{"id":173734,"date":"2025-10-01T20:29:29","date_gmt":"2025-10-01T20:29:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/teknomers.com\/en\/some-old-planes-are-displayed-in-museums-they-are-auctioned-off-starting-at-25-due-to-unpaid-rental-fees\/"},"modified":"2025-10-01T20:29:31","modified_gmt":"2025-10-01T20:29:31","slug":"some-old-planes-are-displayed-in-museums-they-are-auctioned-off-starting-at-25-due-to-unpaid-rental-fees","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/teknomers.com\/en\/some-old-planes-are-displayed-in-museums-they-are-auctioned-off-starting-at-25-due-to-unpaid-rental-fees\/","title":{"rendered":"Some old planes are displayed in museums. They are auctioned off starting at $25 due to unpaid rental fees."},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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A plane is, above all, the reflection of human ingenuity. The history of aviation shows to what extent progress is relentless: models that just a few years ago seemed irreplaceable today have no place in the skies. Each device runs a different destination. Some are restored and displayed<\/strong> as heritage pieces, others are dismantled to serve as a source of spare parts, and many remain aligned in silent cemeteries where they expect a second chance. There, among rows of immobile fuselage, it is decided whether its future will be the scrap, an unexpected museum, or a project.<\/p>\n

In the county of Big Horn<\/a> in Wyoming, United States, the history of forgotten airplanes has taken an unexpected course. Local authorities have initiated an auction of historical aircraft that have remained stored in the Graybull airfield. The process does not arise from a cultural initiative or a preservation project but from a litigation that faced the landlord with the county itself. After years of disputes and appeals, it was the Supreme Court of Wyoming that finally gave the green light for the sale.<\/p>\n

A Special Auction for Aviation Lovers<\/h2>\n

The aircraft that have come to auction are units built in the middle of World War II and during the Cold War, and as Paul Thur explained to Cowboy State Daily<\/a>, they are not in a position to fly<\/strong> and have very different degrees of deterioration: some remain complete, while others barely retain the fuselage. These are goods in different phases of scrapping, with pieces that have been extracted for decades to keep other devices in service.<\/p>\n

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The origin of the auction dates back to a prolonged conflict with Harold Sheppard, lessee of the land where the planes were stored. For years he stopped paying rent to Big Horn County and refused to withdraw the aircraft when required. In April 2021, local authorities imposed a storage tax worth $543,600, igniting a legal battle. The case eventually climbed to the Supreme Court of Wyoming, which in March resolved in favor of the county and allowed the aircraft to be treated as their own assets.<\/p>\n

The sale is being conducted through the Public Surplus portal<\/a>, a website specialized in public auctions. In the listings, some aircraft start at $25, and it is noted that “as is” they are delivered<\/strong> without any guarantee. The buyer not only acquires the fuselage but also whatever is inside, from original instruments to scrap remains. The standard is clear: there will be no assistance for disassembly or transfer, and each winner must organize their own logistics and remove the aircraft within a maximum period of 90 days.<\/p>\n

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\"AIRCLES\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n

The future of the auctioned airplanes will depend largely on who acquires them. For many buyers, the main interest will be to disassemble and recover pieces with value in the spare parts market. However, there are precedents that show that they can also become surprising projects. In Indonesia, a Boeing 737 ended up being a luxury house in Bali, while in Oregon, an individual installed a Boeing 727 in the middle of the forest and made it his residence. Examples like these underline how a plane can continue to tell stories even when it does not take off again.<\/p>\n

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Exit prices start from $25, but logistics costs can significantly increase the total expense. After winning the bid, each buyer must handle the disassembly, loading, and transport of the aircraft. This implies having specialized equipment, personal tools, and enough labor<\/strong>, in addition to hiring road transfer in oversized vehicles. Permits and storage expenses can quickly add up, making the final cost considerably higher than the initial bid. In practice, acquiring one of these planes is more akin to undertaking a large logistics project than simply acquiring a collector’s item.<\/p>\n

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The old planes are part of the daily landscape in Graybull, and their possible withdrawal has sparked comments among neighbors and visitors. Some fear that the airfield will lose one of its most unique features, a visible fuselage cemetery from the road. However, local authorities have clarified that the auction only affects one part of the collection: the remainder is under the control of B&G Industries, which continues its maintenance and manufacturing activities. While the local identity will not be completely erased, it will inevitably be diminished.<\/p>\n

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The auction will conclude on Friday, October 3, and, barring surprises, most aircraft will end up dismantled, more valuable as parts than as complete units. For Big Horn County, the outcome is twofold: recovering part of the accumulated costs and reinforcing the airport’s finances<\/strong> with leftover funds. For the buyers, however, the prize will be a collection of historical remains that can be repurposed for scrap, private collections, or innovative projects. In any case, it will be the last symbolic flight of aircraft that marked an era.<\/p>\n

Images | Paul Thur\/Public Surplus<\/p>\n<\/div>\n


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General News – 2<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A plane is, above all, the reflection of human ingenuity. The history of aviation shows to what extent progress is relentless: models that just a few years ago seemed irreplaceable today have no place in the skies. Each device runs a different destination. Some are restored and displayed as heritage pieces, others are dismantled to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":173735,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36399],"tags":[552,25310,587,2265,8991,1453,1488,6028,8803],"class_list":["post-173734","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-technology","tag-auctioned","tag-displayed","tag-due","tag-fees","tag-museums","tag-planes","tag-rental","tag-starting","tag-unpaid"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/teknomers.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/173734","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/teknomers.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/teknomers.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/teknomers.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/teknomers.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=173734"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/teknomers.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/173734\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/teknomers.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/173735"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/teknomers.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=173734"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/teknomers.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=173734"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/teknomers.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=173734"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}