RVs, Glasairs, Lancairs, Sonexes, Zeniths, and a great many projects that stopped when a builder's health, marriage or job changed. Nobody here needs an explanation for an unfinished airplane. Amateur-built aircraft carry a certificate tied to the builder and a set of operating limitations, which makes the paperwork slightly unusual and the right recipient quite specific — both of which are our problem to solve.
What we take care of
Flying, half-built, or in boxes with the wings in the rafters. We take it at whatever stage it stopped, and we do the collecting.
What shapes the plan for your project
Three things, in this order.
Stage and builder's log. For a flying aircraft, the condition inspection date and the limitations. For a project, roughly how far it got and whether the builder's log and photographs survive. A documented project is worth several times an undocumented one, and many are documented better than the builder remembers.
Engine and avionics provenance. Certified engines with non-certified modifications, auto-conversions, panels built up over a decade. Tell us what is installed and where it came from, as far as you know it.
What is still in boxes. A complete kit with the finishing and firewall-forward packages is a genuine asset. A partial kit sourced from three sellers is a harder placement but still one we accept. You do not need to inventory it — we will.
Flying, trailering, or crating
Flying experimentals are ferried by pilots current in the type, with the operating limitations reviewed first — some aircraft are restricted in ways that affect a cross-country ferry. Projects come out on a trailer, and we bring the cradles and the packing material.
Builders' associations and technical schools are frequent recipients. An unfinished airframe that teaches sheet metal, composite layup or wiring to a class has a use a private sale would not capture.
Tell us about the aircraft or project
Three short steps. Only your name, phone and email are required — everything after that you can answer from memory, skip, or leave to the phone call. Nothing here commits you to anything. We carry the cost of pickup, transport and filing; an appraisal, where one is required, is the donor's own expense.
Rather talk it through? (888) 228-7320
An intake coordinator reads every submission and calls you back. We never sell or share your information.
What you can deduct for an experimental or kit aircraft
Flying experimentals are normally sold and deducted at gross proceeds. Projects and partial kits more often go to a school or a builders' association as instructional material, and are valued by appraisal. Panels and engines frequently carry more value than the airframe, which is worth documenting either way.
| Situation | Deduction basis | Documents |
|---|---|---|
| Sold with life remaining on components | Gross proceeds of the sale | Form 1098-C within 30 days of sale |
| Taken by a maintenance school as instructional equipment | Qualified appraised value, as significant intervening use | 1098-C with the intervening-use certification |
| Timed-out airframe recovered for parts | Proceeds of the recovered components | 1098-C reflecting the recovery |
| Operator-owned and depreciated | Limited to adjusted basis; recapture applies | Your CPA should confirm before you assume a figure |
Giving Center cannot value your aircraft and cannot hire your appraiser — the IRS requires that independence, and above $5,000 the qualified appraisal is the donor's responsibility and expense. Rules for vehicle and aircraft gifts are set out in IRS Publication 526, valuation in Publication 561, and the acknowledgment requirement in the Form 1098-C instructions. Claims above $5,000 also need Form 8283 Section B. Nothing here is tax advice; confirm your own figures with your CPA. Full tax detail · FAA paperwork
Models in this class
Related situations: no logbooks · damaged or AOG · inherited aircraft · aircraft with a lien
Ready when you are
Type, hours, logs and where it sits. That is enough for a real answer on the first call. Pickup, transport and filing are ours to cover.