Thinking about an aircraft partnership

I'm thinking about getting into an airplane partnership (or co-ownership)
and have a few questions.

When people say that you can't really save money with ownership over
renting, does that include partnerships as well? I would think that
with a 4-way partnership, the operating costs would be reduced to
a level such that it would be cheaper than renting.

One plane I'm looking at shows a monthly cost of around $50 with
an hourly rate of about $58/wet. This seems pretty good, but I'm
wondering what is missing. After all, how can $200/month cover
all the operating expenses (like hangar rental, insurance, annual
inspections, etc.)? ... I do have these questions in to the selling
partner and am currently waiting for a reply - FYI.

Before buying into an existing partnership would you still suggest
a full pre-purchase inspection? I would think at a minimum I would
want someone to go over the logs and make sure the partners are not
looking for a way to defray some of the costs of some looming expenditure.
Given that one of the existing partners is selling his share, this
doesn't seem like a realistic concern.

To do this right, I really should take a few months and read the
'how to buy' books, but then I felt this way before I bought my
first house, and that process turned out to be relatively easy.

Thanks for any opinions,

By the way, the airplane in question is a 1969 Mooney M20F Turbo.
Would any Mooney owners care to share some advice via e-mail?


--
Mark Hansen, PP-ASEL, Instrument Student
Sacramento, CA