Paul Tomblin wrote:

big snip

I'm curious as to the opinions of the other people here as to
- whether getting into a partnership would be a good idea?
- whether I should hold out for something a little more capable than a
Cherokee 140?
- how I can make sure I'm not getting ripped off?
- would participating in an annual be a good way to size up their
maintenance attitude and quality?
- do you think it might be a problem if the lead guy is used to having
partners who don't fly much and suddenly I join and fly the plane away
every weekend when there isn't another partner flying?
- if I pass on this partnership, where does one find other people looking
for partners? I found this one through a guy in my church (the guy
whose wife won't let him fly).

[broken record] Be certain your goals are well aligned with those of your
partners. If you fly a lot and they don't, you will have a different view of how
the plane should be maintained / upgraded / scheduled / financed / etc., and
that will eventually lead to trouble.

What's a "lead guy"? Does he have a bigger stake in the plane than the others?
Is this partnership a democracy or a monarchy? Speaking for myself, I'd want a
democracy where all votes are the same size.

I already snipped the part where you said how many partners there were, but I
think you said you'd be the fifth partner(?). That's a lot of people to get to
agree on major decisions. As mentioned above, the partner(s) who fly a lot may
have a different view from those who don't.

Where to find partners: get a list of aircraft owners in your zip code from one
of the pilot databases, direct-mail them and tell them you might be interested
in a partnership. Put an ad in the local paper. Put up notices in nearby FBOs.
Best of all is word-of-mouth. Tell your pilot friends that you're looking.

Dave