A sweet deal

Psst. Hey buddy…you wanna buy a new Cirrus? I’ll make you a sweet deal…

Jamail Larkins and his team at Ascension Air are anything but shady characters, but they will make you a sweet deal on a 2012 Cirrus SR22T GTS. How does $9,440 down and $2,043.18 a month grab you?

At a recent Open House for the company, about 25 guests flowed in and out of the Cirrus Aircraft Hangar at Boeing Field in Seattle hoping to learn more.

“We are looking at three markets beyond Atlanta for expansion,” said Ascension Air founder Jamail Larkins. “Seattle is an intriguing option.”

Cirrus Aircraft sales rep Ivy McIver was more than happy to open her hangar for Larkins’ guests. “More people flying Cirrus planes is a very good thing,” she says.

A common refrain among the pilot population, from owners and non-owners alike, is new airplanes are too expensive. So Larkins, no newbie to the GA industry despite being in his early 30s, set out to offer an affordable way for more people to become owners.

Let’s break down the money a bit:

The Cirrus SR22T GTS Ascension will put on the ramp costs $757,600. An eighth share is $94,700. A 20% down payment costs $18,940 but an “Early Sign On” discount of $9,500 brings the downstroke to $9,440. The amount to then be financed is $75,760 amortized over 10 years at 8% for a monthly payment of $919.18.

The balance of the monthly check is the Ascension Air Program fee of $1,124 which includes insurance, storage, maintenance, repairs, navigation database maintenance, iPad EFB with Jeppesen EFB charts, Bose headsets, and pre- and post-flight cleaning.

“One of our Atlanta-based customers was initially hesitant at the monthly cost,” noted Larkins. “We sat down and started asking specific cost questions such: How much is hangar rent? How much is insurance? How much were your last few annuals? Once he realized how much he was really spending he sold his plane and bought into the program.”

Larkins, based on his Atlanta experience, sees availability rates of about 90%. The 1/8 share allows 80 hours of annual flight access with an additional 15 hours for flight training and 15 hours for charity flights such as Angel Flight or Young Eagles.

And no, the plane doesn’t have to be home every night. Eighth share owners are entitled to 35 overnights annually with no minimum daily hours or overnight fees.

One of the smarter decisions Larkins made in setting up the program was in the overall structure. Each share owner is titled on a specific aircraft, based on their share size (yep, he’ll sell you more than an 1/8 share). The commitment to the program is 48 months. At the end of 48 months, the plane is sold and the sale proceeds are disbursed among the owners based on amount owned.

Like a great flight…smooth takeoff, cruise and landing.

Flip through your logbook and see how your actual flying would fit this model. For most pilots, both current and aspiring, Larkins is betting it’ll fit pretty well.

“We need 15 share owners to launch and can handle a maximum of 24 for the three SR22Ts we’d like to put on the line here in Seattle,” remarked Larkins. “We had one before we even showed up.”

Owning as much of a new Cirrus as most pilots need, or want, for a fraction of the cost of a whole airplane is certainly compelling. And back alley this ain’t, thankfully.

Ben Sclair is General Aviation News’ Publisher.

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