Distress scenarios · 7 min read

Out of annual for years? Three options, ranked by what's actually realistic.

The single most common scenario we buy in: a piston airplane that's been out of annual for somewhere between 2 and 15 years. Sometimes the owner stopped flying because of medical, sometimes life got busy, sometimes a partnership dissolved. The airplane has been sitting — and now somebody (the spouse, the bank, the divorce attorney, the heir, or just the owner themselves) wants it gone.

Here's what nobody at the airport tells you straight: "just annual it up and sell it" is rarely the right move. Let's do the math.

Option 1: Annual it up, then sell to a retail buyer

If your airplane has been sitting 5+ years, getting back to airworthy is rarely a $3,000 annual signoff. Realistic cost on a long-sitting piston single:

Annual inspection itself: $1,500–$3,500
Cylinder rework or replacement (common after long sit): $4,000–$12,000
Brake/tire/hose replacement (rubber dies): $1,500–$3,000
Battery + electrical: $400–$1,500
Avionics waking up (especially older equipment): $500–$3,000
AD compliance gaps: $0–$10,000 (you don't know until you start)
Paint touchup, interior cleanup, exterior detail to be sellable: $500–$5,000

Realistic total: $10,000 to $25,000+. Plus 60–120 days of shop time. Plus the risk that you find something material (corrosion, spar issue, engine that needs a top) that turns it into a $40,000 hole.

And here's the kicker: after all that, you're not selling for free. You'll still pay 8–10% broker commission, wait 4–8 months for a retail buyer, and burn another 4–8 months of hangar and insurance.

Option 2: Sell to a cash buyer as-is

Buyers like us underwrite airplanes in this condition every week. We know what fresh-annual cost actually runs because we pay it. We know what to expect from a long-sit. The offer reflects all of that — but it's a real number, today, on the airplane as it sits.

The right way to think about this: instead of fronting $10–25k of unknown shop bills and waiting 8 months for retail, you take the cash buyer number and move on. The opportunity cost of not selling — hangar, insurance, time, mental load — is often $1,000+/month. Six months of waiting can erase any premium you'd have gained.

Option 3: Part it out

For some airplanes (older Cessnas, common Pipers, anything with a healthy used-parts market), parting out can clear $15k–$50k. Engines, props, avionics, control surfaces, doors — they all have a market.

But: it's a year+ of work, requires hangar space (so you keep paying rent), requires someone with the parts-out network to actually move pieces, and at the end of it you're left with an aluminum carcass you still have to dispose of. For most owners, the math doesn't beat option 2.

So which one?

Here's the rule of thumb after buying countless airplanes:

If the airplane is < 2 years out and was running fine when parked: annualing up can make sense, especially for a high-value type (Bonanza, Mooney, twin). Get a pre-buy from a shop that doesn't do your annual and run the real number first.
If it's 2–10 years out and you're not sentimental: sell as-is to a cash buyer. The math almost always favors it.
If it's 10+ years out, has damage, missing logs, or sat outside: definitely sell as-is. Restoration spirals.

What it looks like with us

We'll ask for the tail number, year/make/model, total time, engine time and history, what equipment is on board, where the airplane has been sitting (hangar vs outside), and a few photos. From that we run comps and come back with an offer — usually inside 24 hours — and we explain how we got there.

If you accept, we send escrow paperwork through a licensed aircraft title company, wire the funds, and pick up the airplane (we'll arrange ground transport if it can't fly). Most deals close in 5–10 business days.