I'm retiring very soon and relocating to primarily Dayton, OH from Northern VA. I'm trying to determine the best way to go with the Arrow III. As I see it I have three choices: keep, sell, add partners.
If I keep it, I really won't have the funds to fly it much and the fixed costs w ill make it too expensive to fly in pretty short order. Conceivably, I could could keep it for about 2 years; however, I would not be able to do some upgrades I'd like to do. The plane is plenty capable enough as is, but I would like more. I likely would not fly the plane enough, which is not good for it. Plus there are more capable planes in flying clubs that I could fly for less. The one advantage is I would not have to get on a schedule to fly it.
Selling in the current market looks like I would recover all my ownership and operating costs. It would put a lot of cash in my pocket that I could use for a lot of flying or other things. The disadvantage is I'd be back to scheduling airplanes either in flying clubs or from FBOs.
Adding a partner or 2 would really cut the fixed costs while the operating costs would remain the same. The plane is already in an LLC so it would be simple to add members. With 2-3 total pilots, scheduling is not really much of an issue and the plane would get plenty of hours. Getting good partners is the key though. Upgrade costs get split 3 ways and we could make it a really nice, capable ride.
Thoughts?
If I keep it, I really won't have the funds to fly it much and the fixed costs w ill make it too expensive to fly in pretty short order. Conceivably, I could could keep it for about 2 years; however, I would not be able to do some upgrades I'd like to do. The plane is plenty capable enough as is, but I would like more. I likely would not fly the plane enough, which is not good for it. Plus there are more capable planes in flying clubs that I could fly for less. The one advantage is I would not have to get on a schedule to fly it.
Selling in the current market looks like I would recover all my ownership and operating costs. It would put a lot of cash in my pocket that I could use for a lot of flying or other things. The disadvantage is I'd be back to scheduling airplanes either in flying clubs or from FBOs.
Adding a partner or 2 would really cut the fixed costs while the operating costs would remain the same. The plane is already in an LLC so it would be simple to add members. With 2-3 total pilots, scheduling is not really much of an issue and the plane would get plenty of hours. Getting good partners is the key though. Upgrade costs get split 3 ways and we could make it a really nice, capable ride.
Thoughts?
