Buying an Airplane

The following sections contain valuable links to help you find a plane and research your potential purchase using tools on the FAA Website, the NTSB Damage History Database, and AOPA's Website Tools.

Find A Plane

• Trade-a-Plane lists tousands of planes for you to feast your eyes on. Listings generally include pictures as well as technical specifications. They provide a free search tool to narrow the list to your liking. Our favorite perk is in member tools. For less than $2/month you can get nightly e-mails of new listings so you never miss that hot deal!
• Barnstormers also lists thousands of planes for sale and provides a free search tool. As with Trade-a-Plane, on this site you can keep a list of planes you've seen so you don't have to search for them again.
• Aircraft Shopper Online (ASO) is another great place to find planes for sale. With a free search tool and well formatted information, finding a plane is a breeze.
• Controller has a more limited selection but with good presentation and search tools. We recommend periodically checking all three sites because some planes are only listed on one.
• Let's not forget E-Bay and your local Craig's List, although selection on these sites is generally limited.

FAA Website Tools

You'll find many great tools to help you research your potential purchase right on the FAA's website. These are a few I use every time.

• Your first step could be to find out the registration status of the plane. Using the  FAA's Registry Search you can search by N-Number, Serial Number, Name, Make/Model, Engine Reference, Dealer, Document Index, "State and County", or "Territory and Country". This means that in most cases you can find the plane you're looking for with minimal supplied information from the seller. Once you find the plane you're looking for you can get valuable information such as registration status and engine type. Click Here for a sample report...
• Next you can search the FAA's Airworthiness Directive Database for a current list of all AD's that may apply to your plane. Back to Top...

NTSB Damage History Search

One of the most important answers you need to know before you buy any airplane is it's damage history. Luckily, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) offers a searchable  Accident Database that can answer the damage question, except for unreported incidents. "Always remember to change the first date in the Date Range to 1/1/1900 in order to find all the history for your plane." Back to Top...

AOPA Website Tools

And last but certainly not least is the AOPA Website. This site is requires a membership but it's well worth the money. AOPA's Site is jam packed with useful tools in all aspects of aviation. But for this discussion we'll focus on the Valuation Tool. This handy little tool lets you enter the specifications of your plane and spits out it's current value. Just what the doctor ordered when you're trying to figure out if the asking price is reasonable.
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