For less than the price of a Casio watch, you could technically buy an airplane. That’s the strange reality unfolding in Greybull, Wyoming, where Big Horn County is auctioning off 16 vintage aircraft at starting bids as low as $25. The sale, hosted on Public Surplus, runs until Friday, October 3, giving aviation buffs, collectors, and scrappers a chance to claim pieces of history parked at the South Big Horn County Airport.
The auction is the product of a long legal battle. For years, salvage operator Harold Sheppard Jr. stored aircraft on leased airport land but failed to pay rent. The county filed a lien, the dispute went all the way to the Wyoming Supreme Court, and earlier this year the justices cleared the way for the county to take ownership. With that ruling, the airport finally had the green light to sell the hulks, recovering some costs and clearing space on its property.
Buyers shouldn’t expect to fly away with their purchases. Every aircraft is listed as non-airworthy, with most described simply as “available for scrap.” Still, many are iconic airframes that shaped both military aviation and America’s aerial firefighting industry. The lineup includes multiple Fairchild C-119 Flying Boxcars, Cold War–era twin-boom transports that later became tankers; three Boeing KC-97 Stratofreighters, classic piston-engine tankers derived from the C-97 and Stratocruiser family; and two Lockheed P2V-7 Neptunes, the maritime patrol planes that once patrolled oceans before being pressed into fire service. Other lots feature hulking fuselages of C-130B Hercules transports, Fairchild C-82 Packets, Martin 4-0-4 airliners, and Douglas C-54 Skymasters — workhorses of the Berlin Airlift.
Airport manager Paul Thur says the planes are in “various stages of undress.” Some are intact enough for display or restoration, while others are down to their major sections. Still, the response has been encouraging. “People are calling about what we’re auctioning off, and that’s a very good sign,” he told reporters. With bids ranging from $25 to $500, there’s already activity on several lots, including a C-119L at $150 and a KC-97 at $500.
Interest is expected from several groups. Scrappers see value in aluminum prices, while museums, set designers, and aviation collectors are drawn to cockpits, gauges, and distinctive mid-century interiors. Thur points out that anyone interested can arrange a visit to the boneyard. Winning bidders will have 90 days to remove their purchase or sign a temporary lease to keep it on-site.
For Greybull, this auction marks another chapter in its long aviation story. The airport’s boneyard once held dozens of planes from Hawkins & Powers Aviation, a company that operated one of the nation’s largest private aerial firefighting fleets. Many derelicts still carry “HP” tail numbers, a reminder of their firefighting past. Across the runway, the town’s Museum of Flight & Aerial Firefighting continues to preserve the most complete examples, including a 153,000-pound KC-97 towed across the airfield last winter to become a showpiece.
Whether destined for scrap, repurposed into furniture, or preserved as exhibits, the aircraft of Greybull are finding new lives. For a handful of dollars, buyers can own a piece of aviation history, proof that sometimes an airplane really does cost less than a watch.
