AOPA Pilot Magazine - April 2022 - 92

RUDDER & WRENCH
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SAVVY MA INTENANCE /OPINION
YTulip fever
BY MIKE BUSCH
2%
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on
purchases at FBOs
& Flight Schools2-3
on purchases of
and
Aviation & Auto Fuel2-3
A CASH BACK1
REDEMPTION IS APPLIED AS A STATEMENT CREDIT.
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THE MARKET FOR used general aviation
airplanes is crazy. In the five decades
I've been paying attention to such things,
I've never seen anything like it. Other GA
industry veterans I've spoken with all tell
me the same thing. There's an airplane
buying spree going on, apparently driven
by pent-up demand and historically low
interest rates, and prices have been going
through the roof.
How crazy? Well, I'm looking at a list*Certain
points and purchases restrictions apply, see full Rewards
Terms and Conditions for full details at AOPA.org/creditcard.
1. Rewards points can be redeemed for Cash Back or other items provided
through AOPA Pilot Rewards. A Cash Back redemption is applied
as a statement credit. The statement credit will reduce your balance
but you are still required to make at least your minimum payment. A
minimum of 2,500 points is needed to redeem for Cash Back. Values
for non-cash back redemption items such as merchandise, gift cards,
and travel may vary. 2. Please note that merchants self-select the category
in which transactions will be listed and some merchants may be
owned by other companies, therefore transactions may not be counted
in the category you might expect. Purchases made using Near Field
Communication (NFC), virtual wallets, or similar technology may not
be eligible for bonus points. 3.You will earn 4% Cash Back (1 regular
point + 3 bonus points = 4%) for every $1 of Net Merchandise Purchases
on select AOPA purchases, 3% Cash Back (1 regular point + 2 bonus
points = 3%) for every $1 of Net Merchandise Purchases made at select
AOPA partners, 2% Cash Back (1 regular point + 1 bonus points = 2%)
for every $1 of Net Merchandise Purchases made at FBOs (fixed based
operators), aviation and auto fuel, and flight schools, and 1% Cash
Back (or 1 point) for every $1 of other Net Merchandise Purchases. For
example, if you spend $100, you will earn 100 points which is equal to
$1 in Cash Back rewards. A maximum of 2,500 bonus points will be
awarded per calendar quarter, per rewards account. Please allow up
to five business days after the transaction posts to your account for
bonus points to be awarded.
ing for a very low-time 2021 Cirrus SR22
G6 GTS with an asking price of $1.25 million.
Seriously? Cirrus's 2021 factory price
list shows a price of $886,800 for this airplane
brand new, which strikes me as
awfully pricey for a four-seat single-engine
piston airplane. Why would anyone pay
a $363,200 premium for a slightly used
SR22? Perhaps because the slightly used
one is available today and a new 2022
model from the factory has an eight-month
wait time. Buyers have itchy trigger fingers
at present, and they just don't want to wait.
All this somehow reminds me of
the Dutch " tulip fever " of the 1630s
92
AOPA PILOT / April 2022
(admittedly slightly before my time). It
was a textbook bubble then and strikes
me as unsustainable now.
You snooze, you lose?
My company offers a nationwide prebuy
management program for buyers of
piston GA airplanes. Lately, we've been
seeing an increasing number of buyers
who are in such a hurry to snap up
used airplanes " before they get away "
that they're shortcutting prudent due
diligence. Some opt to skip the prebuy
examination entirely and rely on " a fresh
annual " performed by the seller, while
others consent to a prebuy examination
that is less than independent and thorough.
They do so at their peril.
Take the case of Chuck (not his real
name), a first-time airplane buyer who
lives in Macon, Georgia, and asked us to
manage a prebuy on a 1966 Beechcraft
A23 Musketeer located on the east coast
of Florida.
We always encourage prospective
buyers to let us perform a preliminary
ou snooze, you lose?
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AOPA Pilot Magazine - April 2022

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