How to buy a Jet

[paulsalem]

I've got a friend who's looking into buying a small cabin jet (older citation) or perhaps a king air. And he has no clue how to go about this, nor do I.

Can anyone make a recommendation on a company who may be able to help figure out an estimate of Mx costs, find a plane, deal with pre-buy inspection etc.

Thanks

 

[siucavflight]

Call any A/C broker and they should be able to point you in the right direction.

 

[cforst513]

buy one? haven't we learned anything from the kid in st. augustine? no one "buys" jets anymore!!! they're on the ramp for the taking!

 

[Lead Sled]

Call any A/C broker and they should be able to point you in the right direction.

That's basically it. However, make sure you don't call EVERY broker. Not so much a problem with Citations - they're under every rock; but with other business jets, (used Falcon 50s for example - there are only 20 something of them for sale on the planet) if you contacted multiple brokers/dealers you could easily artificially inflate the perceived market and end up in a situation where you were bidding against yourself.

Finally, once the word gets out, hang on to your hat - you will receive mail, be phoned, faxed and/or e-mailed by every airplane salesman and wannabe airplane salesman on the planet and each and every one of them will have THE PERFECT airplane for you. (Note: Every pilot on the planet will also fancy him/herself an airplane salesman at some point in their career.)

My advice is four or five-fold: 1. Find a reputable dealer and there are several of them out there; 2. Do a thorough pre-buy inspection by a knowledgeable competent non-biased shop. It will cost some money, but it will be well worth it - hopefully it will pass with flying colors, but at least you will have an independent 3rd party who really knows the particular make and model looking for stuff that would either disqualify the airplane or provide you with negotiation points when it becomes time to finalize the price. Either way you're going to be money ahead; 3. Regardless of what you end up paying for any airplane, stick another 5% to 10% in the budget for stuff that will inevitably come up after the sale; 4. If your buddy's serious about a Citation he might want to consider going to a school and getting his type that way he'll invariably learn things that would come in handy at airplane selection time. Also ask plenty of questions - now's the time to find out stuff like GNS-XLs equipped aircraft can't fly the new Class A and B RNAV procedures. That's nice to know if you're trying to decide between two identically priced Citations - one with a Global, the other with a Universal. You'll end up paying around $75K later on if you make the wrong choice.

Hang on, it's going to get fun!

'Sled

 

[DrProc]

I would say the first thing to do is to determine which type to buy. He needs to look at perfomance factors, financial factors, and how much he plans on operating it. What kind of range does he need, how long is the runway at the airport he plans on basing it out of, does he want to fly it single pilot, etc? It makes no sense to buy an airplane that cannot operate out of the home airport to its max range with full pax. Once the homework is done on the type, then a broker can help you narrow it down, and he won't be distracted by other types.

 

[Junkflyer]

Find a reputable consulting company and pay their fee. They will have specs and operating costs/maint/insurance/range-burn/far's etc.on a range of different aircraft. A broker wants to sell you an airplane and make comission. A consultant is paid to give you info and steer you in the right direction.

 

[Rick1128]

First of all, your friend needs to ask himself several questions and answer them honestly. First what is he trying to accomplish? Second, what are the mission requirements? Things like range, minimum airport length he will use, type of airports, high/hot or low, number of average passengers, etc. Then he needs to ask what the gotha haves are, what the should haves are and the what the nice to haves are. The last two questions are the biggest and hardests. What is his acquistion budget and what is operating budget are. Then he needs to go from there.

As was previously mentioned, he will need to have a working knowledge of equipment to save himself from a costly decision. Paint and interior are extremely minor points. A good paint and interior shop can correct those issues. And you can almost always get a better deal that way.

First he needs to decide on what type aircraft will fit his needs and budget. Then research the aircraft and market. Pick out the two or three aircraft that seem to be prime aircraft and do a records inspection. A copy of Chapter 5 of the maintenance manual will help you there. DO NOT rely on the computer maintenance record for your information. Use it to provide the date and times to locate the written record in the aircraft logbooks. Do make sure the aircraft is current in inspections.

On the pre-buy, most shops will do the depth of inspection you request. Usually in most cases, it is an inspection of two or three levels deep. The shop usually will sign off those inspections if you request it.

There are many good brokers out there, but there are also many shady characters out there. Be careful. Many brokers specialize in a few types of aircraft. It would be better to find one that specializes in the type aircraft you are looking for.

Good luck.

 

[PureMuscle]

How much would even a small learjet cost to maintain for a year if you owned one? This is very subjective, I know but just curious. When I think of how much you would fly it every year with the enourmous fuel loads, maintenance included, how you would pay for a hanger or parking, etc it makes me wonder how anyone could manage that. You would obviusly have to have some big buckaroos.

 

[paulsalem]

Can anyone recommend a consulting firm and/or a broker around CMH?

 

[BillyD]

There is a company called Conklin and Dedecker in Mass. that has alot of info on aircraft costs and so on. Just do a goolge search on them and you will find their website.


Have you left Athens Paul?