Some of you may know I was forced to retire in December at the age of 65 (ageism!) from my wonderful job as a pilot for Virgin Atlantic on the B787-9. I’ve spend the last couple of years thinking about what to do after retirement and Karen and I have decided to buy a boat and sail around the world!
Accordingly, we’ve rented out our London property and will spend the next 18 months getting to know our boat and preparing for the RTW. We will start properly with the Atlantic Rally (ARC) in November 2021 and will take around three years for the trip.
So I will have very little use for my beloved A36 for the next five years. I really don’t know what to do. l will want to resume flying when we return, but if I sell it I’ll never get something back as capable with pouring £££ into it. If I sell shares or hours I’ll still have to pay for annuals and 50 hr checks, and if I store it it will probably be broken after being parked for five years. Perhaps the best thing it to sell it?
Thoughts?
You could always store it (properly) and pay hangarage + ground ops insurance. The engine’s manual has a long term storage checklist.
I would rent it for “break-even money” to somebody I could totally trust.
You would be surprised how many people spend years telling everybody about “their” plane but actually it belongs to somebody else, who doesn’t fly anymore.
You cannot preserve a plane for 5 years. The engine will be rusty inside (unless you do some serious dehumidification) and the avionics will develop all sorts of faults, from humidity etc. In a 24/7 heated and humidity-controlled shed, or Arizona, maybe.
It’s a really tricky one. If you really love your aircraft and it fits your mission it will be extremely difficult to replace. I’ve been looking on and off (not extremely seriously) for a Bonanza for years, and there’s been very little that really got my attention.
Storage is possible, but it could lead to all sorts of snags getting back in the air. I was stuck on the ground for nearly a year. Did my best to run a dehumidifying setup for the engine, and keep it slightly above ambient to avoid condensation. Even then I had a few snags when I got it back airborne I can only imagine it would be must worse after a number of years.
I don’t know if it’s possible but maybe some kind of lease? Ideally with the lessor being responsible for hangarage, insurance, maintenance etc. It could suit someone who wants a capable aeroplane but doesn’t have the cash.
In an unconnected area we are involved with the breeding of racehorses and this arrangement certainly exists in that sphere, albeit usually over a shorter time span, often a year at a time.
Oh Chris you are in exactly the predicament I have been searching for an answer for. I have not found it, but have endured a couple of horror stories along the way. I also really love my plane but spend more time on the boat now, with the plane on the ground. I have rented it to a group which ended with them fabricating less hours than the Tacho showed. I then rented it to a real Walter Mitty who nearly totalled it. I then tried to run it as a small business, was set upon by disgruntled Flying Club instructors, that also ended in tears. As I read your post I was actually sitting wondering what to do next. My issue is I am out of annual now, if I am away I will not fly it, therefore Catch 22. Why put an annual on it for it to sit? A real conundrum.
The only comment I can make is that long term non usage appear to not harm my engine. I say appears, I have not fully checked. Would be iterested if you come up with anything.
Five years can be an awful lot of time, and you don’t know what’s gonna happen.
We’re old enough, aren’t we, to know that if you don’t take care of the plane yourself, nobody else really does, and is very likely to ruin it one way or the other.
So, the value will go down, and you won’t be able to react to problems while on the boat anyway.
My advice: Sell the plane, put the money into a stock account, which you can access from abroad, and when you come back healthy and prepared for flying, get yourself another plane, even if this then takes a bit longer time. If the buyer agrees, you could put a repurchase option into the agreement should he later want to sell it, or an option to rent it from him when you come back.
You will have less worries (about the plane), less cost (value deterioration, maintenance, etc.) and likely have an value increase. It’s a new phase of life, I guess you’ll have to let go. That’s how I would do it.
I have owned my Bonanza for over 40 years. If I knew I was not going to fly it for 5 years, I would sell it. If you want to keep it anyway, pickle it and store it inside a hangar. Right now, I plan to keep flying my Bonanza and have my widow sell it.
Totally agree. Also on the bit on the stock account. If you are more or less sure it will take about 5 years, do that.
Just look at avionics alone. Modern avionics have a lifecycle time of only a few years nowadays (and spare parts/service is available for only about 10 years after the product comes to market). You lose a lot of value in these 5 years.
Also, maybe your flying preferences change over the next 5 years. Selling and then buying again gives you the chance to account for that.
Congratulations on your retirement and outstanding career!
It could suit someone who wants a capable aeroplane but doesn’t have the cash.
Has someone called me? 
Sell the plane, put the money into a stock account, which you can access from abroad, and when you come back healthy and prepared for flying, get yourself another plane, even if this then takes a bit longer time.
I think this is good advice.
If you absolutely don’t need the money and you are emotionally attached (or know you will not likely get something similar again) to the plane maybe keep it at least until you are sure you are settled in your new life and like sailing so much that you will be on a voyage for a prolonged duration.
In the end it’s an airplane. It shouldn’t matter. You can buy and sell airplanes anytime.
