Most twins reach us because the second engine stopped making financial sense. An overhaul came due on both at once. A medical did not renew and the insurance quote for a low-time pilot ended the plan. A company aircraft outlived the company. Or the owner died and left a Baron that the family cannot legally fly and cannot easily sell. Barons, Senecas, Aztecs, 310s, Travel Airs, the occasional Aerostar — parked two years or flown last week, we take them as they sit.
What we take care of
A twin has twice the moving parts and twice the ways a private sale can stall. All of it is our problem from the first call, not yours.
What shapes the plan for your twin
Three things, in this order.
Two engines, two clocks. Tell us roughly what each engine has on it, and do not worry if they are mismatched — one fresh overhaul and one runout is a combination we see constantly and place easily. If either has been sitting, say how long. You do not need to pull the logs before calling; approximate numbers are enough to start.
Prop, gear and calendar items. On a parked twin it is usually the calendar, not the hours, that has run out: prop overhaul intervals, gear hoses, rubber. None of that has ever stopped a donation here. It only tells us whether the aircraft flies out or trucks out, which is our cost to carry either way.
Panel and certification. An IFR panel with ADS-B Out widens the buyer pool, and a lapsed transponder check narrows it slightly. Both are fine. We would simply rather know on the first call so the date we give you is a date we can keep.
Getting a twin off the field
Ferrying a twin needs a multi-rated pilot, insurance that covers the type, and two engines that will both make rated power. Our ferry pilots fly twins weekly, but we do not launch one on hope: if either engine is questionable, the airplane moves on a truck instead, and nobody is disappointed on a Tuesday morning at an airport three states away.
If there is hangar rent running on a twin, that is often the largest number in the whole situation, and it is the part we move on first. Tell us your billing date and we will work backwards from it.
Tell us about your twin
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 a twin
Light twins almost always sell rather than get retained, so your deduction is the gross proceeds — what a buyer actually paid, reported to you on Form 1098-C. Where a twin instead goes to a school as a training airframe, the basis changes, and we will tell you which path yours is on before you file.
| 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 |
| Recovered and sold as components | 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 laid 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.