either case and instead of paying a larger sum up front, you’re gradually making a financial contribution over time through club membership fees. You’re not really “owning” anything in either case, aren’t you?
In the UK (the OP) the non equity model has generally involved paying quite a lot of money each year for an “hour block” i.e. a specific entitlement to fly the aircraft X hours. For example, here at EGKA there used to be an SR22 where you paid a few k a year and then about £250/hr for flying it. The hour block purchase was IMHO intended to make sure that people are reasonably committed i.e. you don’t get 10hr/year pilots flying the plane 1h/year and doing something bad to it. That SR22 business (they had several of them) collapsed several years ago. It was very expensive, working out at about £300-350/hr.
Looking at it from the other end, the owner of such a plane is vulnerable to an attack from the taxman if he flies the plane too under the Benefit in Kind rules, which becomes an issue when anyone flying the plane is not a shareholder in it. This is why most syndicates sell shares in the aircraft or shares in a limited company (occassionally an LLC) which owns the aircraft. However it is also possible that the guy running the above SR22 zero-equity system was actually selling shares in the aircraft or the company (and simply diluting everybody’s equity whenever he sold a new hour block to somebody; there is no law against that and most serial enterpreneurs do that which is why you usually lose all your money if you invest in some blue-sky venture ).
Club memberships here tend to be relatively small amounts which don’t do a lot to support the aircraft or building maintenance. I have not seen the £1000/year sort of thing which exists in some places in central Europe, and which results in some very nice facilities.
You’re not really “owning” anything in either case, aren’t you?
That’s correct. It is rental no matter how you dress it up. The variation is just around how much you pay regularly and how much you pay for flying it, and how much low-usage renters subsidise the high-usage renters. There is no free lunch 
