|
Bob and Jeff,
I agree. There is no control on use of a sold
asset regardless of the agreements made. ie museum. If you maintain any
control over the airplane after sale; it might be construed in a legal
proceeding that you have some ownership of the plane. (ie similar to IRS rulings
on asset sales to dump assets out of your estate). "There is also the
problem of "chain of ownership" which holds all previous owners liable to and
need to defend in a lawsuit.
I recently sold a motel which I did not
build. It was a gas station and garage in an earlier day. We had to
remove the fuel tanks, remove tainted soil, conduct quarterly water sample tests
until the treatment was successful. Received a notice of no further action from
the Department of Ecology. If fifty years from now the owner digs up
the dirt for another project and tainted soil is discovered; we are liable
for that as well as all present and past owners to cure the problem.
Another scenario. Let's say you keep the
plane in your hanger. It is an asset, right? Subject to attachment
in a lawsuit. Let's say you are sued for another event and a judgement is
filed. The sheriff confiscates your plane for judgement settlement. It is
sold in a Sheriff's sale. You are now exposed to further liablility action
if an accident occurs with the plane. So there is no protection there. Am
I paranoid? Some will say yes. BUT, if you are a cash cow in this
litigous society; you must be ever aware of possible situations and protect
yourself.
I have come to the conclusion that the only safe
way to resolve the issue is to eliminate the risk of any possible exposure
by:
Destroying the parts that you manufactured. ie any
component that you assembled or manufactured which is:
All airframe components, Possibly assemblying
the instrument panel, any modificiations to the engine which renders it
expermental and not certified tags the engine as a "Your Name-Lycoming"
etc. should also be destroyed or disassembled and sold separately.
Some people say you dissassemble the plane and sell
the parts to the same ownner. I say NOT. If you sell a wing.
You are the manufacturer of that wing. Same exposure applies.
You can sell the parts ie products you purchased
and placed into the airplane but not in their assembled state. Thus an
instrument panel could not be sold because you put it together and wired it
up. The Lancair hardware kit could be sold but not the hardware you
made.
If you are worth more than a million or say several
million dollars net worth; a $100,000 or $400,000 lancair becomes insiginficant
as compared to the risk involved. If you have a home, couple cars, a small
life insurance policy; then you might consider it. Attorneys always are on the
lookout for deep pockets.
My father was a secretary for a small cemetery
association. It was sued. The ambulance chaser attorney held
discovery proceedings for all members of the board to determine their net worth,
insurance policies, assets held. Dad was the one with money bag
pockets. The attorney dropped the case on all the other members, even the
one that was involved in the incident, and sued dad. The insurance
company took over the lawsuit and settled for $50,000. This soured dad on
community service and thus a 50 year history of community service was ended and
he was very bitter about the experience.
Would I do it again? You bet I would. I
wouldn't have traded the experience for anything else. I really loved
building a work of art that flew. When I flew next to Don Goetz for the
first time in a machine that I had created; It ranks right up there with
marriage to my second wife, and college graduation.
The hard part is now to pick up the emotional
courage to take a saw to the fuselage, wings, and control surfaces. Also
the motor needs to be dissassembled and the parts sold separately. I did
not manufacture the parts but the assembly was under my supervision by an
overhaul facility. How do you destroy a work of art? That is my
dilema.
Bob Smiley
N94RJ
|