Sonoma Wings Aero Tow
News Flash: We need $ 40,000
The purpose of this page is to keep syndicate members and potential members up to date on developments. Sorry to have been absent for so long.
In General:
Equal shares of $2000 + $10 or $15 a month for dues.
Dragonfly Tug (we like a 4 cycle engine but don't have price yet)n.
Hangared at Crazy Creek (very good soaring)
Target price $15 per tow ( to 2000 or 2500 feet)
We will supply our own tow pilots (but hope we can get some help from
Crazy Creek tow pilots, especially during the week).
Ultimate goal = grow a big flight park at Crazy Creek,
Syndicate is intended to get things going
Short term goal = members fly a lot
About 7 people have deposited their $2000. Thanks to them. Send in your money. There are a couple who want to join but can't come up with the cash right now - too many toys to buy. We want at least 15 - 18 members. Others who have expressed interest: You know who you are We probably have 5 to 7 more, for 14 to 16 total. We need more money. We've talked aboutsome putting in $3K each. We want to stay as local as possible, but will probably solicit from the Bay Area if necessary to avoid being under-capitalized.
Would like to have everybody in by middle/end of May.
Jim Indrebo
Leo and Jon talked with Jim on Sat 4-22. Jim would love to have us there but does not have time to run our operation. We should develop our own tow pilots and do our own thing. (Bill the tow pilot is no longer employed at Crazy Creek.) Jim will rent us a space for our tug. We can buy A&P services from Jim. If we become a big commercial success, Jim may become more interested. We can put up a modest hangar, no problem. Jim's attitude was very refreshing. If we want to fly, there is room there for us to fly. It will be up to us to do it.
The Corporation
Many people are concerned about the nature of the corporation we're forming. No one wants to be sued and loose their house, etc. Take the following with a grain of salt, it is my understanding of the situation.
We could form a general partnership, a limited partnership, an S cprporation, a C corporation, or an LLC (Limited Liability Corporation). We're choosing the LLC. LLCs work best for small businesses (35 or fewer owners). They are intended to be fairly simple and to limit personal liability. If we intend to make a lot of money, we should choose some other type of corporation. An LLC does not make or loose money (unless we so state). All profits and losses 'pass through' the corporation and end up on the personal taxes of the members. It's probably best if we don't make lots of money on this. "The legal characteristic most interesting to the business world is undoubtedly the limited liability status of LLC owners. With the exception of corporate entities, the LLC is the only form of legal entity that lets all of its owners off the hook for business debts and other legal liabilities, such as court judgements and legal settlements obtained against the business. Another way of saying this is that an investor in an LLC normally has at risk only his or her share of capital paid into the business." (In our case, you could loose your $2000.) An LLC can be managed by its members or we can assign (or hire) a manager. I'm suggesting that we have only 1 kind of member, a $2000 member. That way, every member has an equal vote. There are some tax ramifications. The corporation will have to file a tax form 1065, including a Schedule K. We may want to hire an accountant to do this. The LLC has to distribute a form K-1 to each member, showing the profit/loss that passes through to each member. You will use this K-1 while preparing your own taxes. This does complicate your own taxes some. If we choose to be member-managed, each member might have to file self-employment taxes. It sounds easiest, to me, to assign someone to manage the corp. The point is that we can choose to set the corp up in a lot of different ways, and we will need some legal help/advice in choosing what is best for all. I think the LLC offers us the best protection from debts/suits. I have Ca State forms and can file them as soom as we have enough members and we vote to do this. It will then take about a month to get incorporated.
I talked to a lawyer (who has not billed me yet) about this corp and he said we are on the right track, keep it simple. He recommended insurance, which we don't expect to afford as a corp, check your individual insurance status....