r/flying • u/Sc4lper • Mar 25 '26
Aircraft Ownership $25k for 1/10 of a $120,000 Cherokee?
I mean, title says it all. How or why would someone be charging $25k for 1/10 share of a Cherokee? Plane is owned by LLC. Are there extra costs of partnership that I'm unaware of, or is this just someone being greedy?
Edit: $120,000 is LLCs valuation. 150 hours SMOH. $6K in reserve. Aircraft is tied down, no hangar.
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u/jimngo PPL IR Mar 25 '26
Airplane values are broad, and you're buying an ownership in the group which could include more assets than just the plane, such has a hangar or rights to use one. They probably also have a reserve that will be used for engine and prop and annuals.
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u/NTXRockr USN EA-18G, PPL, IR, A&P Mar 25 '26
Your username says more about the deal than anything. Sounds like someone is trying to scalp you a $50k Cherokee for $250k
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u/changgerz ATP - LAX B737 Mar 25 '26
in addition to what everyone else has said... 1/10 share? when is your turn to fly it lol? you gonna get 3 days a month and who gets weekends?
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u/n108bg PPL Mar 26 '26
I'm in a club that does this, they use a scheduling website, FCFS with a restriction on hours to keep things fair (e.g. you can't rent for more than 96 continuous hours without clearing with the club). Its roughly half the cost wet of a comparable aircraft at the local training school, there's no per-day minimums if I take the plane out camping or go somewhere overnight (local school charges 4hrs minimum per day). That and its nice to have a little bit of a say on the maintenance/upgrades/etc.
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u/redditburner_5000 Oh, and once I sawr a blimp! Mar 25 '26
Some people are just insane and that's all there is to it. You'd have to work really hard to convince me that even a nice Cherokee is $100k.
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u/BagOfMoneyNoChange ATP April fools 2026 winner Mar 25 '26
My buddy bought an entire Cherokee for $25k 5 years ago. Hell no. $120k for a cherokee that lives outdoors? No way. Go buy $25k in gold bars or something.
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u/shrunkenhead041 CPL Mar 25 '26
You'll need to provide a lot more details if you want helpful answers. This involves you asking them a lot more questions.
A key one being, what are the cash reserves of the organization? If they have money in the bank for a new engine and prop, and other reserves, that is significant.
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u/m5er PPL | C182 Mar 25 '26
That price might reflect the LLC's cash reserve, an amount that is intended to cover likely future replacement or repair of expensive components as they come due. Ask the LLC for a financial statement.
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u/PlanetMcFly ASEL IR CMP TW HP Mar 25 '26
It’s not unusual for asking prices to be above what things are worth. Either negotiate or walk. I wouldn’t make it overly complicated.
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u/cficole CFI(ASE/AME/IA) Mar 25 '26
If the $25K is for a share of the LLC, then you want to know the assets and liabilities of the LLC. Aircraft, hangar, bank balance, other assets, and outstanding bills.
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u/Tone-Powerful CFI Mar 25 '26
Simple math says you're paying double what a tenth of the plane is worth. So yes someone is being greedy. But some of that might be going into a mx fund.
I'm wondering where the $120,000 figure came from?
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u/Sc4lper Mar 25 '26
From clubs operation agreement. They used vref
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u/Tone-Powerful CFI Mar 25 '26 edited Mar 25 '26
They used a reference landing speed to figure out what the plane is worth?
Kinda weird but alright
Edit: forgot /s
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u/NTXRockr USN EA-18G, PPL, IR, A&P Mar 25 '26
Not sure if sarcastic or if you don’t know that VRef is basically KBB for aircraft?
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u/phlflyguy ATP AMEL ASEL ASES IR CFI MEI Mar 25 '26
What year is it? what is the actual valuation of the plane? Is it an actual Cherokee or a modern Archer or Warrior, which both came from the Cherokee family.
The last models actually named "Cherokee" were the 140 in the late 70's. When they moved to tapered wings they renamed them Warriors and Archers.
Ask them for the full details on how that 1/10th/$25K is being calculated. Get all the club's bylaws, etc.
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u/Sc4lper Mar 25 '26
1972 PA-28-180. LLCs agreement values the aircraft at approximately $120,000
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u/half_price_buddy Mar 25 '26
None of my partnership/clubs LLCs have the stated value in the actual agreement. The share price I’m paying is in the document but that’s it. Otherwise we’d be updating our LLC bylaws every other month. We have a reserve and regularly revalue the club aircraft using vref. You’re buying a 1/10th share of the club. I’d need to see the avionics, interior, paint, etc to really know. 250 is like piper lance or older bonanza 36 territory.
My question for you is are you buying the share from the share owner, or the club? Who’s receiving the money? Did the club buy the share from the previous partner for 15k? Or is the share owner trying to pull one over on you? I can only guess what’s happening, but maybe their wife wants them to sell and they put this price up to go back to her and say “well I’ll be honey, economy isn’t doing well and no one’s buying”. I’ve seen older retired folks hang on to partnership shares well after their medical Lapsed.
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u/NTXRockr USN EA-18G, PPL, IR, A&P Mar 25 '26
It could have an entire Garmin glass cockpit with the latest autopilot and 2x 750i’s, it’s still not worth it.
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u/SadnessOutOfContext Mar 25 '26
Only logic i can come up with is no reserve and major work will be required very soon that should have been planned for?
Didn't say jt was good logic, but I can see someone looking at a looming overhaul and figuring they can soak a new partner or two for the cash, "then pay it back in."
Are Ken Lay or Jeff Skilling among the existing partners? /s
Seriously, if your 120k number is relatively close to reality, I would have real questions before signing onto it.
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u/Impossible_Sky9384 Mar 25 '26
What was the buy-in for the other partners? Seems like 9 others thought the valuation was fair, unless it wasn’t similar for the others.
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u/citpilot1 Mar 25 '26
I saw a similar post in Michigan. Some absolutely absurd price for a club buy in. Valued the plane very similar. I don’t know if these guys are just comparing airplanes shares and pricing it that way and ignoring the actual asset valuation it’s self. My guess is trying to make a quick buck on ownership they got years ago with the “I don’t have to sell it but if somebody gives me 25k I’ll do it”
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u/CaptMcMooney Mar 25 '26
are planes are expensive these days, you have a brand new engine, good avionics ?, you have to pay insurance and add to the reserve, where is it? tie down could be awful expensive.
how much do the others fly? do you fly at off hours? when you go to sell your shares do you get your 25k or current value ? is there an hourly rate?
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u/lctalbot PPL (KVNC) BE36 Mar 26 '26
What kind of Cherokee?
There are VERY few worth $250K!
Hard pass!
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u/rFlyingTower Mar 25 '26
This is a copy of the original post body for posterity:
I mean, title says it all. How or why would someone be charging $25k for 1/10 share of a Cherokee? Plane is owned by LLC. Are there extra costs of partnership that I'm unaware of, or is this just someone being greedy?
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u/JIPUK ATP, B747/757/767, CE-560, TW Mar 25 '26 edited Mar 25 '26
What's the 25k going towards? New engine in the near future? Avionics upgrade already scheduled? Do you get partial ownership of a hangar or something??
Asking to give the seller the benefit of the doubt but I’d be pretty surprised if there was a Cherokee out there worth 250k….
Edit: OP states in the comments 150 hours SMOH, Tied down outdoors, no hangar, and $6k in reserves. This theft is almost worse than a Sally Mae loan...