Updated . Educational only — not tax, legal, or lending advice. Confirm figures with your CPA, the state revenue department, and a lender before you close.
What an Aircraft Loan Is
An aircraft loan is a secured loan. You borrow against the airplane. The lender records a security interest with the FAA. You insure the hull for at least the loan balance, keep the aircraft airworthy, and pay on a schedule. If you do not, the lender can take the aircraft. Jaken Aviation, the firm this site introduces, is a brokerage that helps place that loan. It is not the lender.
The amount financed is not the listing price
Start with the contract price. Subtract the down payment and any real trade-in equity. Add the sales or use tax you intend to finance, and the fees the lender will allow in the note. That sum is the principal. The calculator is built to show it. A payment quoted on sticker price, with tax and insurance ignored, is not a budget.
What decides the offer
- Collateral: type, age, logbooks, damage, engine time. Read loan-to-value.
- You: income, reserves, credit. Read what lenders look for.
- Use: personal, business, school, charter. The use has to match the insurance.
- Structure: term, fixed or variable, balloon. Read fixed versus variable and where rates stood in 2026.
A sensible order of operations
- Pick a payment you can pay with zero rental income, using the calculator.
- Get an insurance quote for that exact use and pilot list.
- Ask a broker or a lender for a pre-approval subject to aircraft. The pre-approval guide is the sequence; the checklist is the paper.
- Only then make an offer that can survive a low appraisal.
Tax sits beside the loan, not inside it. Sales tax is a state closing cost: start at the state tax hub. Income-tax depreciation is federal and separate: 2026 Section 179 and bonus depreciation.
Questions buyers actually ask
Is the rate on this website a quote?
No. The calculator uses whatever APR you type. A quote comes from a lender, in writing, on a specific aircraft.
Can I finance a hangar, training, and the airplane on one note?
Usually the note is the aircraft. Training and hangar rent are cash operating costs. Ask before you assume they can be rolled in.