If financing an aircraft is on your horizon, now is the time to secure your loan. The end of the year is fast approaching, and that means many individuals and businesses will be looking to finalize large purchases for tax offset purposes.

Getting preapproved in August or September is the smart move if you want to miss the hassle of buying during the holidays. As with any financial decision, timing is key.

Why Is There a Time Crunch?

According to Keller Laseter, Chief Commercial Officer at FLYING Finance, the answer is simple: holidays.

“The holidays are the biggest factor to our time crunch,” Laseter said. 

There are multiple bank holidays in the fourth quarter, and that significantly bottlenecks the process.

“When the banks are closed, we lose a lot of valuable time and your loan does not move forward,” Laseter said. 

While some salespeople and lenders may still be eager to close with you no matter the season, it’s an unavoidable fact that many banking and financial professionals will be planning vacations and focusing on family from October to early January—which means they won’t prioritize getting your loan closed. 

“The best way to avoid the busy season is to beat the crowd that’s late to the game,” said Laseter. “Being responsive, communicative, and having your ducks in a row will put you very high on the list.”

Why Start Shopping in August and September?

Waiting until Q4 can lead to delayed closings, aircraft being sold to cash buyers, and worse options and terms.

Typically, clients buying an aircraft for business reasons have complex financial documentation, meaning it takes time for lenders to underwrite them. The savvier and more prepared a client is, the more questions banks and lenders need to clarify. 

With many buyers going through this process at the same time, it can take longer for loans to be completed and can push some finalizations into the next year, which may not be ideal. 

Likewise, inventory is much more limited at the end of the year, with fewer options available for late buyers. The earlier you decide to take to the skies in a new plane, the more variety you’ll find and the more sellers and brokers will be willing to negotiate on terms in order to make those sales.

Can Both Corporate and Personal Aircraft Owners Benefit?

 Absolutely! Actually, securing your aircraft loan early is the surest way to reap the benefits of depreciation and minimize your tax burden. 

“There’s always a rush of clients who approach the finance team in mid-December looking to complete a loan on a large purchase before the end of the year,” Laseter said. “That’s our busiest time, so while we do our best to satisfy this request, it can be difficult.” 

Both corporate and personal buyers can get ahead by submitting the necessary documents as early as possible. Once approved, it’s simple to get reapproved if any time lapses.

Why Have Financing Preapproved in the Fall?

Two of the biggest factors that prolong the financing process are submitting all financial documents in a timely and accurate manner and finding the right deal on the aircraft that suits your needs. Completing the financing side of the equation means you can focus on shopping with confidence in your financial situation. 

The bigger and more complex the airplane, the more in depth the process has to be. Pre-buy inspections, appraisals, logbook review, and other factors mean you’ll want to line up your loan as early as possible so you can be satisfied with a thoroughly vetted aircraft. 

Without preapproval, the time, energy, and money spent on choosing and inspecting the right aircraft can be wasted.

“Just like with buying a house, someone who has an approval in hand when making an offer on an aircraft will be taken more seriously than someone without,” said Laseter. “If you have an approval and the aircraft of your dreams pops up for sale, you can move quickly on the sale and have less risk of the seller going with a cash buyer.”

How to Get Started 

Depending on how your finances are arranged, it’s a good idea to reach out to any investment brokers, accountants, or wealth management firms you work with to get a complete picture of your assets and liquidity. Likewise, make sure you know the details on any existing loans or liabilities so you can go into the pre-approval process with realistic goals. 

If you aren’t sure what documents you’ll need, the FLYING Finance team is here to help you with any questions. Getting started today will get you into your dream aircraft sooner. 

Instead of spending the holidays struggling to finalize details, you can be flying and enjoying the skies.

The post Beat the Holiday Time Crunch: Get Preapproved for an Aircraft Loan Now appeared first on FLYING Magazine.

AVweb editor-in-chief Russ Niles had the pleasure of joining Goulian at EAA AirVenture in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, to delve into the details of airshow circuit life. 

According to Goulian, he’s often asked why he still performs dangerous stunts after nearly three decades of aerobatics.

“The biggest thing for an airshow pilot is that every day is different—the weather conditions, the wind, our fitness, the airplane, the terrain, the airport,” Goulian said. “Every time you take to the air to do an airshow, it’s a huge challenge, so you never get bored of it. At Oshkosh, you’re here with thousands of your closest friends who are all watching you fly, and you have to bring your ‘A’ game. That keeps it exciting.” 

As aviation technology has improved, aerobatics and competitive flying have also reached higher limits and become more dynamic. Composite propellers, carbon fiber frames, and other advancements in material and equipment production have expanded on what aerobatic pilots can accomplish.

“It’s hard to overstate how much better maneuverability is than it was just 20 years ago,” Goulian said. 

Similarly, the airshows themselves are more in depth.

“A few decades ago, pilots would fly on their own,” he said. “Today, we all have coaches. We have teams watching and guiding from the ground. We have telemetry in our aircraft. These improvements to technology and process mean that airshows like EAA AirVenture have much higher production quality.” 

Each year, a host of pilots and teams like Goulian’s travel across the country to perform at a variety of locations. The airshow circuit in North America follows the weather, typically starting in Florida, moving up the East Coast, winding through the Midwest and down to Texas, hitting sunny California in the fall, and finally returning to Florida again at the end of the year. 

Goulian flies roughly 18 shows each year, between smaller community events and larger-scale industry events.

“We have a tractor trailer that does about 50,000 miles a year,” he said. “The airplane does about 200 hours per year cross-country, and we have a whole team. It’s really a big circus on the road and in the air.”

One of the highlights of the aerobatics for Goulian and his family is the close-knit community that has developed around the airshow circuit.

“Your heroes become your friends,” he said. “I have friends all over the country, and because I was in the Red Bull Air Race, all over the world. We travel with the [Air Force] Thunderbirds, the [Navy] Blue Angels, [aerobatic pilots] Rob Holland, Kevin Coleman, Kyle Franklin, and Matt Younkin. We’re all like a big family.”

AirVenture, arranged annually by the Experimental Aircraft Association, is the biggest aviation event on the calendar, with nearly 700,000 attendees and more than 10,000 participating aircraft. For Goulian and other aerobatic pilots, Oshkosh is a special place.

“For me, the thrill of Oshkosh is all the [aerobatic pilots] who went before me—Charlie Hillard, Tom Poberezny, Gene Soucy, the French Connection,” he said. “You’re flying in front of a group of educated, amazing people who love aviation just like we do, and you’re on the same stage that the greats have been.” 

In his own small way, Goulian wants to contribute to the legacy and history of EAA and AirVenture. 

Goulian was raised in the aviation world his entire life, originally working in the flight school business with his parents. After making his own name in the competitive and airshow scenes, he returned to his roots and started Mike Goulian Aviation at two locations in Massachusetts (Bedford and Plymouth), with his wife. Now, in addition to the airshow circuit, Goulian runs two Cirrus Training Centers. 

“We’re training people in upset recovery and aerobatics, as well as grass airport and back country flying, so we’re trying to make complete pilots with a range of skills,” Goulian said. 

Thankfully, advances in training and technology have made it much safer for student pilots to learn their limits.

“I remember at flight school in the ’80s, you have a gyro with a vacuum pump and you’re worried about the clouds, but not as much today,” Goulian said. 

With the technology moving as fast as it has, the complex airspace learning environment has become simpler for many pilots, aided by simulation training, solid state instruments, and more redundancies than ever.

“All I really hope is that the tech will continue to make it easier and more fun so more people can get into flying,” Goulian said. 

BROUGHT TO YOU BY Whelen Aerospace Technologies

Click here to learn more about Whelen Aerospace Technologies. 

The post Airshow Circuit Life With Mike Goulian appeared first on FLYING Magazine.

From single-engine planes to airliners, the constant hum of engines, hydraulic motors, landing gear machinery, and aeolian noise (wind noise) can be deafening at the best of times. 

Heider Lazzarini, president of Lightspeed Aviation, sat down with AVweb editor-in-chief Russ Niles at EAA AirVenture in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, to discuss the innovations that make the Delta Zulu ANR Headset the latest in a long line of top-quality products. 

As the leading name for active noise reduction (ANR) technology, Lightspeed has spent decades perfecting the formula.

“In simple terms, external noise is counterbalanced by what a processor inside the headset is reading,” Lazzarini said. “Effectively, our ANR takes all the sound waves and blocks them out, and what comes through is what you want to hear—sounds in the range of human voice and even electronic equipment. It keeps the unwanted noises out of the equation and lets the wanted noises into your headset.”

For nearly two decades, Lightspeed has continued to improve and refine its ANR headsets, staying at the forefront of a competitive segment.

“At the core of how we operate is talking to pilots and having hundreds of conversations with users about what’s meaningful and what they need,” Lazzarini said. “We want to hear about their passion and how to translate that into superior products.”

In September 2022, Lightspeed unveiled its most advanced product to date, the Delta Zulu.  With the most refined ANR implementation available, the Delta Zulu offers not only quality but also innovative safety features that keep raising the bar.  

The built-in Kanari smart alert delivers audible warnings to the user automatically if cabin carbon monoxide levels rise, making CO detector strips less of a worry. 

“It’s something you don’t want to think about often, but Delta Zulu takes the complexity out of the way by offering a direct alert for carbon monoxide levels,” Lazzarini said.  

According to Lazzarini, Lightspeed’s other exclusive, proprietary innovation comes in the form of HearingEQity.

“It acts as a built-in hearing aid, and it further maximizes the advantages of ANR technology to make ATC calls and copilot communication crystal clear,” he said.

With this patented system, pilots create a unique hearing profile through an automated 12-frequency test that adjusts sound quality based on each individual’s hearing. 

The Lightspeed Delta Zulu is also the first headset to adopt the ultra accessing connector (UAC) plug, allowing users to connect to other devices directly to the headset for charging, data communications, and auxiliary audio.

With the growing popularity of helmets, Lightspeed also offers a modification kit that allows users to fit Delta Zulu headset cups into a variety of helmets.

“Our H-mod headset cups can be retrofitted through our network of installation partners worldwide,” Lazarrini said. “You can have Lightspeed quality in the helmets you want to use. This is the only premium ANR and audio solution specifically engineered for helmets.”

Regarding the future, Lazarrini said that the Lightspeed team will continue to listen to end users about the features and design of its products. The company is proud to offer the leading headsets on the market.

“I’m biased, but our headsets are the most comfortable in the world, because we always work with pilots to test the design,” he said. “Try on all our competitors and see for yourself.”  

Quality ANR headsets have been proven to make pilots safer and protect their hearing, particularly at low frequencies. With its line of industry-leading equipment, Lightspeed Aviation continues to pursue safety and comfort for pilots and passengers. 

“It’s a whole different reality now with technologies that are accessible to everyone,” said Lazzarini. “ANR was developed in the last 20 years, and it’s only improving. It makes pilots a lot safer and makes ATC calls much clearer. That’s the center of our mission—saving and protecting lives.” 

BROUGHT TO YOU BY Lightspeed Aviation

Click here to learn more about Lightspeed Aviation. 

The post A More Advanced Headset Keeps Pilots Safer appeared first on FLYING Magazine.

Interested in buying your first aircraft but don’t know how much you want to finance? Check out this guide to see how lenders determine your creditworthiness. 

While income is a major part of your financial picture, it’s only one factor in the credit approval process of to. Before you apply for a loan through FLYING Finance, examine your own creditworthiness so you can have a realistic understanding of what type of aircraft you’ll be able to finance. 

Here are some of the biggest components in a lender’s assessment:

Credit score

Traditionally, the FICO credit score is the most ubiquitous way of determining your overall credit value to lenders. Your credit score is not calculated based on income but rather on a comprehensive history of making payments on time. 

There are several ways to check your credit score, including services offered by many credit card companies, banks, and websites like Experian and CreditCheck Total.

For good terms on any large loan, lenders will want to see a credit score of at least 700, but the higher, the better.

If your credit score is less than desirable, some financial institutions including FLYING Finance offer a non-recourse asset backed product. The down payment will be higher and the terms less favorable than a full credit underwriting, but can be a viable option for those who need this solution.

Debt-to-income ratio

Often referred to as just “DTI,” your debt-to-income ratio is the other side to the income statements.

Even high-income earners, for instance, might have multiple mortgages, outstanding credit card debt, or personal loans that cause their monthly debt payments to take up a large portion of their income. DTI accounts for the sum of what you owe in a given month to any creditors but does not typically include normal living expenses such as gas, groceries, or insurance. 

To roughly calculate your own DTI, add up all monthly debt payments and divide that total by your monthly income. In most cases, a DTI below 35 percent is considered ideal. 

Liquidity

In financial terms, liquidity is a measure of how easily and quickly you can meet your financial obligations (make payments).

Liquid investments include cash, CDs, savings, stocks, bonds, options, and other investments that are considered “readily marketable securities.”. 

Illiquid assets include valuable personal property, ranging from jewelry to real estate.. Privately held business interests and other “illiquid” investments like LP investments in private companies increase your net worth, but are not counted in liquidity requirements for loans..

In the case of an aircraft purchase, you typically need to demonstrate that you have enough liquidity to make a down payment and six months of payments on the loan. 

Unsecured debt

Unsecured debt refers to debt without collateral. Secured debt, such as a car loan, is inherently attached to the vehicle, which the bank or lender could potentially seize in the event of defaulted payments in order to recoup some losses. 

Unsecured debt is considered higher risk, as it may be more difficult to recover. As a result, interest rates for unsecured debt are typically less favorable.

While it’s only one small factor in creditworthiness, be aware that a large amount of unsecured debt can impact your rates and ability to secure a new loan. 

Thankfully, FLYING Finance makes it easy for you to apply once you have an idea of what aircraft you want to buy and how much you need to borrow. Get started and finance your aircraft today using the easy online application at flyingfinance.com. 

The post How Do Aviation Lenders Determine Credit Approval? appeared first on FLYING Magazine.

The aviation community continues to expand every year, and the light sport aircraft market has flourished recently. With the growing number of aviation clubs, hobby groups, events, and publications, you may be wondering if you could have access to an aircraft, or maybe you’re already a student pilot or a member of a flying club with flying hours under your belt and want to own your own aircraft. 

Deciding on a Make and Model

If you haven’t already decided, you first need to determine what type of plane best suits your needs and your financial situation. For some, a light sport aircraft (LSA) model with two seats fits their mission. A large family, on the other hand, may need a six-seater. Whichever aircraft fits your need, unbiased, useful information can be hard to find.  

The Aviation Consumer offers deep dive used aircraft guides for many makes and models to get you started. If you want to see the technical details of head-to-head comparisons, check out FLYING’s Air Compare series and AvBuyer’s comparison series. After you’ve narrowed down your search, set up email alerts on Aircraft For Sale.

Costs and Budget Considerations

Cost considerations don’t stop at sticker price, of course. Aircraft ownership, like ownership of any other vehicles or assets, comes with inherent yearly, monthly, and usage-based costs. 

While there are a range of costs and requirements depending on model, region, and intended purpose of your aircraft, there are several regular fees you’ll have to take into account in any budget. We’ve broken them down into fixed costs and variable costs.

Fixed Costs

Fixed costs must be paid regardless of how many hours you fly.

Aircraft insurance 

Every aircraft owner must have liability insurance to legally fly or operate in controlled airspace, but for obvious reasons, it’s prudent to have an insurance plan that covers damage and loss of use, where applicable. 

Hangar fees

Unless you already own your own hangar or storage facility, you will typically need to pay rental storage fees to properly store and protect your plane. 

Variable Costs

Variable costs depend greatly on many factors, including how often you fly and what model you have.

Fuel 

Fuel costs will vary greatly based on type of aircraft and distances you fly it. It’s an excellent idea to research fuel costs based on your region and preferred type of aircraft before factoring fuel into a budget.

Maintenance 

Maintenance and inspections are constant, ongoing costs of aircraft ownership. Regular maintenance is essential for not only the safety and longevity of your aircraft but also for remaining compliant with requisite inspections and regulations. Finding a certified mechanic is vital, and labor can be costly. Check out this guide for Cessna 172 annual maintenance costs for a budget example. 

Repairs

Like any piece of equipment, an aircraft can be prone to a major failure outside of the manufacturer’s maintenance schedule. While some repairs may be relatively minor, such as cosmetic fixes or worn item replacement (i.e., tires or lightbulbs), a major issue could appear at any time, such as vacuum pump failure or a gasket leak. 

Purchase and Financing Options 

Whether or not you have the means to purchase an aircraft in cash, it’s worth considering your financing options.

There are many benefits to financing all or part of the value of your aircraft. By taking advantage of long-term and low-rate financing, you can have the right aircraft for your mission right now while keeping liquid capital to deploy more effectively in your business or other investments. 

In most cases, your return on investment will make it worth holding onto your capital and will outpace interest rates, but you will need to shop around to secure the best rates. 

There are several options available to help you finance your aircraft purchase:

Bank loan

Traditionally, the most common method of financing a large purchase would be a standard bank loan. However, most lenders know very little about underwriting airplanes, so it may be difficult to find a bank that will give you the best terms for aviation financing.

As with houses, cars, and boats, an aircraft loan typically comes at either a fixed rate or a floating rate and is dependent on credit worthiness and down payment. Loans are typically structured for as short as 30 months or as long as 180 months, with amortizations up to 240 months.

Lease

Leases are an alternative option that removes the commitment of purchasing. In a typical lease agreement, the lessee rents an aircraft for a specified period of time, often with the option to purchase at the end of the contract. Your business may choose to lease instead of buy depending on cash-flow considerations, but keep in mind that leasing means you are spending money that you will never get back, as it doesn’t contribute to equity.

Aviation financing

Compared to traditional loans and leases, financing through an aviation lending specialist provides the most advantages for any aircraft purchase. 

Unlike traditional banks, a specialist such as FLYING Finance has access to capital markets that understand airplanes and want to get you approved to fly.

FLYING Finance provides tailored financing solutions for business jets, piston aircraft, turboprop aircraft, helicopters, and more. With technical knowledge about your purchase and a network of experts, FLYING Finance can work with you to get you the best possible rates, payment plans and protections. 

FLYING Finance is more than a loan facilitator—it is a trusted aviation financing partner and part of a comprehensive aviation ecosystem, dedicated to enriching your aviation journey. The FLYING portfolio of aviation websites and services covers everything from expert advice on aircraft ownership to safety tips, providing you access to the best resources in the industry. 

Aircraft partnerships

FLYING Finance also facilitates financing for aircraft partnership agreements (sometimes called fractional ownership agreements), wherein multiple individuals come together to finance an aircraft. In these cases, all partners act as guarantors, usually with equal responsibility. This is a great way to have access to a private aircraft while splitting the cost and can be done for hobby or business purposes. 

Whatever aircraft you choose and whatever finance options work best for you, buying your first plane can be possible with the help and resources of a trusted team of experts. Connect with FLYING Finance team members today to discuss the details of your finances and the steps of the application process. 

The post What Does It Take to Buy Your First Aircraft? appeared first on FLYING Magazine.