"OFFICIAL APPRAISALS" require a physical inspection of the aircraft and its logbooks.  We check the aircraft’s condition and itemize all of its components.  Logbooks are checked for completeness, damage history, and AD compliance. Additionally, we review comparable aircraft in the marketplace and look for possible pricing trends or other market factors which could affect an aircraft.

The general values given for specific items (i.e., avionics equipment) are provided unaltered from what ABB publishes based on the equipment’s age. You should note, however, that ABB does not provide a value for every  possible item or modification to an aircraft (but then again, the same applies for each of the other services).

An aircraft’s valuation begins with its “Base Average” which is detailed within the report. It assumes that an aircraft possesses all the basic items that originally came with the aircraft and that the aircraft has an average number of flight hours, a "mid-time" engine, no damage history, all logbooks, all AD’s up-to-date, and that the aircraft is in airworthy condition with at least 6-month’s remaining before its next due annual inspection. Thereafter, all values are adjusted upward or downward from the aircraft’s base average value. 

Aside from avionics, airframe time, and engine times, for example, a few other items are “judgmental” in value since there is no official guidance.  For example, the value of an aircraft with damage history or missing logbooks will need to be reduced on a case by case basis.  Also of judgmental value is the value of new paint, a new interior, or a complete avionics upgrade.  It is expected that an aircraft possess average paint, interior, and avionics within its base value. Therefore, the full cost of these items can rarely be justified. We might “suggest” a “Prime Condition Aircraft Adjustment”, but please realize that the real value lies in the marketplace. 

Our appraisals usually provide two different values; “Average Retail” and “Inventory/Wholesale”.  Most aircraft tend to usually sell between these two figures depending on its condition.