Private beta

Know what the airplane is worth before you call the seller.

TailComps follows a used airplane by its tail number across every listing, every price cut and the FAA registry. Then it tells you what to offer and the price where you walk away.

Built for pilots buying a used piston single and small flight schools buying a trainer.

When the ask runs past your walk-away line, you know before you pick up the phone.

How it works

A listing is the seller's pitch. TailComps keeps the airplane's whole record instead, starting the first day it shows up for sale.

  1. It finds every ad for the airplane

    Every day TailComps reads Trade-A-Plane, Barnstormers and other listing sites. When the same tail number appears on two sites, or gets pulled and relisted, it's still one airplane with one history.

  2. It keeps every price change

    You see the first asking price, each cut since, and how long the airplane has been for sale.

  3. It checks the FAA registry

    Each month the tail number is checked against the FAA aircraft registry. When the registry doesn't match the ad, the airplane gets flagged.

  4. It gives you a bid range and a walk-away price

    The airplane is priced against similar ones, adjusted for engine time left, airframe hours and equipment like ADS-B Out and WAAS. If the ad leaves something out, the price comes down to cover it.

Then a plain answer

Every airplane ends up with one of three verdicts and the reason for it.

Worth a call

Asking under fair value. Over half the engine's life left. Logbooks complete.

Watching

Ask is above the walk-away price, but it's been cut twice since it was listed.

Pass

Damage history, and the logs only go back twelve years.

These are examples of how a verdict reads, not real airplanes. TailComps gives you a price to negotiate with. You still need a pre-buy inspection and a look at the logbooks.

Who it's for

Pilots buying a used piston single

You have a budget, a mission, and probably one airplane you keep going back to. TailComps tells you whether its price holds up, and what to offer if it does.

Small flight schools adding a trainer

A trainer has to pay for itself in rental hours. Pay too much and it never does. TailComps gives you a number you can defend before you sign.

It covers the common trainers and family airplanes: Cessna 150 through 206, the Piper Cherokee family, Grumman, Diamond DA20 and DA40, and Maule.

Private beta

One family uses TailComps today, to shop for their own airplane. It isn't open to anyone else yet.

The tracking runs every day. It can price five airplane types so far. The rest get prices as more of them come up for sale.

Get an email when it opens

Leave your email and we'll write once, when TailComps opens to more buyers. Nothing else.