Got any leads on old, abandoned planes?

Arnold van der Spuy

Arnold van der Spuy

Filing Flight Plan
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Jun 15, 2023
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Arnold @aircraft2sell
Got any leads on old, abandoned planes? I heard Hicks airfield in Tx has got loads just parked for years. Know of any others? Much appreciated!
 
I don't believe there's many in Hicks. There's two or three out on the west side in the grass but I don't think they're abandoned..

Northwest regional in Roanoke Texas has a lot of planes that are rumored to be abandoned but most of the owners have passed away and they are owned by the kids or the airport manager has taken ownership in certain situations.
 
SixPapaCharlie said:
I don't believe there's many in Hicks. There's two or three out on the west side in the grass but I don't think they're abandoned..

Northwest regional in Roanoke Texas has a lot of planes that are rumored to be abandoned but most of the owners have passed away and they are owned by the kids or the airport manager has taken ownership in certain situations.
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Thanks so much, will follow up. Appreciate it
 
KFRG has a some. And amazingly the owners still,pay tie down fees, insurance, registration. Guess people just wanna say they own a plane.
 
In 2018 we landed at Prince George in Canada (CYXS) looking for 100ll. It was listed but nobody know where it was. We finally parked the plane and walked all over the airport (it was big) asking anyone we saw. One thing we did see was hundreds of parked airplanes, mostly small high wings. There were so many it was mind boggling. Before finding someone that told us where the avgas was hidden, we asked several people where all those Cessnas got their fuel. The majority of answers was that most of those planes hadn't flown in years, and probably never would.
 
Half Fast said:
Contact Kermit Weeks at Fantasy of Flight in Polk City, FL. He’s had a Lockheed Constellation rotting away on the ramp for years. Would make a great project plane.
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Good or bad -- I'm pretty sure Kermit is semi-exclusively in the business of buying airplanes. It's definitely a shame how bad that Connie has gotten
 
JOhnH said:
In 2018 we landed at Prince George in Canada (CYXS) looking for 100ll. It was listed but nobody know where it was. We finally parked the plane and walked all over the airport (it was big) asking anyone we saw. One thing we did see was hundreds of parked airplanes, mostly small high wings. There were so many it was mind boggling. Before finding someone that told us where the avgas was hidden, we asked several people where all those Cessnas got their fuel. The majority of answers was that most of those planes hadn't flown in years, and probably never would.
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Mind-boggling! Thanks so much - will look into it.
 
Arnold van der Spuy said:
Mind-boggling! Thanks so much - will look into it.
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Well, I just pulled up Google Earth and it appears that those fields full of old high-wing are mostly empty now. It has been 5 years since I was there.
 
jrcox19 said:
Good or bad -- I'm pretty sure Kermit is semi-exclusively in the business of buying airplanes. It's definitely a shame how bad that Connie has gotten
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I’m afraid you’re right. That bird flew into Orlampa but it’ll never fly out. Too bad.
 
Half Fast said:
I’m afraid you’re right. That bird flew into Orlampa but it’ll never fly out. Too bad.
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Totally derailing the thread here -- is the museum even open ever anymore? Last time I was there was SnF in ~2019. Haven't been (or tried) back since relocating to FL.
 
jrcox19 said:
Totally derailing the thread here -- is the museum even open ever anymore? Last time I was there was SnF in ~2019. Haven't been (or tried) back since relocating to FL.
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The main attraction has been closed for many years. The museum reopens on weekends during part of the year. I believe it’s closed for the summer.

Further derailment - I visited the Valiant Air Command museum in Titusville on Thursday. Well worth the effort if you get a chance.
 
martym said:
How does one abandon an airplane? Send in the registration to the FAA and tell them you are abandoning the plane? Otherwise, all these planes have an owner, somewhere.
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That somewhere could be a nursing home or a cemetery.
 
asicer said:
I thought the FAA's re-registration campaign was supposed to clear a lot of that out.
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The intent of the re-registration campaign was to clear up the ownership chain on about 120,000 registrations. Regardless, you'll find most of the "abandoned" aircraft registrations have been cancelled via the same process which can make it very difficult to ever register the aircraft again.
 
JOhnH said:
Well, I just pulled up Google Earth and it appears that those fields full of old high-wing are mostly empty now. It has been 5 years since I was there.
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Pity -- Anyway, thanks for the heads-up!
 
There are many derelict but not abandoned aircraft out there. Been sitting unused for years, but owner/heirs keep up the registration, and airport fees.
 
Here ya go. $15k. GIANT Wright 3350s I think…34C5FED4-8A0E-4438-8426-BAE17D4C21DC.jpeg 5936F15A-F748-4EBF-9AAB-34FDADB21E19.jpegEE687687-7BF1-4F16-852A-DE8570F1C3DD.jpeg34C5FED4-8A0E-4438-8426-BAE17D4C21DC.jpeg 5936F15A-F748-4EBF-9AAB-34FDADB21E19.jpeg EE687687-7BF1-4F16-852A-DE8570F1C3DD.jpeg
 
Arnold van der Spuy said:
Thanks so much!
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I think he was joking....as I was suggesting trying to get airplanes out of the Gila River Indians.

Kermit has a lot of stuff 'awaiting restoration'. I don't think he is interested in selling anything.

If you are serious about buying derelicts, Chino airport (CNO) has plenty of interesting derelicts on the ramp and tucked away in hangars.
 
Fearless Tower said:
I think he was joking....as I was suggesting trying to get airplanes out of the Gila River Indians.

Kermit has a lot of stuff 'awaiting restoration'. I don't think he is interested in selling anything.

If you are serious about buying derelicts, Chino airport (CNO) has plenty of interesting derelicts on the ramp and tucked away in hangars.
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Fearless Tower said:
I think he was joking....as I was suggesting trying to get airplanes out of the Gila River Indians.

Kermit has a lot of stuff 'awaiting restoration'. I don't think he is interested in selling anything.

If you are serious about buying derelicts, Chino airport (CNO) has plenty of interesting derelicts on the ramp and tucked away in hangars.
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OK, thanks so much for the lead.
 
Half Fast said:
I’m afraid you’re right. That bird flew into Orlampa but it’ll never fly out. Too bad.
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I certainly don’t have the whole story, but I had the impression that was the plan from day one. It appeared to me the plane needed a place to go and die.

I think if I won the lottery, my dream set up wouldn’t be too far from what Kermit has. He has to be stretched thin on his resources. It’s a shame that many of his projects will never fly in his lifetime.
 
There’s a Cherokee on the ramp at Okeechobee, Florida (KOBE) that doesn’t appear to have moved in years.

And it’s been a minute, but Watsonville, CA (KWVI) had a Bonanza and a Cherokee Six sitting derelict for at least five years. There was also an Aero Commander purportedly being worked on, but not likely that the guy had the funds to ever finish. It was on the ramp at Specialized.
 
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