Dreaming about and planning for owning an airplane is easy. Buying one? Not so much. The steps required to get from the dreaming phase to actually taking possession of that special airplane take more time, patience, and perseverance than many pilots realize. There are two very good reasons why patience should be a founding principle in an aircraft purchase.

It’s Not Simple—There are Many Steps

First, there is no CarFax service for airplanes. Copies of aircraft records must be gathered, every entry on every page of the maintenance records (logbooks) must be studied, airworthiness issues including airworthiness directive (AD) compliance must be checked for and verified, model-savvy maintenance and avionics technicians must be hired for the aircraft physical and operational inspections, written agreements must be hashed out, title searches must be purchased, contracts must be signed and escrow accounts must be established. Most buyers need help.

Searching For Help

Knowledge is power when buying airplanes. The best place to start gleaning aircraft purchase information is a type club or association. The largest airplane owners organization is the U. S. is the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association. Their member help line and general purchase information database is encyclopedic. The Cessna Pilots Association, the American Bonanza Society, and the Cirrus Owners and Pilots Association are a few of the many brand-specific members groups. The Cardinal Flyers Online caters to those who own or are interested in Cessna Cardinals. Joining a type club or association is a must—do it first.

“Buyers are looking to me to hold their hand through this intricate and fear-fraught process,” said Jerry Temple, owner of Jerry Temple Aviation, Inc. (JTA) in Frisco, Texas.

Brokers help their clients by steering the client toward the airplane that fits 90 percent of their flying needs, by recognizing the good airplanes on the market, by knowing where to go for a comprehensive pre-purchase survey, by helping secure financing, and by being even-tempered enough to iron out the differences of opinion that always surface along the emotional airways of buying and selling airplanes.

A broker buys and sells airplanes. A competent broker is a buyer’s best friend (after a friendly banker) simply because he or she knows how to do the deal.

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