NAFA member, Adam Meredith, President of AOPA Aviation Finance Company, answers your aircraft finance questions.
Question: I am trying to buy this Piper Arrow IV 1979 with only around 450 total time on engine . But the airframe has 15425 total hours on it and the finance company I was going with called and said they could not finance the plane because it has over ten thousand on the airframe. I am trying to see if AOPA or any other companies will finance with that time on the airframe.
Answer: Thank you for reaching out. We tend to get asked this question a lot by our members. All of our lenders have a 10,000-hour maximum limit on airframes as well. The reason for this is high airframe times reduce the value and make it harder to resell in the event of default. Lenders mitigate their exposure by limiting AFTT.
Question: We have a 1979 Navajo Chieftain, N27888. We have recently upgraded all of the avionics for ADSB compliance and repainted and completed a complete interior replacement. We are going to repower and will need to replace both engines. Do you finance a transaction such as this or just complete airframes?
Answer: Yes we can certainly finance the engine replacements. The entire aircraft will be held as collateral. Lenders will finance up to 80% of the cost of the replacement or the total upgraded value of the aircraft, whichever is less. Please give us a call at 800.627.5263 and one of my team members can get you started with an application.
This article was originally published by AOPA Aviation Finance Company on January 7, 2021.
