To make the best decision, objectively determine your requirements, run the numbers, account for the contingencies, and pick the option that best fits your needs. With a plan like that, you can't miss.
Avoid the impulse to buy that beautiful airplane just because you want it--right now! Deliberate actions will pay big dividends in the long run, especially when you buy the airplane that's exactly right for you. It's out there. Have faith and patience, and take the time necessary to find it.
Look before you leap
Buying an airplane is not a casual act. Avoid an emotional purchase that might not satisfy your needs. Consider these points before you sign on the dotted line:
- Why do I really want to buy an airplane?
- Why do I specifically want to buy this airplane?
- What kind of flying will I do with it after I buy it?
- Will I depend on a leaseback or a partnership to help pay for it?
- Do I really understand all the costs of owning an airplane, such as financing, maintenance expenses, hangar rent, insurance, reserves?
- Have I talked with someone who has owned an airplane for a while to find out what's involved?
- Have I talked to local mechanics who are familiar with availability of service, hourly rates, manufacturer idiosyncrasies, and/or specific maintenance costs and challenges?
- Have I considered any alternatives to sole ownership that could satisfy the reason(s) I want to buy an airplane in the first place?
The answers to these and other questions could have a significant effect on your decision to buy an airplane, which make and model to buy, and how you need it to be equipped. You know that you want an airplane, but you can still benefit from asking the question, "Why do I think I need an airplane?"
If you find yourself stretching to come up with justifications, or if you face uncertainty or doubts, stop and rethink the whole process.
Leaseback or a partnership?
As the price tag mounts from your original purchase price, more economic considerations may come into play. Many owners have found convenient ways of defraying initial and follow-on costs. A leaseback or partnership to help share the expense of an airplane could help. Call AOPA's Pilot Information Center (800/USA-AOPA) and talk to the experts for advice.
In the leaseback option--leasing your airplane to another who, in turn, uses or further rents the airplane--insurance becomes an important consideration, since you might not always know or be able to control who's flying your airplane. Who will arrange and pay for the insurance?
Your FBO, dealer, or flight school might also help you find a reliable partner who could benefit by leasing your airplane. I once bought an airplane and had a very successful lease to my flight school for more than 10 years. The leaseback helped on my taxes, paid for the airplane, and allowed me--on the same basis as any other renter--to fly the airplane. It was a great experience all around. But it was carefully planned to work out that way.
Here's where a trustworthy insurance agent comes into the picture. Insurance is a big consideration, especially in any arrangement involving others. Find a good agent, see what insurance is available, how much it will cost, know specifically what it covers, and whether it's the sort of arrangement that is to your liking and fits your situation.
Entering a partnership with one or more others will limit the number of people flying your airplane. Such an arrangement shares costs and limits your personal exposure. Again, insurance is important. Pay particular attention to the financial condition and compatibility of your potential partners. A thorough checkout might reveal factors that would disqualify one or more of them.
A partnership arrangement should include assignment of specific tasks: scheduling, maintenance, refueling, and accounting are just a few of the factors to consider. Sometimes, manufacturers may be willing to help you find potential partners in your area. Reliable partners might also come from your own circle of flying friends or business acquaintances. If you want to consider this arrangement, ensure that you are compatible with them, the "rules" are clearly agreed upon in writing, and reconcile yourself that the airplane will no longer be exclusively "yours."
Defining your requirements
The most important thing to sort out is "What kind of airplane fits my requirements?" Notice that I said requirements, not "desires." Start by making a list that includes what you must have in an airplane--then what you want to have in an airplane. These answers depend on how you are going to use the airplane.
Usage is a critical because it bears directly on how much the airplane is ultimately going to cost you. Purchase price is just the beginning.
Needs are what you buy an airplane to satisfy. These could include personal transportation, family vacations, business transportation, a tax write-off, "around-the-pattern" proficiency, avoiding airline travel, and more. If your needs include using the airplane for "reliable business travel under all-weather conditions"--by that you mean going in and out of high-density traffic areas 24/7--then you've just bought yourself an additional bill for the added instrumentation and increased systems capability that allows those operations, along with anti-icing, extended range, pressurization, and so on.
The kinds of flying you plan to do (long distance, mountains, rough terrain, high-density altitude takeoffs and landings, high traffic areas) are also important. Answers to these questions further influence the operational characteristics you have to buy.
My flying now and in the future
If you want to fly long distances with four passengers, don't get a four-seat airplane. It's that simple. Few four-seat airplanes will actually carry four people because of weight and balance restrictions. Once those four people are aboard, there is really no useful load available for fuel or baggage.
A pilot wanted to buy an airplane specifically to fly from Colorado--a high density altitude starting location, with takeoff density altitudes frequently above 8,000 feet--and fly nonstop to Kentucky. Then he wanted to load up three more passengers, in addition to the one he started with, and fly to Michigan. This scenario was a priority. But the only way to do that reliably was to buy a six-place, turbocharged, oxygen-equipped airplane with a price tag of over a half-million dollars. That was before add-ons, insurance, hangar, maintenance, and a few other necessary adjuncts.
If your qualifications, currency, and proficiency allow--and if you absolutely have to be able to fly to a variety of destinations in all weather without the help of the airlines--the airplane must be very well-equipped. That's going to cost more money and demand a proficiency level you'll probably have to pay for. Without full instrumentation and backups, dual GPSs, auto-pilot, and weather avoidance equipment, you cannot reliably count on using the airplane for business travel.
Do I understand all the costs?
After you've identified the airplane you need, but well before the day you sign on the dotted line, you need to address another key consideration: How much, over and above what I and/or my partners pay for the airplane, will it actually cost to own and operate it? This depends on answers to key questions you've already considered, but you might want to revisit those answers.
Other financial considerations, in addition to the basic purchase price (plus taxes and interest) include the cost of aircraft options or necessary upgrades; registration fees and other start-up costs; insurance; maintenance; hangar or tiedown rental; and reserves. (Reserves are funds set aside for each hour of operation to cover engine overhaul or replacement; if you own the airplane long enough, eventually you'll have to rebuild or replace the engine--and that will be an expensive bill if you haven't already set funds aside. Similar set-asides also can be funded for the airframe and avionics.)
In addition to the cost of insurance, be sure you understand exactly what it covers, as well as the policy's requirements--and/or additional costs--to cover other pilots flying your airplane.
Learning from others
Since you aren't the first pilot who ever seriously thought about buying or maintaining an airplane, advice is readily available. Seek out aircraft owners in your effort to make the best possible decision.
Today, it seems, there's virtually nothing you can't learn if you have access to a computer. Start with AOPA Online.
A 30-second Google search revealed 159 airplane manufacturers listed. Not in the market for a Boeing 767 today (there were 15 for sale)? Try some of the well-known general aviation manufacturers: Cessna (1,964 airplanes listed), Beechcraft (850 new and used airplanes), Piper (907), Cirrus (144), Columbia (32), and Glasair (7).
One pilot's search for a six-place airplane focused on two Piper Saratogas, both turbocharged. One, a 2007 Saratoga II TC model, suggested that I "call" for purchase price. Similar airplanes listed were listed on the Web site in the neighborhood of $650,000. The other was a 1982 T Saratoga SP with a little over 4,500 hours that listed for $169,000. Quite a price differential, but there should have been--in addition to age, there were considerable differences between these two airplanes in many other areas, too. It will take a lot of digging to find out if either meets his individual needs.
If you know anyone who owns an airplane--or has owned one--ask them if they are willing to share their experiences with you. You'll likely get a mix of opinions. You never can tell when one idle comment may prompt you to consider a factor of real importance to you.
Wally Miller is president of an aviation training, consulting, and marketing firm in Monument, Colorado. He is a Gold Seal CFI who has been instructing for more than 30 years and flying for more than 40.
Want to know more?
Links to additional resources about the topics discussed in this article are available at AOPA Flight Training Online.
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