Dang, I knew I shouldn't have posted the pics and N number. I think I jinxed my non-equity deal.
After waiting almost a month, I called the owner today to follow up to my proposal. Not entirely surprising at this point, he pretty much said that they were still considering the arrangement but it wasn't looking good. I'm not entirely sure why because just a few weeks ago he seemed almost as excited as I did about it. I'm thinking it's probably likely that he expected my contribution to be a bit higher. I spent hours and hours massaging the numbers and solicited the opinions of many owners and pilots. Ultimately, I offered him four different options that involved varying degrees of fixed cost contributions, all of which had a cost to me (with fuel) in the low to mid $60/hour range. I currently pay $75/hour for the 152 so I had to keep my costs in this area because it wouldn't faciliate my path to ownership if I was paying more than the rental line rate, a point which I made clear to him from our first conversation. Plus, much as I'd like the convenience of the availability provided by the non-equity arrangement, I did have concerns about the awkwardness of handling squawks (despite the fact that he was contractually obligated to fix them).
It is what it is. He's still trying to sell and is asking 23AMUs. It's a 1969 C150J with TTAF +/-8000, SMOH +/-1200 with a TBO of 1800. Plane has one Narco Nav/Com, although he did say it was IFR certified when he bought it. It's not a bad plane by any means, but with a VFR panel, high TT, awful paint scheme, and a rental history I think the price is too much.
For comparison, this is the aircraft that I almost bought (and on hindsight, should have bought) last year. N53267 was owned by a long-time family friend so I knew the plane well. My price at the time was also 23AMU. Plane was a 1979 Cessna 152, I think TT was in the low 3000s, NO RENTAL HISTORY, full IFR panel and current cert, engine was nearing TBO but compressions were good. I didn't have my financial ducks in a row and the plane was rushed into a pre-buy and ultimately crated and shipped to India. I think my friend actually got like $27k for it.
So, assuming that the motor mounts get fixed on N94006, it looks like I'll be staying on the rental line for the forseeable future. Could be a good thing, I guess. This may force me to get my finances in order and pursue a purchase in earnest. I'd love to find a partnership, if I could, but I'm just not seeing them out there and especially not at KDYL. There is a 1/2 share in a PA-28-140 asking $15k, but I'm really a high-wing guy and if I'm going to spend this kind of money I think I'd rather have my own C150/152 for about the same price. In many ways, the low useful load of the Cherokee 140 makes it a two-place anyway, so although it would be nice to share costs, I just don't think it's the right plane at the right price for me at this stage.
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