Updated September 22, 2026. Educational only — not tax, legal, or lending advice. Confirm figures with your CPA, the state revenue department, and a lender before you close.

The Certificate Decides Who Can Buy It From the Lender

Certification matters to a lender only because it decides the next buyer. A standard-category airplane has a large pilot population. A transport-category jet has a different lender universe. An experimental has neither a standard resale path nor, often, a standard insurance policy.

Part 23 normal category

Most general-aviation pistons and many turbines are type-certificated under Part 23 (or older CAR 3 rules that function the same way in the market). This is the collateral specialty aircraft lenders know. Damage history, modifications, and engine time still change the advance. The certificate itself is not the obstacle.

Part 25

Transport-category aircraft are financed by lenders who already finance that size, often with different documentation, longer timelines, and operator requirements. Walking into a piston lender with a Part 25 airplane is a category error. So is assuming a Part 25 quote structure applies to a Meridian.

Experimental, restricted, and limited

Experimental amateur-built, exhibition, and restricted-category aircraft have smaller buyer pools and harder insurance. Many lenders decline the category outright. The ones who do not will ask for the operating limitations and an insurance quote before they discuss rate. See experimental financing objections and the amateur-built overview.

Light-sport and primary-category aircraft sit in between: certificated, but with a buyer pool limited by the sport-pilot rules or by the specific type. Say which certificate you have on the first call. Do not say “it’s basically a 172.”

Questions buyers actually ask

Talk with Jaken Aviation