Before you think too hard about it, remember that there are as many ways that
partnerships work as there are partnerships.

: In general, how do aircraft partnerships work? Do partnerships exist
: for singles?
Quite common

Are they a good idea vs. purchasing a used aircraft
: outright?
Often it reduces the cost considerably. The more an airplane is flown the
happier all of its systems is. Non-flying is the biggest cause of expensive
maintenance requirements like permature engine overhauls. Single-owners rarely can
afford the time or fuel-costs of running an airplane as much as it would like.... at
least 100 hours/year, but preferrably a good bit more. Partners spread that out...

What about flying clubs - do they typically offer good
: multi-day rental rates or have aircraft available for scheduled use?

Depends on the club.

: I'm trying to get my head around all this - I'm no where near joining a
: partnership or purchasing an aircraft (gotta get my PP first), but I've
: noticed some websites devoted to these topics and it's piqued my
: interest. I'm looking for people who have first hand knowledge of these
: topics.

Although it's a big leap of faith, buying, partnering, or joining a club
*WHILE* working towards a PP is usually more cost-effective than renting and then
buying/joining. Pilots often find trainer-class planes limiting in usefulness (speed,
range, load carying capability, avionics, etc) so they often want more shortly after
earning the PP. Clubs can help in this upgrading. It's more commitment than an hour
or two of rental, but less than outright ownership.

-Cory


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* Cory Papenfuss *
* Electrical Engineering candidate Ph.D. graduate student *
* Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University *
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