Pilots helping families honor an aviator's legacy.
We buy old, inherited, and long-grounded aircraft directly from owners and families nationwide. Flying or not. Fresh annual or not. Full logs or not. Fair cash, paperwork handled, dignity intact.
Family-run from Carpio, North Dakota · A real pilot picks up the phone
LEGACY
CERTIFIED
Ted Farni
Founder · Carpio, ND · KMOT
“When you call, I’m the one who picks up. We buy with our own money — never to chop and scrap.”
Years of hangar rent. Annual long expired. Maybe the last flight was the last flight. Brokers don't want it. Mechanics quote you more than the airplane is worth. The family doesn't know where to start. Meanwhile the carrying costs — hangar, insurance, tie-down, slow corrosion eating value — quietly cost $3,000–$7,000 for every year the airplane sits.
The medical didn't renew. Or the eyes aren't what they were. Or maybe pre-flight just quietly stopped being fun. Whatever it is — you'd rather be the one who picks where this airplane goes next. Meet the new pilot face to face. Hand over the logbooks in person. Know it's going somewhere it'll be loved instead of stripped or scrapped. Selling feels like betrayal. But the airplane wants to fly — and it should fly with someone you chose.
No one in the family flies. No one knows what an annual is. The logbooks are in a Tupperware in the basement. The airport keeps sending invoices. You want to do right by him, you just need someone to show you how.
If any of this sounds familiar, you've found the right people. This is what we do.
The Process
Call, text, or fill out the form. Tell us what you know — make, model, where it lives, whether it's been flying. If you only know "it's a small white plane in Grandpa's barn," that's enough to start.
One of us drives or flies out, A&P/IA mechanic in tow if needed. We inspect the airframe, review the logbooks, take photos, and answer every question you have. No charge. No obligation.
If it's a fit, we make a written offer with the math shown. You decide. We close through escrow with FAA bill of sale, title transfer, and registration. You get cash. The airplane gets a future.
Broker or Legacy Certified?
A broker isn't wrong — they're just a different tool. Here's when each makes sense.
We'll buy clean, hangar-queen Bonanzas too — for the right price. The honest difference: a broker may net you more on a perfect airplane if you have 12+ months to wait. We trade that maximum dollar for speed, certainty, no commission, and a respectful handover.
And honestly — there are two cases where you probably shouldn't call us. If you already have a buyer (a friend, a hangar neighbor, someone at your airport) and you've agreed on a price, just close the deal. And if you're in no hurry — carrying costs don't bother you, tire kickers don't bother you, and you're fine waiting a year or two — you'll likely net more by listing it yourself. Call us when speed, certainty, or a clean exit actually matter. Either way, we'll tell you straight which path fits.
The Legacy Certified Program
We didn't invent the certified pre-owned model. The car industry did. We're just the first to bring that standard of trust and transparency to the under-served end of the general aviation market.
When a buyer purchases a Legacy Certified airplane, they receive a complete, standardized report — the kind of documentation usually reserved for million-dollar jets. Because the families who sell to us deserve to know their loved one's airplane is going to a buyer who values it. And the buyer deserves confidence that they're not buying someone else's deferred problems.
What We Buy
Cessna 120, 140, 150, 152, 172, 175, 182, 195, 205, 206, 210 · Piper Cub, Pacer, Tri-Pacer, Cherokee, Comanche, Arrow, Saratoga · Beech Bonanza, Debonair, Musketeer, Sierra · Mooney M20 series · Grumman AA series · Cardinal 177
Aeronca Champ, Chief · Luscombe Silvaire · Stinson 108 · Cessna 170, 180, 185 · Piper PA-12, PA-14, PA-18 · Citabria, Decathlon, Scout · Maule M-series · Ercoupe
Piper Apache, Aztec, Twin Comanche, Seneca · Beech Travel Air, Baron, Duchess · Cessna 310, 337 Skymaster · Grumman Cougar
Project airplanes · Damaged-history aircraft with potential · Estate aircraft with incomplete documentation · Long-grounded hangar queens · Homebuilts & experimentals (case by case)
Don't see your airplane listed? Tell us about it anyway. We have a wide network and we love unusual airplanes.
Who We Are
I'm Ted Farni. I founded Legacy Certified out of Carpio, North Dakota, and I run it with a trusted network of A&P/IA mechanics, ferry pilots, and aviation attorneys. My maintenance partners are based at KMOT (Minot, ND), S25 (Watford City, ND), and the Denver metro area, and we travel nationwide to acquire aircraft. We're not a fund. We're not a broker chasing 6% commissions. I buy airplanes with my own money, restore them when they deserve it, part them out only when that's the right answer for the airframe, and resell them with documentation so a new owner can fly with confidence.
I own and fly a 1970 Cessna Cardinal (N177AW) out of KMOT, and I've spent my working life running real-world operations — meaning I understand families, estates, paperwork, and the way decisions actually get made in small towns. I bought my first Cardinal by writing letters to owners. I learned the FAA registry the hard way. That's the experience I now offer to families. When you call (701) 314-4245, I'm the one who picks up.
Here's the standard I hold us to: I handle every airplane the way I'd want a stranger to handle my own dad's. Fair value, plain language, no pressure, dignity intact. That's the partnership we offer — and it's the only way I know how to do this work.
Common Questions
First, don't rush. Inherited aircraft come with paperwork — title transfer through probate, FAA bill of sale, registration update, and possibly a logbook audit. We walk families through this for free, whether you sell to us or not. The most common mistake is selling to the first broker who calls; the second is letting a hangar bill rack up while you figure things out. Reach out and we'll explain your options in plain language.
Not a problem. We buy aircraft that haven't flown in 5, 10, even 20+ years. We have the mechanics, ferry pilots, and special FAA flight permits to move airplanes that aren't currently airworthy. Even a "derelict" airframe usually has valuable engine, propeller, avionics, and parts.
Missing logbooks reduce value but don't kill a deal. We can often reconstruct partial history from FAA records, A&P shop records, and prior owner documentation. We'll still make a fair offer; the price just reflects the documentation gap.
Expired annuals are normal for aircraft we buy. Our network of A&P/IA mechanics can perform a fresh annual after acquisition. You don't need to spend money getting the airplane airworthy before selling — that's our job.
We pay fair wholesale, not retail. Here is the honest math: a retail buyer expects a fresh annual, complete logs, and zero surprises — and they'll demand inspection contingencies that can take six months to resolve. We pay less than a retail comp because we take on 100% of the risk: deferred maintenance, missing paperwork, transport, FAA filings, mechanical liability, and the time and money to bring the airplane back to a sellable standard.
You're trading peak-retail dollars for speed, certainty, no contingencies, and zero ongoing liability — plus the dignity of a clean exit instead of months of tire-kickers. We start from current market comps (VRef, Aircraft Bluebook), apply documented adjustments for condition, engine time, avionics, and logbook completeness, then show you the exact math in writing.
Yes — anywhere in the United States. Our home base is Carpio, North Dakota, with maintenance and ferry partners at KMOT (Minot, ND), S25 (Watford City, ND), and the Denver metro area. We routinely fly out, drive out, or arrange ferry service to acquire aircraft anywhere in the country. International situations on a case-by-case basis.
From first call to cash in your hand, typical timeline is 14 to 45 days. Faster if the title is clean and the seller has the logbooks ready. We handle the FAA bill of sale, AC-form 8050-2, registration application, and escrow.
Single-engine piston (Cessna, Piper, Beech, Mooney, Grumman), light twins (Apache, Aztec, Baron, Travel Air), vintage tailwheel aircraft, and select homebuilts. If you have something unusual, ask — we have a wide network.
Every aircraft we resell goes through a standardized inspection and documentation program: logbook continuity audit, AD/SB compliance review, A&P/IA condition statement, full photo documentation, title and lien search, NTSB damage history check, and a documented test flight report. Buyers receive the complete Legacy Certified Report PDF with the airplane.
Yes — for free. We'd rather build a relationship with you than pressure a sale. If you call us about a value range, we'll give you an honest one. If selling isn't right, we'll tell you that too.
Just call (701) 314-4245. Most aging-owner conversations begin with “I think I'm done flying” and end with us walking through your options — sell now, sell after one final flight, or just talk through what your airplane is worth so you can plan around it. There is no pressure.
We've helped owners hand the airplane over personally with the dignity of choosing the next pilot themselves, and we've helped families do it after the fact when the choice was made for them. Either way, the first step is a phone call.
Yes — separately or alongside an airframe. If you have a hangar full of parts, mid-time engines, propellers, avionics, sheet metal, instruments, landing gear, or salvage, we'll come catalog it and make an offer for the lot.
We pay fair value for components, find them homes with restorers and rebuilders nationwide, and leave you with a clean hangar instead of years of gradual eBay listings or scrap dealers picking it apart. Engines (Continental, Lycoming, Franklin), propellers (McCauley, Hartzell, Sensenich), and avionics are particularly valuable even when an airframe isn't.
A broker lists your airplane on Trade-A-Plane and similar marketplaces, takes 6–10% commission, and you wait — sometimes 6 to 18 months — while tire-kickers come and go and your hangar bill keeps arriving. We're the buyer ourselves: one call, one inspection, one written offer, cash in your hand in 14–45 days.
Brokers serve sellers who want maximum dollar and have time to wait. We serve sellers who want speed, certainty, no commission, no contingencies, and a respectful handover — usually because the airplane needs work, the family needs a clean exit, or the owner is ready to stop flying.
Just the basics: your name, where the airplane is located, and whatever logbooks you can find. Don't worry if logbooks are incomplete or missing entirely — we work with what's there. We'll handle the FAA bill of sale (AC-form 8050-2), registration application, and title research. If the airplane is part of an estate, having the will or letter of testamentary on hand helps but isn't required for the first call.
Get in Touch
The form takes two minutes. We respond within 24 hours, usually faster. If you'd rather just call, that's better — a real pilot answers. Either way, the first conversation costs you nothing and usually buys a measure of peace of mind.