Let’s Make
a Deal!
How to buy an airplane
BY GREG LASLO
YOU WANT ONE.
Even before the ink is dry on his or her first temporary certificate, every pilot wants an aircraft. And now you’re ready to fill that
hole in your life—and your hangar. You’ve figured out what you need
and covet, whether you’ll acquire it yourself or in a partnership, and
you have your financing approved.
Proceed cautiously. Whether it’s your first or your fifth, an aircraft is one of the biggest purchases you’ll ever make, so it’s not like
you want to, ahem, wing it. That means keeping a level head during a
pretty passionate process and ticking off steps like on a run-up
checklist. We turned to aircraft-buying experts Mark Clark, James
Ellis, and Scott “Sky” Smith for their insight on how to wrap up your
deal—without getting yourself tangled in red tape.
HOW DO I FIND MY AIRPLANE?
Option one: Start close to home. Scan your state and regional aviation publications, EAA chapter newsletters, and local bulletin
boards. Tell every pilot you know what you want. (I once mentioned
buying an airplane half-heartedly to a friend and got three e-mails in
a week.) Post “wanted” ads at every airport you visit, James said.
Option two: Peruse the usual suspects:
Trade-A-Plane, Aero Trader, Controller,
Aircraft Owner, Aircraft Shopper Online
( www.ASO.com), Barnstormers.com, eBay, or
the type club publication for the model of
aircraft you’re interested in. Stick to online
editions. “[With] a really good plane, by the
time the advertisement hits print, it may be
gone,” James said. Just make sure you’re
looking at current ads, Mark said, not year-old reposts on aggregator sites.
Option three: Contact a broker. A company like Mark’s Courtesy Aircraft Sales
can help you find an airplane. Aircraft
Shopper Online features a state-by-state
listing of aircraft brokers. If this is your first
airplane, using a broker may not be a bad
idea, though it’ll be more expensive. You’ll
pay for the broker’s experience in making
deals, Mark said, but that may be worth
something to you.
HOW CAN I TELL IT’S A GOOD BUY?
Once you’ve spotted a tasty prospect, call the
seller to collect all the details about the aircraft, including airframe and engine hours,
equipment, avionics, appearance, and known
defects. “If you ask the right questions,
you’re probably going to find out whether
there’s something that says, ‘Maybe this isn’t
worth pursuing,’” James said.
Next, you—or an impartial person you
trust—will have to look the aircraft over,
thus our original advice to start looking
close to home. James offers an inspection
checklist in his book, but broadly speaking,
look at the wings and fuselage, engine and
prop, and interior for signs of corrosion,
leaks, slop, tears, and other signs of
impending doom. In your earlier research,
you should have learned about any common
problems for this aircraft model. Now’s the
time to check such issues.
You’ll want to review logbooks, too—
twice, James said. Once to learn the general
history of the airplane (look for the number
of owners, where it has been based, how it
has been flown, and how well it has been
maintained) and a second time, perhaps
with your mechanic, to make sure it’s current with FAA airworthiness directives and
that there are no signs of hidden damage
(like concurrent prop and antennae replacements, which are signs of a prop strike). If
some logbooks are missing, don’t rule the
