Owning any type of vehicle takes a base level knowledge about that vehicle. If you’re an aircraft owner, you know that you need an extra level of knowledge. Flying is expensive and there’s no denying it. This guide is to not only teach you about buying an airplane, but it also helps you understand how we buy airplanes. Here are five things every aircraft owner should know.
Market Price Factors
There are multiple factors that go into what the cost of an airplane should be. These include:
- The make, model, and year of manufacturer. This one is the same as in almost every product. It is best to compare it to cars though. The worse the quality is, the cheaper it will be.
- Any engine and/or airframe modifications. If there has been any modifications to your airplane, this could either lower or raise the value of your plane.
- How old the airframe is. This is just to determine the wear and tear on the structure of the plane.
- How old the engine is. This is the same concept as the airframe. This is measured from how new it is, since it was rebuilt, or since it’s been overhauled.
- The type of avionics that have been installed. For those who don’t know, avionics are the electronic system that was installed in your plane.
- Overall appearance. This includes interior and exterior appearance.
- Damage History. This is important. This is a factor that can drastically change the price. It is the same idea as a carfax.
Having an Airplane Requires a Lot of Maintenance
If anybody knows about plane maintenance, it is us at We Buy Ugly Airplanes. This topic has different variables in it as well. One of the biggest factors is how often you’re going to be flying. Clearly, the more you fly the more maintenance your plane is going to need. Maintenance is cheaper if you do it yourself, but also know that there are a certain amount of fixes and modifications you can do yourself without an A&P license. For those who don’t know, an A&P license stands for Airframe and Powerplant. Getting one of these licenses is a lengthy and expensive process.
Be Careful When It Comes to Modifications
In aviation, they say “the well-traveled road is the safest one.” When it comes to the airframe, there are a lot of modifications to make on your airplane. It is recommended that you don’t combine two modifications that haven’t ever been combined before. Take the time to learn about different modifications and which ones can go together and go best with your plane.
For engines, factory-built engines are considered superior to overhauled engines. One thing to keep in mind though is that difference doesn’t matter when it comes to market value. Another very important thing to note is that aircraft engines typically have a greater chance of failing in the first few hundred hours of use. It is best to go with an engine that has been running for a while.
A Plane With a Damage History Can Be a Nonstarter
A damage history can be very broad and very specific questions must not only be asked, but answered thoroughly. These questions include:
- What happened?
- When did it happen?
- Are the repairs fully documented?
- How many hours have been flown since the repairs were made?
If a plane has no damage history, it should be verified. If the owner answers all of these questions and you don’t have any problems with them, then the plane can still be used as a starter.
There Are Two Major Prerequisites for Closing an Aircraft Deal
Title Search:
The title search is to make sure that the plan you’re buying isn’t stolen. This is important for obvious reasons, but you don’t want to get caught up in an aircraft theft case, it is important to do a title search. There are a few places throughout the country that will do this for a very reasonable price.
Pre-Buy Inspection:
There is also a firm that performs more expensive pre-buy inspections that a lot of pilots argue is worth it. There might be a bunch of issues underneath the plane after purchase. It is not that uncommon for this type of scenario to happen.
These are things that somebody who is looking to buy an airplane. If you’re looking to sell your airplane, go to our homepage where you fill out all the necessary information.