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"clean and light" as opposed to busy and decorated. Tip #2: Have Your Records in Order and Organized. Now that your buyer has seen your beautiful plane and agrees you’ve taken wonderful care of it, surely he or she is ready to look through the re- cords and see how meticulously you’ve kept those as well. You do have that all organized, right? At SOLJETS, this is one of the first topics we cover with clients when listing their aircraft as we always strive to have a complete and accurate story of the planes we sell. You can do this all on your own, too. First off, do you know the complete ownership history of your plane? Think about important details: types of operations in which its been in- volved (private or commercial); loca- tions hangared (or not hangared); reg- istration history (the various countries in which it’s been registered/owned); how long and during what periods did what entities own the plane? Here in the United States and many other countries, you can contact the local registry and request ownership and airworthiness records history. This is time and a small fee well spent so you can accurately represent your plane to a buyer. The key is being knowledge- able about your plane’s life. Secondly, where and how are your plane’s records stored and organized? The condition and organization of your records is a direct reflection on both the overall maintenance of your plane and you as a seller/owner. Even if you are missing logbooks, you should en- sure clean, organized logs and paper- work before any showing of your plane. Separate log entries from service tags, and keep those separate from invoices, and keep those separate from user manuals. Put everything in three-ring binders and place in chronological order. Use plastic bins as needed if you have an older or high-time plane with tons of material. Tip #3: Accomplish All Overdue and Consider Coming-Due Maintenance. This tip comes in as common knowl- edge for many owners, but it’s still worth noting as it goes beyond just making sure your plane is current. An unairworthy plane does not look good to anyone, so yes, you should ensure all maintenance is current, but just as important, what does the future maintenance outlook look like? In many cases, if your airplane has any major inspections coming due in the next 12 months, a buyer may at- tempt to use that as a negotiating tactic against you. This does not mean you need to pre-emptively complete future inspections, but it would be wise to be educated on what inspections are coming due and what the cost will be. At SOLJETS, we like to have on hand a 12-month/150-hour forward-looking maintenance report for all the planes we sell. If your plane is enrolled in electronic maintenance tracking like CAMP, FlightDocs or Traxxall, run- ning one of these reports is as easy as a few mouse clicks on your computer. A final topic to consider along with maintenance: does the equipment on- board your plane operate in accor- dance with the manufacturer’s speci- fications, i.e., does everything work? If you’ve deferred maintenance on non-airworthy equipment, like a cof- feemaker or in-flight entertainment, it would be wise to have those items fixed before you show your plane to a buyer. Remember, the goal is “no excuses!” Summary The process of buying a plane can be a daunting one, and as a seller, you can help make that process just a bit more pleasant by following the tips above. The time and money invested now are all but guaranteed to return to you in some sort of multiple when a buyer recognizes your airplane as a high- pedigree, must-buy-now option. AOPA David Lee is a partner and co- founder at SOLJETS, with more than 15 years of aviation industry experi- ence. Holding a degree in Interna- tional Relations from the University of Vermont, David is fluent in Span- ish and specializes in the import/ export of aircraft from Europe. He holds type ratings in the Citation Mustang and Embraer Phenom 100. You can contact David at david@ soljets.com or 847-920-7000. Jet Journal April 2020 / TWIN & TURBINE • 27