Can you do it?

Four steps to buying your first aircraft

March 1, 2022

You just started flight training, but it seems like a good idea to buy your own aircraft. Sound crazy?

Purchasing an aircraft to train in can be a daunting process, but AOPA Aviation Finance provides you with the best financing options for your needs and helps you through the process to make it as easy as possible. AOPA’s expertise in aviation and commitment to its members are why AOPA Aviation Finance sees more aviation finance requests than any other lender or broker.

Understand your financial picture
At a minimum, you’ll need a 15 to 20 percent down payment, plus 18 months of payments in liquid assets and a credit score of no less than 700 to be considered.

Set your budget
Just like buying a house, set your budget according to what works with your financial situation before you get your heart set on an aircraft. Buying what you need is important to keep in mind.

Organize your paperwork
Gather your tax returns, business financials, and personal net worth information; finance needs it for your loan application. Are you an employee or a business owner? The simpler your income documentation, the easier it will be to get a decision.

Review your timeline
It’s important to understand the timeline of an aircraft loan. Typically, it takes one to two business days to be approved by a lender once your completed application is submitted. From there, it will take another five to seven business days to close the loan. If you have a complicated financial package, or more than one partner purchasing the airplane with you, it may take a little longer. Also, wait to make any travel plans to pick up the airplane until your lender has confirmed the closing date.

aopafinance.org
800-62-PLANE (75263)

Ask AOPA

Loss of control

When you sell an aircraft, it’s not yours anymore

By Craig Brown

Q: What becomes of a registration certificate after an aircraft sale?

A: FAR 47.41(b) states that the seller, not the buyer, must return the certificate of aircraft registration to the FAA within 21 days of the sale. The certificate of aircraft registration is FAA Form 8050-3. It is issued to an owner and is always to be carried aboard the aircraft. It need not be displayed, so it is usually tucked in behind the airworthiness certificate, which must be displayed.

When you purchase an aircraft, you receive a bill of sale (FAA Form 8050-2) from the seller. You then draft a registration application (FAA Form 8050-1). When done, make a copy and place it in your new-to-you aircraft; it serves as your temporary registration to fly on for 90 days. Send the original, the bill of sale, and the $5 recording fee to the FAA. The FAA, in turn, will send you a certificate of aircraft registration.

Do not take or accept the seller’s certificate of aircraft registration. The AOPA Pilot Information Center receives calls weekly from buyers who are not sure what to do with the 8050-3 they were given by the seller of the aircraft they just purchased.

As the seller, please do not give your registration certificate to the buyer! Instead, remove it from the aircraft, flip it over, note that it was sold, to whom, and then send it to the FAA Aircraft Registration Branch. Upon receipt, the FAA will remove your information from the registration database and put the aircraft into a “sale reported” status, pending receipt of the aforementioned documentation from the buyer. If you do not return this to the FAA, the new owner could fly on your registration for weeks, months, or even years. They are not supposed to, but that is the problem after a sale—you no longer have any control over that aircraft, or the documents that went with it.

pilotassist@aopa.org

Craig Brown is a senior aviation technical specialist in the AOPA Pilot Information Center.