salvage aircraft

Salvage Aircraft - The wreckage of an old business jet rests at Dodson International Aircraft Parts in Kansas. The fuselage is barely worth the cost of dismantling. (Photo: Barry Ambrose)

With the FAA mandate for ADS-B equipment emerging in early 2020, there is debate in the industry as to whether this increased cost will result in a major phase-out of aging business jets. An aircraft with reduced value and use hardly justifies the cost of an upgrade. Some believe that the price of equipment could drop significantly at the time of delivery. Many owners will decide to upgrade their aircraft. Who can still fly perfectly even after being old.

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In fact, the longevity of most business jets comes as a surprise to many in the industry, said industry analyst Rolland Vincent. "They live longer than expected", "We have improved what is called the survival curve of the industry. This is the duration of use of the aircraft. The curve has become zero in addition 50 years old, and that's unheard of.

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However, in the mind of every owner is the fact that one day their plane will make its last flight. And for many people, the final destination is the dismantling of the plane.

Business jets fly longer than expected, up to 50 years, but the cost of upgrading eventually becomes too high. And planes like this at White Industries in Missouri are moving on to the next phase of their lives: supplying parts for the Current Fleet (Image: Barry Ambrose)

There are currently four major general scrap yards in the United States: Alliance Air Parts, White Industries, MTW Aerospace and Dodson International Aircraft Parts (see box). or in some cases even related

Terry White, owner of White Company Industries in Missouri Hailed as the industry's leading statesman, aged 80, he has worked in the aircraft salvage business since the mid-1960s , having built one of the largest foreign auto parts salvage yards in the country. Several company executives salvaged other aircraft parts. He sent his company to Harry S. Truman Regional Airport (which the company owns) in Bates City. He estimates his company has about 2,800 aircraft, including 1,000 jets and turboprops.

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He noted that the industry has changed over the past four decades. “Most everything we buy now is an airplane that's undamaged, that's flown, we've taken it apart,” White told AIN. He said most jets and turbo engines head to his factory because of their "priority" value. “The two-stage reduction is the ongoing engine overhaul cost. And secondly, to some extent, fuel costs for engine-type aircraft are inefficient.”

For example, Jack Caloras, vice president of sales and development for CRS Jet Spares, cites the Challenger 601 as “a fine example of flight. Let's say you can win $2 million. And that was generous,” he tells AIN. “Now you bring it into this maintenance work. And each engine costs about $750,000, so now you have $1.5 million. Someone will pay. Others will lay it down and fragment it. Or sell it to other people who will think otherwise too.

Over the course of a month recently, White's company received a pair of Citation 500s, Hawker 400Bs and Westwind 1124s. The first thing we did was park them in this lot. and our mechanism continues. Go in and start getting the avionics out so we can keep them in stock. Then we remove the engines,” White said. “The plane is basically intact. And if anyone wants the rudder to fall off the plane, we've removed it.

With its 178 acres, White built its own cemetery. Since most of the planes he had acquired were still on this earth. “They are always there simply because we have the space to do so. And it costs more in labor hours to grind it up in heaps and sell it for scrap aluminum.

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Indeed, these aircraft fuselages, meticulously assembled and tested. Surprisingly little salvage value. "We have local garbage collectors who will pick them up," Alliance Air Parts CEO M.J "Butch" Holtgrieve said. "He pays us very little, 8 to 10 cents a pound."

Holtgrieve spent more than two decades under White's tutelage, rising to head the company. He joined Dodson and then left to form the Alliance himself in Oklahoma. From a purpose-built 50,000 square foot warehouse, it takes a different approach to the industry. It specializes only in turbo engines and jet engines. The company has a hangar at Wiley Post Airport in Oklahoma City. It receives around 95% of the aircraft acquired, where the wings and engines are dismantled and transported with the fuselage to the company's headquarters. this is where the disassembly is complete.

This process can take anywhere from three days to several weeks for larger aircraft such as the Hawker 1000 or Challenger. Control surfaces, wheels, brakes, radios, motors, valve actuators. Anything you can bolt on,” said Holtgreave, who has crashed more than 200 turbine-powered aircraft over the past decade. Although the company generally does not install windows. For the fenders, Alliance keeps several pairs in stock and will evaluate them against newly acquired sets, keeping the best samples. Various fuselage models of various recent aircraft. It is kept for the rare occasion when a customer wishes to acquire a complete interior.

Garages such as Alliance Air Parts of Oklahoma generally supply planes in good condition and dismantle them into parts such as control surfaces, landing gear, radios and engines. The body is rolled up in scrap metal.

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When all valuables are removed called scrap "Airplanes are made of aluminum that's stronger than beer cans," says Holtgreaves. “It's an aluminum alloy. not straight aluminum and not of great value." Factors of rivets or other fasteners And the plane wreckage is classed as alloy. And it goes through many steps to refine it to basic aluminum.

Like White, almost all aircraft received by the Alliance today can still fly. An exception is made for aircraft that have suffered minor accidents or have been damaged by hail. Holtgrieve's last purchase was a Learjet 60 whose engine was destroyed when a technician left a metal nut in the intake before starting.

CRS Jet Spares, which maintains an inventory of $50 million to $60 million, focuses on older planes that are no longer in production and out of warranty. It is one of the pioneers in the field of rotating parts. and companies in Florida have The next step in the company is to buy planes and go bankrupt at the end of the year. “When it comes to financing, it was a lot easier when the $200,000 plane had to be disassembled,” Caloras says. “Now you're talking more money for the plane. Especially the plane you really want.

In such a situation The company brought in investment partners to help buy the business. When deciding to purchase an aircraft The Company will enter into contracts with companies specializing in the dismantling of aircraft or with mechanics who will carry out tasks such as secondary work. “You have to make sure you have room. It doesn't matter where that plane is,” Caloras said, adding that hangar rent may have to be paid at the time of demolition. It is the cost that must be factored into the aircraft purchase equation.

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“Sometimes you have to bring in a flight crew if you're not a pilot. Sometimes you can transport the plane where you want it to be. The CRS then decides what it wants to recover. and tell the crew how they want the item removed, tagged and bagged. when you get what you want Again, Caloras noted that there wasn't much to know. “I hope you have enough money to buy a good lunch or dinner for the crew,” he said.

These days, many requests for offers come from hangar owners. "We'll find someone to call us and offer him his plane," White said, adding that they would normally reveal the plane was sitting in a hangar and hadn't flown or been used for six years. years already. “That means for six years they tried to decide what to do. There are many there.

For sinking, which is a lucrative business Whether or not they decide to fly depends on how much they think they can make.

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