What type of aircraft should i buy

Choosing the Right Aircraft. By Gary Goltz. Owning an aircraft is an exciting, liberating and joyful experience. Although this is admittedly self-serving since the writer is a full-time aircraft broker, you should hire an experienced aircraft broker to assist with the acquisition.

The potential for a million dollar mistake is so high and the relative cost for a broker so low, that it is a practical necessity. As you read the rest of this article you will quickly understand why you need an expert to help guide you through the acquisition process from selecting the correct model of airplane with the appropriate equipment and component status, to what you should do to begin operations immediately post-acquisition.

Here are the specific reasons you should hire a qualified aircraft broker:. Commissions paid to brokers vary from flat fees to a percentage of the sales price. You should expect your broker to prepare an agreement for you to retain his firm on an exclusive basis to represent you to acquire or sell an aircraft on your behalf. Most acquisition agreements should provide that you are under no obligation to pay a fee to the broker unless there is a successful acquisition. Most acquisition agreements are for a relatively short term, 90 to days.

Some brokers require you to pay for all of their expenses, while others only charge for travel expenses or even no expenses at all. Once you have signed the acquisition agreement it is on to the fun stuff. Unlike real estate, each party, the purchaser and seller, pays the commission or fee of the broker that represents them in the transaction.

Choosing the right aircraft for you is more complicated than you would think and is absolutely critical to your future happiness with your aircraft.

Statistically, most aircraft owners keep an aircraft only 3. This is due, in part, to poor initial selection. The cost to acquire an aircraft is not inconsequential. These costs include sales tax, property tax, broker fees, legal fees, tax advisors, pre-purchase maintenance expenses and the money and time to travel to view the prospective aircraft and relocate it to your home base.

Doing this process less often is smart. A reputable broker will help you determine what aircraft best suits your missions. To select an aircraft that meets your needs, you will need to know the answers to the following questions:. As you can imagine, there is a wide variety of aircraft available today and the goal is to match one to your needs. Below we discuss the different categories of business aircraft, focusing on turboprops and jets.

By way of background, everyone in the aircraft world talks of knots and nautical miles 1 knot equals 1. A turboprop will seat 5 to 9 passengers and fly at speeds ranging from knots to knots. Turboprops are great for to nautical mile trips.

Modern turboprops are extraordinarily reliable and may be operated in all types of weather conditions. Turboprops have some key advantages over jets, particularly the very light and light jet category discussed later. Turboprops also have lower operating costs than jets, have the ability to carry a full load of passengers and luggage for most of their standard mission trips of to 1, nautical miles, are less expensive to maintain over jets and have the ability to takeoff and land at some of the smallest airports.

Their disadvantages include cabin noise levels louder than jets, slightly more vibration from the props and engines, and slower cruise speeds than jets. Turboprops can be operated single pilot while many jets require a crew of two. There have been many manufacturers of twin engine turboprops in the past, but only two twin engine corporate turboprops are currently being manufactured, Beechcraft King Airs and Avanti Piaggios.

The King Air line of aircraft manufactured by Beechcraft is the most popular model line of twin turboprops in production today. They have larger cabins than the very light and light categories of jets discussed below.

They are also the most common and come in three main body styles, the C90, the B and The models become larger and faster as you move up the line from the C90 to the The B is one of the most popular business aircraft ever built. These aircraft are particularly economical to operate compared to the twin-engine models because they have only one engine.

Single engine turboprops use less fuel and the repair and overhaul costs are generally half of the twin turboprops. Nevertheless, single turboprop economics should be balanced with the safety factor of have two engines in the King Air and other twin turboprops. For purposes of discussion here, we will divide jets into 5 categories: 1.

There are two very light twin jets that are currently in production, the Cessna Mustang and the Embraer Phenom , with many more are in the works including a few single engine jets.

They seat a maximum of 5 passengers and 1 pilot, but are more practically flown with 4 passengers. Their range is between to 1, nautical miles, depending on load, and they fly from to knots.

Annual operating expenses are slightly more than turboprops. They are generally flown with one pilot. Light jets generally carry 5 to 7 passengers and cruise to knots and can fly to 1, nautical miles.

Medium jets generally seat from 6 to 8 passengers and can fly 1, to 2, nautical miles. There are quite a wide variety of manufactures and models in this category. There are several different approaches — from individual ownership to forming a company within a group of consolidated companies — and the right one depends on your operation. No matter which option you choose, you must ensure it complies with FAA regulations for your intended use of the aircraft.

You need to consult with an advisor who knows these regulations, and you should be beyond doubt that your ownership structure is legal and advantageous before you set it in stone. One common error is to form a company with the sole purpose of owning your business aircraft. You must consider items such as sales tax, income tax issues, federal excise tax, as well as FAA administrative expenses. Proper planning allows you to minimize tax expenses and the overall cost of owning your business aircraft.

Allow your company ample time for tax planning, as the best course of action may be to form a new ownership structure to acquire the aircraft — as described above — which may involve tax-related registrations. Consider the following six areas when thinking about what aircraft is right for your operation :.

With many factors to consider, determining your budget is not always an easy task, but after careful planning, you should have an idea of your price range.

Having a budget in mind will help you and your broker find an airplane that has what you need for the right price. The size of your aircraft determines the interior space, and the size of your engine s affects your range and capacity. Be sure to examine the interior of any aircraft you plan to buy in person to make sure it fits your comfort and business needs.

Depending on who your passengers will be may affect the level of luxury you want to look for in a plane.

If the plane is used exclusively by staff members, however, you may be able to opt for something more modest. Before you decide to acquire a large aircraft, make sure the airports you will frequent can accommodate a plane of that size. If you frequently travel long distances, it may be worth spending more to make sure you and your employees are comfortable for the duration of the flight.

Consider insurance, management, crew expenses, repairs, storage and fuel. Your aircraft broker should help you get an estimate of these costs based on the type of airplane you choose. The lender can then begin the process to approve the loan before the purchase of the aircraft, which means minimal downtime after you find the plane right for you.

You can either opt to do everything in-house or hire a third-party management company. Inexperienced buyers should be especially wary of olderairplanes, particularly older complex airplanes. You may figure that if the selling price is cheap enough, you can afford to spend themoney to refurbish that older airplane into something really nice. Cessna learned a lot from building that aircraft, and later models of the areoutstanding airplanes.

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