Do you rent, own or have a syndicate?

[Guest basscheffers]

Simple question, really. Do you own your aircraft for your sole use, share it with others or simply rent?

 

With just about 5000 aircraft on the register and 10000 pilots, a lot of us seem to be owners, but does the other half rent, or are many of the aircraft on our register in a syndicate?

 

 

[Ultralights]

i rent from the school (boss) and from other owners. and fly my own, occasionally.

 

 

[Guest Wigg]

I own my own. Used to have it online at a flying school, due to lack of care I removed it changed to RAA rego.

 

 

[eastmeg2]

I'm in a syndicate in a 2 seater and own my own single seater.

 

 

[Guest Escadrille]

Eastmeg , I reckon you have it sorted!

 

Unfortunatley it seems that Aussies do not like to be in syndicates. The English have a proliferation of these and often people are members of several syndicated aircraft. This is a terrific opportunity for a pilot and way of flying several different types of aircraft.Imagine... A Tiger moth, and a Jabiru and a share in a Yak or Pitts or Piper Cub or a Chipmunk.. ,in fact something/anything that grabs the Walter Mitty in you!

 

A shame we aussie do not seem to like to share .. is it a lack of trust.. Anybody out there have any answers or experiences with syndicates..that they can share...

 

 

[Benjamin Pitt]

Is it lack of trust, or simply geographical reasons? There would be far more people in the local area with a common interest in the UK compared to Aus.

 

I'd fly my own if I could afford it, but have to rent for now :(

 

 

[Guest Escadrille]

Ben, I reckon you'd be right about geographical reasons, The numbers of UK pilots living close together(relatively) and the huge amount and variety of aircraft and the many, many aviation enthusiasts in the UK certainly makes for more opportunities.

 

However as Aussies we do like to do our own thing...

 

Not many opportunities for us out here in the boonies to share costs..co thats got everything to do with it I reckon. However I have tried and no one is interested in syndicates..

 

Aviation is starting to get costly again (I am involved in the industry)and the new CASA regime seems to support the idea that if you can't afford it then you shouldn't be in it....

 

Syndicates could go some way to helping people to stay in aviation in the future..

 

 

[Guest basscheffers]

Well, that's a topic for another poll then: "Do you keep your aircraft on your property, or at an airfield with many aircraft". I suspect the latter would win; just look around SA, there are large concentrations at Truro Flats, Gawler, Aldinga and Murray Bridge. That's the kind of place where I would expect to see more syndicates.

 

Looking at the cost of flying in the UK compared to here, I would doubt there are relatively more pilots and owners there. Living in London, I never heard of anyone being involved in private aviation. Only just now has a friend of mine there taken up flying, but he's the only one. Here I keep running into people that fly. (and I mean people I meet for the first time in non-aviation related events and locations, not the guys at the local airfield!)

 

 

[shags_j]

School at the moment but will be looking either to start my own syndicate or joining an existing one next year (when i pay off this damn wedding).

 

 

[Bryon]

I want to own my own (eventually) but am happy to look at a syndicate, owning and cross-hiring or just striking up a mutually beneficial friendship with an existing owner

 

Whatever keeps me in the air

 

If the existing owner is female, single and not too fussy, I am even willing to put my body on the line for flying

 

 

[Guest Escadrille]

Fair enough Bass, I do not seem have your level of experience with the English(however I have been to the UK a few times now...And work with many ex British Army Aviation corps people ) but it appears I may be missing something so indulge me if you would, but what is your objective or aim of producing this poll then?

 

 

 

[Guest basscheffers]

If you are going to hang out with aviation people, you'll meet a lot of pilots! :)

 

Also: I am not challenging the assertion syndicates are more popular there; I have no idea about that. Just saying that if there are more, I doubt it is because people live closer together; the majority of the Australian population lives in high-density urban areas as well.

 

My aim is just curiosity. It's not a poll about syndicates, just about how people obtain the aircraft they fly!

 

That said: I do have a curiosity about syndicates as I feel it is a great way to save cost while having flexibility.

 

 

[Guest Escadrille]

Well I completely concur with the advantages that syndicates have to offer. Cost saving or amortising and flexibility for all owners.The possibility of being able to fly one or two different types for different "missions" ,touring and aeros and speed vs low and slow.. come to mind,for example.

 

Politics would seem to be the souring issue for syndicates from what I am told...

 

Are there any syndicate members out there who can share their experiences with us, I wonder?

 

 

[Thx1137]

There are seven of us and it is fine for us as I think most are retired so they fly on weekdays leaving weekends for me and one or two of the other guys :-)

 

We have rules about the maximum number of consecutive hours we can fly per quarter to help prevent any hogging. EG: no more than 3 bookings exceeding 5 hours and one booking exceeding 5 days (something like that anyway, I'll check our regs next time I want it for an extended period :-)) per quarter. Most of us fly only a two or three hours at a time so it gives plenty of opportunities to get time in.

 

There is a sense of ownership too which is nice.

 

It is probably always going to be a lucky dip as to the person who joins. Maybe they don't treat the aircraft well, pay bills on time, use the plane when they haven't booked it or use it outside the rules but I think they would be very much an exception.

 

We fly for fun and I think most of us would find mucking everyone about to reduce the fun factor! (I should hope!)

 

I don't have one negative I can say about the syndicate I am in. I have no idea if that is typical but I'll take it :-)

 

Steven.

 

 

[Guest ozzie]

Interesting article in February issue of the EAA's Sport Aviation. worth a read

 

 

[Guest davidh10]

Interesting trend so far...

 

I bought mine from the CFI (YFT in these forums), which he had owned from new. I could not afford a new one, and in buying a "pre-loved" aircraft, the history was important to me. During my training, I observed how fastidious Peter was in maintaining and looking after his aircraft, so when he had one of the school aircraft for sale, it was an easy decision.

 

I share (rent) hangar space at the AD, as keeping it at home would get in the way of flying. In my first flying year I flew just under 100 hours, so for me the costs of owning vs hiring add up even without considering the restrictions on use of hired aircraft.

 

I didn't even consider a syndicate and I am not aware of any in Yarrawonga. All the local pilots own their own. As many of us have full time day jobs, there would be too much contention for use of a shared aircraft. I often fly during the week, after work, as well as at weekends. During Winter, there's not much time between the end of work and last light, but if everything comes together, I can reasonably often manage an hour in the air.

 

We do a reasonable number of group flights, such as the one to Albury and Hume Reservoir on the morning of new Year's day, before the tower opened (reverts to G airspace when the tower is closed). Seven trikes took part in the flight.

 

I'm also very comfortable doing my own maintenance with some tips and guidance from the CFI who is also a L2 and there's a LAME operating a servicing business in the next hangar, should I need that level of expertise. I would be much less comfortable with others who were not L2 or LAME performing maintenance.

 

PS. Bas; Thanks for the note about Plane Crazy Downunder in your signature. Apart from the ones in which you participated, I found the one with Bill Hamilton talking about ADSB to be very illuminating.

 

 

[John Nooyen]

I feel that owning your aircraft is the only way to go.

 

I fly with a great bunch of guys from Kilcoy and Boona, and average 150 Hrs a year. There is no way I could afford to rent an aircraft at current rates.

 

The Savannah I built is a great machine, and the Rotax is very reliable and relatively low maintenance.

 

I am also fortunate that I own my strip ( you have to live somewhere), so there's no politics involved, and the mowing costs are minimal, as the local farmer wants the grass. The 1hr 20 min drive to work is well worth it.

 

Some idiot (I thought) told me "Why don't you build your own aircraft". It took me a while to investigate it, but it worked out very well.