Cost of importing a complete aircraft?

[seb7701]

People,

 

I know this topic has been covered before in various forms (mainly regarding kits), but I am chasing some idea of cost for importing a COMPLETE aircraft from the states.

 

I can see that there are a variety of small charges once it hits our dock, but has anyone brought one in such that they could throw me a ballpark figure?

 

Seems as though the packing of the A/C in the states would be the major issue which I am assuming could be taken care of by a dedicated A/C shipping company.

 

Any ideas would be appreciated.

 

 

[facthunter]

Importing.

 

Find someone who imports/exports regularly and see if you can buy space in a container from them.. Nev..

 

 

[high hopes]

I imported a airboat from the USA ,I did it through a customs and forwarding agent hoping not to have any problems (WRONG).If you do import an AC ask your agent as many questions as you can think of about paperwork penalties and hidden costs.A verbal cost of about $9000.00 ended up being just under $18000.00 mainly because of a paperwork problem .

 

 

[djpacro]

US$7700 to disassemble, pack and ship in a 40 ft container from a state on the east coast of USA to Melbourne. A$2500 from the ship to the airport including customs, local cartage and agent fees - saved some as there the organisation assembling the aeroplane was a quarantine facility so the container wasn't opened until it got there.

 

Plus GST on the purchase price of the aeroplane.

 

Haven't got the bill yet for assembly, annual inspection, paint touchup, engine work and all the other stuff that you'd reckon that a serviceable airplane in the USA would have in half decent condition.

 

Didn't get an export CofA in the USA as that needed an annual also - required within 3 months (from memory) of applying for the ECofA.

 

Agent at this end was CCS - very good. Agent at the other end had arranged for new aircraft before but didnt know the rules so tried to insist on an ECofA. Guy who inspected the aeroplane was recommended to me but I think he was blind although he did an excellent job of packing in the container. Some recent aeroplanes in a container to Melbourne ended up loose in the container.

 

I spoke to others who regularly imported so learnt a lot before I did it. Was difficult to share a container with others in my case as mine was on the east coast and others were in Kansas or on the west coast. I toyed with the idea of flying the airplane west but had run out of holidays so had to get back to work.

 

My only regret is that I didn't buy 2 airplanes. My wing needed the 40 ft container but plenty of room for another. Bought when the Aus dollar was high - I needed to mention that as I normally buy at high prices and sell low.

 

 

[Guest Cloudsuck]

It cost me $2500 US to disassemble and pack the aircraft and a further 10k AUD by the time the thing arrived at my front door. Luckily we got two aircraft in the 40 foot container so the end result for me was around 5k AUD for me and 5 for the other guy.

 

 

The worst part was that the ship it came on, stopped over en-route at a country that had 'Giant African Snails' so the box was quarantined for a month on the dock here while it waited in queue to be checked.

 

Three words for you, "Hidden Costs Everywhere".

 

 

It is a long hard process and full of heartache but I would do it again if the deal was right. You could still probably get an RV in here for about 20 - 30k less than you can buy one here.

 

 

 

[skydog]

BEWARE OF IMPORTING

 

On paper it looked quite feasible to import a plane from the US, well, until the exchange rate put a spanner in the works however unless you go to the States , inspect your plane and know something about planes you may easily come a cropper.There has been more than 3 Vans planes I have seen bought in from the States and sold again rather quickly because of the poor build quality and other issues, its ahrd to tell a paint job via a photo for example. Another guy who posted in this website had to spend lots to bring a CESSNA up scratch after bringinit in from stateside.

 

The going rate to bring a plane in either flown over or crated seems to be about 30,000 AUD not counting the cost of flying over to check out the plane which would be a wise thing to do. Just ask Honest Ron or a ferry pilot. Once it is here the costs are big especially for an airworthiness certificate. Some planes like RV's are hard to dis-assemble in the spar area and it takes time and costs more money. Oh yes GST costs, not nice.

 

I have just purchased a local built RV6A as there is no way in this current economic climate bringing one in from the US would match the value of a local one .I know the build quality, engine condition and paint quality before making the purchase and if all the instruments work plus I have some degree of call back on the prior owner if there was an issue.

 

It took me 5 yrs to finally buy a plane and I believe right now and probably for a good few years to come buying locally is smarter and cheaper.

 

Cheers:wave:

 

 

[Guest extralite]

"The going rate to bring a plane in either flown over or crated seems to be about 30,000 AUD not counting the cost of flying over to check out the plane which would be a wise thing to do. Just ask Honest Ron or a ferry pilot. Once it is here the costs are big especially for an airworthiness certificate"

 

Hi skydog...obviously you have done lots of investigation but those figures seem much higher than others have said and i was wondering if you could break them down. A whole container from the US (which could probablty fit two disassembled a/c) is less than $10k.

 

And the certificate, for a kit a/c from the states like an RV, can be done in one day (so i have been told).

 

Not questioning your figures, just trying to reconcile it with other people's experiences.

 

By the way, is GST applicable on a second hand aircraft? I would not have thought so (in the same way purchasing a second hand car from a private seller does not attract GST).

 

There are some very nice looking aircraft there and a wider variety to choose from. Obviously a pre-purchase inspection is required or you are just as likely to be burnt as in australia, but i would imagine the average build quality is at least as good as Australian built.

 

I dont think it would be a "bargain" to get an aircraft from the US until our $A continues to track north against the $US. It is more the selection of a/c thats appealing right now.

 

 

[Guest pelorus32]

GST is levied on all imports on the total landed cost. That means freight, insurance, any other fees and charges, purchase price...

 

So let's say you paid $140K AUD for an RV (insert other figure if you like) then paid $10,000 freight, plus around $1,500 insurance, then around $4K AUD in internal shipping in the States, $650 to get it off the docks here, plus say $7,500 for disassembly and packing in the states. That's a $163,550 landed here add 10% GST, that's a $180,000 aircraft before you do the stuff you have to do in Australia and pay GST on that - inspection, re-assembly, CofA...

 

It's the other stuff that adds up.

 

Regards

 

Mike

 

 

[Admin]

Also to add to Pelorus's post - the gst is based on the dollar rate on the day you have to pay the gst not on the AUD amount you actually paid.

 

For example say the invoice that you paid was $80k USD which on the day the exchange rate was 80c so you paid $100k AUD.

 

On the day of paying GST on the $80k USD invoice and the exchange rate was 65c then the GST you have to pay is not $10,000 (10% of the 100k AUD you paid) but 10% on $80k USD at 65c which ends up being $12,307.

 

Naturally it can also work the other way as well.

 

Just something to be mindful of :big_grin:

 

 

[Guest extralite]

Ahh thanks for clearing the GST thing up. A few RV 6's there asking around US $50-$55k (prices slashed!) with 0-320 or o-360 engines or medium time. I would say even with GST and freight cost its would compare okay to here.

 

 

[djpacro]

My agent told me that the exchange rate used for calculation of GST was as of date the ship departed the USA or I could provide evidence of what I actually paid - so we did the latter.

 

 

[skydog]

imports

 

Extralite,

 

60 USD = 88,000 AUD + gst = $A97,000 at todays rates.

 

Then add freight to the dock, shipping cost, freight to the hangar, rebuild cost, COA , the hassle of fixing any possible damage , insurance haggle etc, whew!!!! your looking at another 22000 at least. =119,000 AUD.

 

Bringing two aircraft back will reduce freight costs or pessimistically double your trouble.

 

Pelorus 32 seems to have nailed the costs.

 

The CofA might be able to be done in one day but the charge is very expensive,about $1500 .

 

Dis assemble and assemble would be at least $A12,000 on its own.

 

Phone honest Ron of Riddel airfield, 0354285465 for a breakdown.

 

However my main message is trusting the seller / agent and getting the quality advertised. Lots of poor quality paint jobs, suspect engines sitting for years not used on RV's here in OZ let alone in the US where you cant see them or have them checked out confidently. Instruments ?? A whole bag of tricks here potentially, what arrived same as advertised, working or, calibrated recently?

 

Hassle of getting the log books, to view, can u trust them??

 

You can fly over and check them out if you know what you are doing (Add $5000) to feel better but engines sitting for a long while not flown or flown one hour a month in corrosive conditions can be difficult and expensive to check out unless you get a borescope done everytime.

 

Its going to take a very long while for the dollar to get back to the heavenly area of 90 > 95 cents again unfortunately. I wish it will hurry back to those rates because I would like to bring in a new engine in a couple of years.

 

Cheers.

 

 

[seb7701]

Yep, importing started out as a good idea, but it moreso looks like I need to head back the classified pages of the beloved RAA magazine....

 

 

[Guest Neilm1955]

I recently imported a Savannah from Spain. Long story as to why it was for sale but it was airframe only, motor had been fitted but removed. It cost me a total of around $6000 AUD for total freight GST etc. Level 2 put it together for $1500 , total respray for $2000, bought a 2nd hand 912, $7500, new prop. and I am having lots of fun.

 

I have had a number of Piper Lances flown in but that was a long time ago. Flying them in is the way to go. If you get a US licence you can just pull out the long range tanks and fly it here on US reg and maintainence regs. Depend on what sort of aircraft you are wanting. Neil

 

 

[seb7701]

Was the $6000 using an a/c specific freight company and who did the packing on the departure end, if I may ask?

 

 

[Guest Neilm1955]

HI SEB,

 

I SIMPLY CALLED MEDITERANIAN SHIPPING COMPANY. THEY DELIVERED A CONTAINER TO THE VENDOR, WHO ACTUALLY HAD BUILT THE AIRCRAFT.

 

HE PACKED IT VERY SECURELY AND IT ARRIVED IN PERFECT ORDER.

 

THE WEIRD BIT WAS THAT THE ACTUAL SEA FREIGHT COMPONENT WAS $1500 USD,

 

IT WAS EVRY BODY ELSE WHO EVEN WALKED PAST THR CONTAINER AT SOME POINT ALSO WANTED TO BE PAID. STILL ALL IN ALL VERY HAPPY. WOULD DEFINITELEY DO IT AGAIN. JUST CANT FIND ONE CHEAP ENOUGH YET. THE SAVANNAH ITSELF COMPLETELY BUILT COST 8000 GBP WHICH AT THE TIME WAS AROUND $18000 AUD. THATS WHY IT WAS WORTH THE EFFORT. CHEAP PLANE, ALREADY BUILT BY A GUY WHO BUILT THE VERY FIRST SAVVY IN ENGLAND WITH A JABIRU ENGINE. DID A FANTASTIC JOB CONSTUCTING IT. IT WAS HIS FOURTEENTH AIRCRAFT HE HAD BUILT. CANT UNDERSTAND WHY SOMEONE OVER THERE DIDNT JUMP ON IT.

 

FORGIVE ME RAVING A BIT, BUT I LIKE TELLING THE STORY.

 

HAVE HAD A NUMBER OF AIRCRAFT FLOWN IN FROM USA, BUT THAT WAS A WHILE AGO.

 

REGARDS

 

NEIL

 

 

[Admin]

IT WAS EVRY BODY ELSE WHO EVEN WALKED PAST THR CONTAINER AT SOME POINT ALSO WANTED TO BE PAID. REGARDS

NEIL

(PS - Neil, did you know that using capitals when posting in a forum means you are shouting, in forum talk :big_grin:)