For Sale: Aircraft Government auction airplanes -- bargain or trap?

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t3chiman

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t3chiman
In particular, this one from the Port of Anacortes (Washington State):
Price is low, but looks like the winning bidder has to show up and truck the plane away. And it's a pig in a poke.

Does this situation make any sense for anything but established mechanics that have the time and talent to invest in a rehab project?
 
t3chiman said:
In particular, this one from the Port of Anacortes (Washington State):
Price is low, but looks like the winning bidder has to show up and truck the plane away. And it's a pig in a poke.

Does this situation make any sense for anything but established mechanics that have the time and talent to invest in a rehab project?
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That appears to be one of those abandoned airplanes people here are always calling on the airports to seize and sell. You could probably go check it out on the ramp.
 
Probably been there for years and is completely unairworhy and has no logs. I’d question whether it even has much value for parts.
 
Current bid is $87k with 7 days left. The pics look like a nice airplane, and clean interior. Flight aware says the last flight was Feb of this year in SC (possibly ferry flight or check out, as it was deregistered in 2019 and is currently in WA). Currently owned by Factoria Aircraft, an aircraft salvage outfit in Bellevue, WA.

Quite possibly an aircraft bought by the salvage company that is in good enough shape to restore back to airworthy and be cost effective if you do all the work yourself. An air salvage company near me occasionally sells planes like that. Being a salvage company, if they could make more profit parting it out, they would. Looks like they can get more by selling it as a project without paying labor to dismantle it. With a current bid of $87k, they’re probably right.
 
This kind of thing raises “caveat emptor” to a whole new level.

i don’t know much at all about Cessna 206 particulars, but many airplanes have life-limited parts (which can include things like wings and the main spar) which become legally unairworthy after a certain number of hours. If you don’t have logbooks, it’s very difficult and possibly impossible to prove that those parts are airworthy because you can’t document their hours.

This plane might be a bargain for someone who really knows what they are doing, but it might be a financial disaster for someone who doesn’t.
 
DaviatorSF said:
This plane might be a bargain for someone who really knows what they are doing, but it might be a financial disaster for someone who doesn’t.
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Maybe. Have seen some nice aircraft get picked up for a song. However, the main issue I found with public auction aircraft especially abandoned ones was chain of ownership issues. And given this 206 is deregistered adds even more levels to jump.

DaviatorSF said:
i don’t know much at all about Cessna 206 particulars, but many airplanes have life-limited parts (which can include things like wings and the main spar) which become legally unairworthy after a certain number of hours.
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You'll find most aircraft in this class do not have any life-limited parts. There are some that have a few but not an issue with a 206 or other similar SE recip aircraft.
 
t3chiman said:
Does this situation make any sense for anything but established mechanics that have the time and talent to invest in a rehab project?
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Not really. But you need to be on your A-game and know the system. Know of a few pilots who play the game well and make a few bucks in the meantime.
 
It does look like it's in nice shape for a "salvage" airplane.

One plus: nobody's going to steal the existing avionics. :p

The comment about chain of ownership is a really valid one. I'd think you'd want to look at the FAA's ownership history for the plane. And understand what the rules are for re-registering a plane like this. In additional to a good annual inspection it might need to go through some process to prove that it conforms to the type certificate to get back on the registry and receive a new airworthiness certificate.

It looks like it was last registered to Factoria Aircraft, and Factoria doesn't exist any more (corporation was dissolved in 2021), my guess is the owners of Factoria died and this airplane was left on the ramp, and now the airport is taking action to get rid of it.
 
87k sounds like a substantial amount for a salvage aircraft.

I recently bid for a Comanche 180 that was complete. It didn’t look it - too cowl seemed missing but it was on the field. Someone had tried to steal the three bladed prop.

The only thing missing was a GX60 which I have, and two mk12d an comms.

By comparison, that airplane, complete with engine, prop, instruments and autopilot, sold for $6500.

At least we could disassemble the airplane and remove it.

The difference?

I own trailers, I have an aircraft paint shop, and we have no desire to resell the airplane - there are no logbooks. Strip it, deal with corrosion , paint it, assemble it, send the prop out, IRAN or redo the engine, and done.

Unless you know where the logbooks are, have A&P / IA skills or really genuinely like to spend money on projects, to me it seems like lose lose. Your mileage and opinions vary.
 
The only auctions I've ever found worthwhile are the ones that no one else knows about...get even just 2 people interested in something, and both typically lose their friggin' minds...
 
I've done all sorts of auctions over the years. Much as with playing poker, the key is to be better than the people you are playing against. You need to really know the items you are bidding on and hope you know better than the other bidders. Make sure you can remove the item promptly (before you incur the ire of where it is or someone steals it before you get to it). I managed to get a FMS simulator for $50 when Independence Air was liquidated, but someone stole it from the facility before I got back the next day to remove it.
 
I have purchased some from Public Surplus. Most of the time Gov sellers have no appetite for embellishing anything. At the same time the gov employees tend to be pretty rough when handling surplus machines.

There are not catches as far as the auction is concerned. You just need to do you homework on handling the aircraft later. It does look pretty clean, I have no idea if $100k is reasonable or not. I wouldmtry and find an A&P on the field and see if they know anything about it.
 
I'm a former fed employee that dealt a bit with seized/auctioning of stuff, but not aircraft. If it's former government owned and used and being sold (especially motor vehicles), it's been rode hard and put away wet. If it's been seized, there is a good chance it's been sitting for years waiting for the court process to be completed with the bare minimum of maintenance; battery charged, tires topped off, etc. Deals can be had, but be wary.
 
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