Original Buyer Did Not Pay For The Goods, Second Auction Online Results In An Unusual Buyer

There is still a lot of head-scratching going on over the recent online auction of Quartz Mountain Aerospace/Luscombe Aircraft Corporation.

Assembled Luscombe 11E Airplanes

The Altus Times reports that a second auction was necessary because Amir Zaki, who owns Amir Aircraft Parts in Sacramento, CA, and bid about $500,000 for the Type Certificate (TC), drawings, some parts, and tooling in an auction last year, failed to pay for what he'd bought. Zaki had apparently thought he could flip the TC for the Luscombe 11E quickly in order to pay what he'd bid. That was not the case, and QMA's trustees reclaimed the assets of the defunct company in April, contracting with an online auction firm to dispense of them.

The second auction took place over two hours online May 4, and the FDIC wound up as the sole bidder for the TC at  $470,000 ... which was set by the FDIC as the value for the TC and therefore the default minimum bid.

The FDIC got involved because the former First State Bank had made large loans to QMA, and that debt was assumed by the federal government when the bank failed. FDIC bid on the TC representing the taxpayers, and now has a tangible asset which former QMA CEO John Daniel says he will help them try to sell.

The paper reports that QMA was into the FDIC for $2.6 million because of the bad loans. With the credit for the TC, that figure is down to $2.13 million.

FMI: www.fdic.gov