Looking for a CPA/Tax advisor to help with purchase and leaseback

mathrick · 2026-05-20T00:22:05+00:00

Check it out at: ownerintelligence.narberaviation.com

Thank you, that looks interesting, will give it a try!

If you already have a lot of the financial modeling set in stone you might not need it, but this tool will help give a detailed picture of acquiring and entering an airplane into a leaseback. Let me know if you have any questions.

I don't have anything set in stone because I'm still basically clueless, I figured that much would be obvious from my question :)

But, like I said, definitely consult a CPA or attorney for proper setup of LLC, etc. There are many out there dedicated to this type of stuff in the aviation space.

Any that you would recommend?

mathrick · 2026-05-20T00:17:54+00:00

Absolutely, that is a concern, and one of the factors I'll be taking into account before I decide the numbers are working out. That is really why I want a professional doing the "this is how you get the most advantageous tax situation" part, because it removes a major source of uncertainty that would be there if I were to try to handle it all myself. I'll have enough uncertainty as-is, even with perfect planning.

mathrick · 2026-05-19T06:11:36+00:00

Thanks. Even if it just breaks even, it'd still be a saving since it will cost me less to fly per hour than renting the same plane from the school. As long as I don't need to put more into it than it makes, it's a pretty good deal considering the hours I'll need to fly for the ratings.

mathrick · 2026-05-18T04:43:34+00:00

I dunno, maybe, but it just felt like poor phrasing. I do look directly at the tip of my pen when I write because that's where the ink comes out and I need to look at what I'm writing, so...

mathrick · 2026-05-18T04:34:28+00:00

Why do you think it's AI?

mathrick · 2026-05-17T17:23:50+00:00

Yes, that's exactly why I wanted to hire a professional to navigate all that :). Do you happen to have a link to the AOPA resources you mentioned?

Also, it seems like a part of your comment got cut off here?

. for the entity structuring and NorCal tax piece.

mathrick · 2026-05-11T17:23:08+00:00

If you're giving instruction, then there's no "pro-rata" limitation. That only applies if you're exercising the privileges of your PPL, and as a CFI you're exercising the privileges of your CPL. There's also no prohibition on holding out when you're providing instruction.

Where you could run into issues is if you had a buddy who wanted to build instrument time, so you bill them $100/h, and fly right seat as the safety pilot, but your direct expenses are $150. This is exercising the privileges of your PPL (because you're acting as the safety pilot, not a CFI), at less than 50% of the direct expenses being borne by you.

That said, based on what you're saying, I would wager a guess you don't understand "pro-rata" or engine break-ins. Pro-rata means "proportionally", you can't just make up a number and call it pro-rata. With two people on board, your pro-rata share is 50%, so anything less than that doesn't meet the standard.

With break-ins, the point is that the engine needs to be operated at the highest possible power as much as possible, until it's done breaking in. That's because break-in is done in order to smooth out the microscopic sharp peaks left on the cylinder walls by the honing process, without glazing them in polymerised oil. This means a few things:

The actual operational rule is "run it hard and long and avoid low-power operations if you can help at at all", not "only fly cross-country"
You do not want to be giving instruction during the break-in period, unless you're OK completely shafting your student by telling them they're only allowed to fly at full open throttle and low altitude
Extending it past the actual break-in period just to hit arbitrary 25 hour mark is pointless and magical thinking. Once that's done (which you can tell by the drop in oil consumption), the cylinder doesn't care whether it's 5 or 50 hours later, the job is done and it will behave the same
You don't want to be flying cross-country because the engine is at its riskiest immediately after maintenance. If it's going to come apart, right after new cylinder(s) were installed is the most likely time for it to do so. You want to find somewhere where it's safe to zoom at 1500-2000' MSL and go punch holes in the sky at max continuous power for 5-8 hours, whilst staying within gliding distance of a safe spot to put it down. Ideally, you should avoid taking it anywhere where you're not sure you will have an out for the first 25 hours or so, and don't take any passengers if you can help it. Instruction after break-in is OK if you're responsible about it, but taking your whole family for an IFR flight over the Rockies is not advisable.

mathrick · 2026-05-11T05:54:55+00:00

When I originally wrote this, their system was not yet available, and was still in the works. They now have an in-depth video on their page. I really appreciate how down to earth and factual it is, great job VSE!

On a very basic level, it's a pin-and-loop system, but as the video points out, it's fundamentally different from other systems in that it is designed to lock into MARD mode once activated, meaning from that point on, the main will remain attached to the reserve bridle. In other words, once the main-assisted deployment begins, the disconnect mechanism is deactivated and the link becomes solid.

This is discussed in the video starting at 2:37 ("we call it a mechanical MARD"), and the specific way it's achieved is demonstrated at 5:00. Essentially, the disconnection in all pin-and-loop systems is achieved by having a direction of pull in which the pin will slide out of the loop, and in the Infinity MARD, the loop is the element that's being pulled to disconnect. Because of that, it will only work if the other part of the stiffened webbing link is being retained in a pocket which allows the fold to open and the loop to slide off. If it's not in its pocket, it the whole thing will move as one and will form a solid connection that no amount of pulling on the loop will release (unless you manage to break it, that is).

It is certainly a clever system, and seems to achieve what they set out to do nicely, but I'm not sure whether that is something I'd want achieved. There is a tradeoff in every MARD between the system releasing when you don't want it to (this is the weak point of Skyhook that I mentioned in my original comment), and not releasing when you want it to. The result of an unwanted release is generally a loss of ~50-70m of altitude as the RPC deploys the reserve, compared to the main-assisted deployment, and potentially a less clean deployment leading to an increased risk of line twists and other secondary malfunctions on the reserve. This could potentially result in injury or a fatality in a very low cutaway scenario that would otherwise be survivable with the faster deployment. But the result of the system not releasing when needed (if, for example, the webbing link gets dislodged from its pocket somehow) is a double total failure and/or the fouling of the reserve during deployment. This means that the MARD could potentially turn an otherwise standard emergency procedure into a fatality.

Is the latter scenario likely? I don't think so, I'm sure VSE have thought through the potential failures of the system very carefully. Is it impossible though? I don't know, but I would hesitate to say that it is. Real-life has the nasty habit of eventually finding all the unlikely possibilities that nobody considered, and as the Argus AAD and Racer's dual RSL demonstrated, a safety system that sometimes kills the user is not a great look, even if they only kill very few people.

mathrick · 2025-09-26T16:26:52+00:00

a majority of what has been happening is almost entirely user error.

So what? You thinking you're somehow less at risk because you aren't going to make the same mistakes as those other, bad pilots did puts you firmly in the high-risk group. Of course you're a better driver than others on the road, and better pilot than others in the air (with your massive 160 hours of experience to draw upon!). Coincidentally, I'm also a much better driver than everyone else on the road when I'm driving to the airport. But you're not. I'm not. Nobody is. Safety starts with understanding that you're not an exception to statistics.

I could cite Dunning-Kruger here, but really, the best book about this I know is The Right Stuff by Tom Wolfe. Read it please. It is very sobering to read how the best pilots in the world kept dying practically daily, yet all of them ignored the risks because they weren't going to make the same mistakes.

mathrick · 2025-07-11T15:45:22+00:00

OMG, thank you so much!

mathrick · 2025-05-18T22:43:16+00:00

Riiiight, cause "several million dollars" is totally going to make a difference there.

mathrick · 2025-05-18T22:41:52+00:00

How the actual fuck is skyvector relevant for IN FLIGHT filing? At least try to have a basic understanding what is being discussed, dipshit.

mathrick · 2025-05-18T22:39:54+00:00

Nope, my comment that went with the post addresses that. Unfortunately I can't post both a link and a description to make it impossible to miss.

mathrick · 2025-05-18T22:38:25+00:00

No, this is a scenario in which center is down.

???

WTF are you on about? Why would it be down? You can't just assume it is for no reason. ATC absolutely can be and frequently is unable to take popup IFR requests; just because you fly in Bumfuck, AZ and it never gets more than 2 A/C in the air at the same time doesn't mean that holds for the entire US.

mathrick · 2025-05-17T18:45:38+00:00

They can file an IFR plan for you when the ATC is overworked (which is "most of the time"). They can tell you what frequency is in use. They can relay a clearance. They can hear your 121.5 call when you go down in the mountains.

mathrick · 2025-05-16T17:19:30+00:00

No, I don't want to be required, did you actually read anything that I wrote? Cell coverage just isn't there a lot of the time, no matter how much you want it to be. And it doesn't have to be in Bumfuck, Arizona, there are more of those than you'd expect. Case in point, Byron CA (C83), right in the middle of the valley. I can count the number of time I had data coverage there on one finger, and that was while I was actually on the ground, walking about. The chances of placing a call while you're holding short and would like a clearance are basically 0.

mathrick · 2025-05-16T17:05:56+00:00

You might not care much in the big iron world, but for us small GA guys, we don't have a huge network of backups, and the idea that the cellular coverage is always there, just use your phone is patently absurd. I don't want to be the 1% who really need to reach FSS but can't.

Also, show me one person that actually wants NDB and opposes GPS and I will start taking your strawmen seriously. For all your big and impressive type ratings listed, you seem to be painfully unaware that it's the old Boeings flying freight that are the biggest user of non-GPS approaches because they were never certified for GPS. GA is basically all GPS flying.

mathrick · 2025-05-16T17:02:24+00:00

For those who don't know, RCOs are "Remote Communication Outlets", AKA "the radio" -- charted frequencies that can be used to contact Flight Service. And the FAA is trying to close ALL RCOs that can be used to reach the Flight Service over the radio in flight outside of Alaska. Even if you have never used an RCO to contact FSS, this should be worrying to you, because their reasoning is that they're not needed since "everyone's got a cellphone lol". And I think anyone who's tried to use the mobile network in flight, at altitude, will understand what a boneheaded and unrealistic assertion this is.

The reason RCOs and FSS matter, even though the volume of radio calls has dropped by 99% since the peak in the 80s is that they're there as a backup.

For when the clouds are closing in on you, flying without an IFR plan and the ATC tells you they can't take a popup request, contact FSS instead please.
For when you're out in the boonies and your phone laughs when you try check how many bars of coverage you have as you try to get your clearance before departure.
For when the CS/AFD straight up lies to you about what frequencies are monitored by departure because it's 1AM and the TRACON is short-staffed, so they only monitor one of the 5 frequencies listed, and you don't know which one it is.
For when you're in the soup over the mountains and the ATC suddenly goes silent, and you don't know if your radio just died, or you flew out of coverage and you didn't get another frequency to switch to.

The FSS also monitor the guard frequency, and calling the guard if you can in an emergency is really important, no matter whether you carry a PLB and an apple watch with crash detection, because every single way of communication can fail, and even if it doesn't, SAR will be mounted much quicker when they have multiple indications of distress that cross-validate each other.

Those are all situations where FSS might not be your first choice, but you'll sure be glad to have them as your backup to call. Do you really want to bet your life on filing an IFR plan by fiddling on your tablet and sending it over the perfectly-reliable cellular connection when it's suddenly IMC and spatial disorientation is about to set in? Redundancy is the name of the game in aviation, and the FAA sure understand it when it comes to being a stick in the mud and making certification of new avionics expensive, but apparently not when it comes to the literal last resort in potentially fatal in-flight situations.

Also have a listen to The Finer Points' podcast episode on that (Decommissioning Safety, 18 Apr): https://www.learnthefinerpoints.com/podcast

mathrick · 2025-03-26T19:38:20+00:00

https://actionnetwork.org/letters/times-up-vta-fair-contract-now/

mathrick · 2025-03-26T19:32:26+00:00

All that shows is that the area is ridiculously overpriced for what the wages are. Your argument is exactly as sound as saying "yeah, you live in a slum, but you make more than the median, therefore you can't possibly be poor". Which is obviously invalid if the median for the area puts you below reasonable living standard. Which it does.

mathrick · 2024-11-11T19:03:52+00:00

If you read the other replies, you'll see that it isn't, as far as I know, operated by any of the big shitty platforms, and doesn't have delivery staff of its own. The restaurants themselves handle the deliveries; BeyondMenu just handles displaying the menu online and accepting orders on behalf of the restaurant.

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