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Home / Aircraft donation guide

The aircraft donation guide

Everything on this site, arranged by what you are trying to work out. Start with your aircraft type, your situation, or the paperwork.

An aircraft donation has three moving parts: what the aircraft is, what situation you are in, and what the paperwork requires. Most donors need one page from each group. If you would rather just ask, the phone number at the bottom of this page reaches someone who does this daily.

Start here

Three pages that answer most of what a first-time donor wants to know.

Why owners donate
The situations that bring people here, and the cases where selling is better
Donating vs selling
Net sale proceeds against the tax value of a deduction, including the cost of waiting
What happens to the aircraft
Sold, retained as a training airframe, or recovered for parts — and what each means

By aircraft type

Each type page covers condition, what the class is worth, and the intake specifics — with its own intake form.

Single-engine piston
Trainers, tourers and the bulk of what we receive
Multi-engine and turboprop
Twins, cabin-class and turbine singles
Jets
Business jets, including mandate-grounded and program-lapsed airframes
Helicopters
Piston and turbine rotorcraft, component-time driven
Seaplanes
Floats, amphibians and hull corrosion realities
Warbirds and vintage
Antiques, classics and limited-type-certificate aircraft
Experimental and kit
Completed homebuilts and stalled projects
Light sport and ultralight
LSA, trailerable aircraft and Rotax-powered types
Parts and avionics
Engines, propellers, panels and component lots

By situation

The circumstances that actually complicate a donation, each handled on its own page.

Inherited aircraft
Executors, trustees, authority documents and beneficiaries
No logbooks
Missing records, what can be reconstructed, and what it costs you
Damaged aircraft
Damage history, incomplete repairs and insurance write-offs
Aircraft with a lien
Stale unreleased liens, live balances and mechanic’s liens
Year-end timing
The real calendar backwards from December 31
International donations
Deregistration abroad, ferry or container, and the tax reality

Paperwork and tax

The documents, the thresholds and the forms, in the order they come up.

Tax deduction for aircraft
Gross proceeds, fair market value, Form 1098-C and Form 8283
FAA transfer paperwork
Bill of sale, registry filing, and who signs what
Appraisal for donation
When one is required, what makes it qualified, and who pays
About the charity
Status, EIN, what the program does and what we will not claim
Frequently asked questions
Short answers to what donors ask on the first call

Not sure which page you need?

Call and describe the aircraft and the situation. It is usually faster than reading, and we will point you at the right page afterwards.

Start a donation (888) 228-7320