Selling a partially built kit

[danny_galaga]

Has anyone here ever sold a partially built aircraft kit? How do you go about it?

[Blueadventures]

Hi Danny. Post description, details, some over all images and price. The market sorts the rest.  Buyer then should check and verify happy with build so far and then move forward on the build. Hope this helps.

 

for example a mate purchased a built Skyranger, not flown or registered. Seller said had done 2 hours wheels off.  Built with L2 and checked by L4.  I was asked to fly off first hours, my reply was I needed to check thing throughly, mate was a bit surprised but understood my reasons, basically with all respects of L2 and L4 inspection still won’t trust anyone.  After a number of interesting rework, and extra built things it flew good and still going well.  

[skippydiesel]

Hi Danny - My Zephyr is a damaged/kit built (19 Rego) aircraft - you could say slightly deconstructed. Had some interest but no purchaser, even though I am willing to sell for cost recovery price. So "Good Luck" you might need it.

[Thruster88]

Skippy you would be aware that cost recovery is never realized in any aviation expenditure. That is why we love it. 

[pmccarthy]

Danny have you given up on the South African kit?

[danny_galaga]

2 hours ago, pmccarthy said:

Danny have you given up on the South African kit?

Just weighing up my options

[Steve L]

What SA kit do have Danny. I also have a complete SA Bushbaby kit and as my life took a different direction a couple of years ago it left me with no time to complete. I am now contemplating selling. One wonders how many kits in various stages of build are sitting in sheds around the country. 

[skippydiesel]

13 hours ago, Thruster88 said:

Skippy you would be aware that cost recovery is never realized in any aviation expenditure. That is why we love it. 

Probably should have said parts cost eg Rotax 912 ULS in excellent running condition, Checked. approved by B Flood. 920 hrs Hobbs $???

[spacesailor]

Bigger & better than my HB , would love to have it in the place of my Bird !.

BUT

It would be the Death of me,!, says she who must be obeyed.

 

 

Well at one stage there was 14 known HB,s out there.

So l would say a quarter of kits could be ' never to be finished '.

Why ?.

Because you do woodwork, &  metalwork at school,

Then spend the next 30 to 40 years forgetting how bludi hard that was, (  when young ).

Then the kit arrives,  & your enthusiasm peaks !.

A day or two pressing pop rivets, a week to get over the PAIN of unused muscles, how many to go, out of 33,000.

Maybe it,s a wooden frame, same thing, jump in Sanding everything in sight, make a couple of frames or stabiliser.

Look at what is has to be done to make a resemblance of your dream,

Also all those tools that most of us Don,t have.

IF You do finnish !, the Dreaded  Bureaucrasy, for the paperwork will be the next obstacle. 

Why Do we persivere, making what all the professionals Don,t want built in the first place.

[RFguy]

912 ULS : $2k +$12 per hour remaining. (no accessories)

 

Edited June 27, 2021 by RFguy

[facthunter]

Plane building is a very labour intensive thing. If  you do it yourself you save a major part of the cost and if you are skilled make a quality job of it and get a feeling of achievement,. I've seen damaged planes purchased that are home built and of a poor standard so a lot ,more than just  the damage has to be redone and you may never be really happy with it. It would be much the same if you found a lot of corrosion under a flash paint job on a VH plane. Look long and hard. Nev.

[danny_galaga]

I go through periods of ennui with this build. Lack of time and money is really slowing it down. Feeling a bit better about it now. In fact, I think I might have a sore back on Wednesday 😉 and I can do a few circuits on the hire plane first thing and then continue the build.

 

But if I could get the right price for it, I would let it go...

[spacesailor]

WOULDN,T WE ALL ,.

How much for a dream ?.

spacesailor

[danny_galaga]

3 hours ago, spacesailor said:

WOULDN,T WE ALL ,.

How much for a dream ?.

spacesailor

I take it in good spirits, but if I was enjoying the build I wouldn't even consider selling. But I hate losing lots of money even more. Horrible situation to be in.

[onetrack]

All mechanically-driven devices are major liabilities. They depreciate on a daily basis, just sitting. If you need to sell any mechanically-driven device, you will more than likely fail to get what you think it should be worth.

Such is the business of owning "toys" that give us pleasure, or which facilitate transportation. The only time you may make some financial gain, is if your item is deemed "collectable" - in which case, you will have buyers fighting to buy it.

In all other cases, you will work hard to dispose of your unwanted item, and spend considerable time trying to make a sale at a satisfactory price, that doesn't entail major loss.

 

All kit-building, restorations, or repairs of mechanical devices take considerable time, effort, dedication and persistence. I spend a lot of time on mechanical restorations and it can be very frustrating at times when the project takes far longer than envisaged to finish, and constant delays in parts locating and sourcing, frustrations when parts don't fit properly or are just plain wrong, delays caused by outside influences, and even holdups with tool breakage or the need to acquire a new tool, all add to the mental toll.

 

This is why a group of supporters is important when doing any of this work. You need both encouragement and assistance - and setting goals that are unrealistic will only add to your frustration.

Sometimes, it's best to take a break from the job and leave it, and go over to doing something else. Even a holiday is good. Then you can return mentally refreshed, and ready to tackle any problems head-on.

 

Edited June 28, 2021 by onetrack

[spacesailor]

I love just ' sitting in my tin can ' dreaming of that moment, l take to the sky,s.

I totally agree the $ amout we expect for our efforts shouldn,t be reduced to the scrap value of the parts.

BUT

What is that value .

spacesailor

[spacesailor]

AND

Is the last 95-10-1103 Hb on the RAA register. Classed as a ' collectable 'item.

They may have removed it, but my rego papers still tell another story.

spacesailor

 

[pmccarthy]

Danny I hope you can persevere and complete the build. I looked at the Bushcat at the same time as you started, sat in one at Avalon. But my CASA medical came good and I postponed a decision. I think now I would probably go for a Foxbat or Vixxen, spending a fair bit more money.

[Geoff_H]

Having started and not finished 3 projects and followed the building of many home built aircraft I can say that for me the problem is if I were to buy one that is not finished is the standard of the build.  One aircraft had a twist in the fuselage that during construction required a 44gallon drum of water weight to close the fuselage.  Buying an incomplete aircraft is an enormous risk.  It is difficult to check dimensions etc.  You could end up with a pile of junk with only an engine instruments etc able to be sold to recover costs. So to me a box of unbuilt parts has more value than a partially built aircraft.  Transport costs can be large if the wings are attached. A damaged aircraft is similarly a real risk.  How extensive is the damage.  From my work with composite construction I know that a crack in a core maybe unable to be seen during inspection for sale or even after rebuild and the consequent costs and loss of safety are possible.  Again the value to me would be the recoverable sale value of the parts.  But many owners want to recover costs for their financial outlay on an unfinished project.  A risk to the buyer.  I sold one partially built aircraft and design that I spent several years working on as it an idea I had to make a cheap aircraft, it was just too heavy.  Sold it for $1. But I learnt a lot getting the build to where I got it.

Another problem I have is where to finish the project.  

[spacesailor]

Geoff

In Sydney, our flying fields are shrinking , & l believe that it will soon be a thing of the past, like those ' car race tracks ' that have disappeared

The  last paragliding school has gone ( Richmond  ), Autogyro school (  Eastern Creek ) , even the big one Schofields, were we took the kids to Airshows.

spacesailor

[skippydiesel]

On 26/06/2021 at 7:12 PM, Thruster88 said:

Skippy you would be aware that cost recovery is never realized in any aviation expenditure. That is why we love it. 

My definition of "cost recovery" is parts only - no labour/time.

 

I have always known that you will never get your time back on akit and often not the purchae price either but things like Rotax 912ULS engine, avionics all have a good market value, the airframe well its more of a give away.

[spacesailor]

Slightly wrong there !.

The first ' kit cars ' sold way above their build cost, Lotus kit on a old Ford body, far dearer than that old Ford would ever fetch !.

I had a ride in a kit " Ford two seater " that became, one of the world beatinf " Shelby Cobra V8 "muscle car.

spacesailor

[danny_galaga]

1 hour ago, spacesailor said:

Slightly wrong there !.

The first ' kit cars ' sold way above their build cost, Lotus kit on a old Ford body, far dearer than that old Ford would ever fetch !.

I had a ride in a kit " Ford two seater " that became, one of the world beatinf " Shelby Cobra V8 "muscle car.

spacesailor

Not to derail my own thread too much, but the Shelby Cobra was never a kit car. People make replica kits of the Shelby Cobra but that's a different thing.

[Thruster88]

3 hours ago, skippydiesel said:

My definition of "cost recovery" is parts only - no labour/time.

 

I have always known that you will never get your time back on akit and often not the purchae price either but things like Rotax 912ULS engine, avionics all have a good market value, the airframe well its more of a give away.

I have read the comprehensive ad for your project, while i am not in the market for a repair project i think you would have sold it if you included realistic price on it re parts value as above. Without a price most people will not bite. Like fishing without any bait. 

[skippydiesel]

1 minute ago, Thruster88 said:

I have read the comprehensive ad for your project, while i am not in the market for a repair project i think you would have sold it if you included realistic price on it re parts value as above. Without a price most people will not bite. Like fishing without any bait. 

Fair comment - Open to negotiation -  what say you to an opening price  of $22,990 ? (see if you or anyone take the "bait")