Aviation News & Blog | VREF Aircraft Values & Appraisals

14 01, 2019

No Employee Business Expenses for Individual Owners: What Light Jet Owners Need to Know

By Jason Zilberbrand|2023-01-22T14:36:43-06:00January 14th, 2019|Educational|

Individuals Owning a Light Jet May See Their Tax Returns Change Do you try to use employee business expenses to offset costs? Not anymore. Here's what you need to know about writing off expenses as a light jet owner. Purchasing a light jet isn't as simple as signing on the dotted line and taking to the skies. You must consider how you intend to use the jet and what that will imply for your taxes. Ultra-high net worth [...]

14 01, 2019

How Long Can You Use the 100 Percent Private Jet Tax Break?

By Jason Zilberbrand|2019-12-16T15:05:41-06:00January 14th, 2019|Educational|

You Have Until 2023 to Use the 100 Percent Private Jet Tax Break Aircraft purchased after September 27, 2017, and before 2023 enjoy 100 percent expensing. We share all the essential details here. In the U.S., the private charter flight market is heating up. Younger clients are more attracted to the sharing economy. They're willing to pay for memberships, subscriptions, and fractional ownership to off-set some of the costs of owning a jet. Nonetheless, 62% of private jet [...]

14 01, 2019

Is an Electric Jet on the Horizon? Industry Innovators Say Absolutely

By Jason Zilberbrand|2019-01-14T16:21:11-06:00January 14th, 2019|Educational|

Would You Buy an Electric Jet? You May Soon Have the Option An electric jet traveled around the world in 2016, but will the market adopt them? Here's how the market changed in 2018. Ever since Heino Brditschka flew for nine glorious minutes in his Militky MB-E1 electric battery powered plane, there have been high hopes for an electric jet. Well, 45 years have passed and it seems like just another fun aviation fact. But finally, it seems that one [...]

14 01, 2019

5 Airports in Europe Uniquely Qualified to Land Private Planes

By Jason Zilberbrand|2019-01-14T16:19:43-06:00January 14th, 2019|Educational|

Choose One of These Five Airports in Europe for Your Next Trip Travelling to or around Europe on your own plane? London is the best place to land. Discrete, private landings can be hard to come by in some of Europe's most famous airports. Some are not qualified to land private planes or have way too much air traffic to do so, so if you're a first time aircraft owner or are simply flying on a private jet for [...]

28 12, 2018

VREF helps Donald Trump Value his Aging Air Fleet

By Jason Zilberbrand|2023-01-22T14:36:53-06:00December 28th, 2018|Educational|

Of all the things connected to Donald J. Trump, few have given him more mileage than his fleet of aircraft. His Boeing 757 jet, often referred to as Trump Force One, has received the full rich-and-famous lifestyle treatment; The Washington Post even queried whether it was better than Air Force One. One of Mr. Trump’s helicopters has gotten similar coverage; an interior renovation made CNBC’s “Secret Lives of the Super Rich” in a segment entitled “Pimp My Chopper.” A [...]

28 12, 2018

Preowned Report: Used Market Hitting the Apex

By Jason Zilberbrand|2023-01-22T14:37:00-06:00December 28th, 2018|Educational|

Preowned Report: Used Market Hitting the Apex

14 12, 2018

Guinness World Record for the farthest distance traveled by electric helicopter!

By Jason Zilberbrand|2023-01-22T14:37:10-06:00December 14th, 2018|Educational|

Tier 1 Engineering announced today that they have set a Guinness World Record for the farthest distance traveled by an electric helicopter. The battery-powered manned Robinson helicopter achieved a record 30 nautical mile flight to 800 feet altitude with an average speed of 80 knots on Friday, December 7th. The helicopter was a modified Robinson R44 test piloted by Captain Ric Webb of OC Helicopters. All flights were accomplished at the Los Alamitos Army Airfield under a special airworthiness certificate in the experimental [...]

14 12, 2018

A Beginner’s Guide to the Different Types of Private Jets and Their Amenities

By Jason Zilberbrand|2023-01-22T14:37:18-06:00December 14th, 2018|Educational|

A Beginner's Guide to the Different Types of Private Jets When looking for your first private jet, there are a few amenities you want to make sure your aircraft is equipped with. Here's a handy guide to the different types of private jets. Decisions, decisions... Buying your private jet is a big one, but it comes with many benefits. If you often travel for work, your jet will pay for itself many times over in terms of saving [...]

12 12, 2018

Skunk Works and the development of the SR-71

By Jason Zilberbrand|2023-01-22T14:37:25-06:00December 12th, 2018|Educational|

Skunk Works, is the "not so secret, secret" department of Lockheed Martin.It all Started with Kelly Johnson, and his passion for innovation and destructive technology. Johnson was unconventional, and he broke the rules. He created a incubator for aerospace technology that today some 75 years later still continues to amaze us all. Here is a little history about a famous project called the SR-71. Skunk Works is run by some of the greatest aeronautical engineers, and it was [...]

4 12, 2018

Chuck Yeager “Rocket Man”

By Jason Zilberbrand|2023-01-22T14:37:32-06:00December 4th, 2018|Educational|

The Bell X-1E was 31 feet long, with a wingspan of 22 feet, 10 inches. The rocketplane’s empty weight was 6,850 pounds and fully loaded, it weighed 14,750 pounds. Supersonic speeds, 80,0000 of altitude and an unlimited budget is what VREF calls, The rocketplane was powered by a Reaction Motors XLR11-RM-5 rocket engine that produced 6,000 pounds of thrust. The engine burned ethyl alcohol and liquid oxygen. The X-1E carried enough propellants for 4 minutes, 45 seconds burn. [...]