Long-term (over the past 50 years or so), airplanes have generally
appreciated at the overall inflation rate. So they aren't great investments
per se, but they don't dramatically lose value like cars, motorcycles,
boats, etc. like most depreciating assets. This assumes you put some money
back into the airplane for capital improvements (paint, avionics,
upholstery, etc.). Include this and it doesn't look so good. They're about
halfway between a car and a house.

As with all things, you have to ride out the downs to get to the ups. My
aircraft increased in value about 65% between purchase in 1991 and 2001
(about a 5% annual appreciation rate), but has lost $20K in the last two
years. So overall, it has averaged 3%/year. I consider this a little high
since the runup in the late-90's was unprecedented. So 2-2.5% is probably a
good long-term average to expect. And that's about the inflation rate over
the period.

- Mark