VREF | The Truth About the Aviation Market

Price It Right or Pay to Lose | EP 61

A listener went shopping for a mid-’90s Piper Archer. Low time. No damage history. Original paint. Original panel. Engine close to TBO. The seller was asking $189,000.

The Single Pilot Citation is Dead | EP 60

For more than four decades, one story helped define the legacy Citation market: This is the jet you can fly yourself. Your first jet. Your hands on the throttles. Your

The Flight School Closed. The Loan Didn't. | EP 59

A parent takes out a home-equity line. A student wires tens of thousands of dollars to a flight school. The school has experienced instructors, airline partnerships, ma

The $500k Loan Disguised as a Deposit | EP 58

Last episode, Jason explained why nobody should wire eight figures directly to an aircraft seller without escrow. This episode asks the uncomfortable follow-up: Why wil

The $500 Million Escrow Betrayal | EP 57

Somewhere today, someone may wire $40 million to an aircraft escrow company they’ve never visited, run by people they’ve never met—and barely think twice about it. Why?

The Most Expensive "Peace of Mind" In Aviation | EP 56

An owner has been paying into an engine program for 11 years. More than $1 million contributed. The airplane is worth roughly $3 million. And the overhaul those paymen

The Most Expensive "Peace of Mind" In Aviation | EP 56

An owner has been paying into an engine program for 11 years. More than $1 million contributed. The airplane is worth roughly $3 million. And the overhaul those paymen

The Market Split In Half: The Numbers Don't Lie | EP 55

The September 1 VREF value revision is live—and the numbers tell a very different story than the broad “strong market” or “weak market” headlines. Business jet transacti

The Great Mooney Mystery: Six Questions The Record Doesn't Answer | EP 54

Jason Zilberbrand found something unusual on an ordinary corporate website: Luscombe Mooney Aircraft Company. Two historic general aviation brands. One masthead. Mooney

The "Ferrari Problem" Is Coming For Aviation | EP 53

How does an entire market start pricing assets at numbers buyers have never actually paid? That’s the question behind Episode 53 of The Truth About the Market. And alth

The $2 Million Loss Your Insurance May Never Mention | EP 52

An $8 million Citation CJ4 is sitting on a ramp. The owner isn’t flying it. He isn’t even in the country. A line guy hooks up a tug, gets distracted, and tows it into a h

The "Red Hot" Jet That No One Is Selling | EP 51

In this episode, we cover:• Why the Challenger 3500 has become the industry’s favorite proof that the super-midsize market is running hot • What Jason found after review

Aviation's Alphabet Mafia | EP 50

In this episode, we cover:• What public IRS Form 990 filings reveal about executive compensation • The reported compensation of the National Business Aviation Associatio

The Jet That’s Worth More Dead Than Alive | EP 49

In this mailbag episode of The Truth About the Market, Jason answers a question from Paul Bordeaux, Chief Pilot at Hargrove Engineers and Constructors: How should a buye

Oshkosh: Where Dreams, Deals, and Bad Numbers Collide | EP 48

In this episode, we cover:• Why Oshkosh is the largest aircraft transaction event nobody calls a transaction event • How more than 700,000 people and 10,000 aircraft tur

Why Some Airplanes Sell In Days While Others Just Sit | EP 47

In this episode, we cover:• Why “the aircraft market” is never just one market • Why the better question is not whether the market is up or down, but which market you ar

The $110,000 Upgrade That Could Tank Your Aircraft’s Value | EP 46

In this episode:• Why the DeltaHawk engine is one of the most significant piston-engine developments in decades • Why a clean-sheet aircraft engine matters in an industr

The Confidence Recession Is Here: Why Aircraft Deals Are Freezing Before Prices Break | EP 45

In this episode, we cover:• Why Bitcoin’s selloff is a useful comparison for what is happening in aviation • Why “meltdown” always depends on the time frame you are usin

Blood In The Hanger: Why Smart Buyers Win The Market Turns | EP 43

Everybody hates a down market. Sellers hate it. Brokers hate it. The guy who bought at the top really hates it. But here is what nobody wants to say out loud: A down

The “Hot Market” Lie That Costs Aircraft Owners Millions | EP 42

Not every aviation mistake happens in the cockpit. Some happen in the purchase agreement. Some happen in the asking price. Some happen at tax time. Some happen when sma