ALLEGAN – The sky was the limit for Dodgen Aircraft and Skykid Aviation until the businesses were grounded earlier this month when a bank seized their assets and put them on the auction block.
On Tuesday Byron Township-based Miedema Auctioneering will sell off the assets – including six aircraft – via its online Orbitbid.com division.
Scott Miedema, president of the auction company, said the seizure of the aircraft at Allegan Municipal Airport's Padgham Field, 740 Grand St., was one of the more unusual repossessions he has been involved with.
The planes had their propellers chained to their landing gear to prevent them from flying away before the auction. One plane was still airborne when Miedema showed up with bank representatives and attorneys to seize the assets because of unpaid debts.
“The bank had been working with them for a few years,” Miedema said. “It was an open business, so we went down with the bankers and the attorneys and just walked in, basically, and said 'time's up.'”
The owners of the business were not happy, but handled the situation professionally, Miedema said.
The seizure of the business will not affect operations at the city-owned, said Rob Hillard, city manager for Allegan.
“We plan to continue to work with Dodgen as a fixed base operator at the airport,” Hillard said. Department of Public Works Director Aaron Haskin serves as airport manager.
Officials from Dodgen and Skykid were not available for comment.
The six aircraft involved in the auction are all older single-engine propeller-driven models.
The newest is a 1979 Piper Warrior II while the oldest is a 1967 Piper Cherokee.
All of the planes are being sold as is. One, a 1974 Piper Warrior, has no engine.
Because the planes were part of a flight school they received more rigorous maintenance and have more thorough flight records than many aircraft of similar vintage, Miedema said.
The starting bid on each plane is $5,000.
Other equipment from the companies, including a host of parts, a Ford pickup truck and a John Deere tractor, also is part of the auction.
http://www.mlive.com
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