最近看到一篇名為《A Scrapped Boeing 747's Airframe Is Worth Less Than A Single Piece Of Its Landing Gear》的文章，內容相當有趣。文章指出，一架報廢的波音 747，整個機身的價值竟然還比不上其中一組起落架。
當一架 747 退役後，最有價值的其實不是龐大的機身，而是那些仍能繼續使用的零件。一組狀況良好的波音 747 起落架，市場價格約可達 30 萬美元，甚至比拆除所有零件後剩下的機身還要貴。
原因在於，飛機報廢後真正值錢的是可再利用的零組件。以波音 747 為例，一架飛機約有 600 萬個零件，其中許多仍可繼續服務於其它正在運行的 747 貨機。像是發動機、起落架、航電設備、飛行控制系統，以及輪胎和煞車系統等，都能經過檢修、翻修和重新認證後再次投入使用。由於這些零件價格高昂且需求穩定，因此具有很高的市場價值。
相較之下，當所有高價值零件被拆除後，剩下的機身主要是鋁合金、鈦金屬等材料。雖然仍可回收利用，但本質上已接近廢金屬，回收價值大約只有 5.5 萬美元。
飛機拆解其實不像一般人想像的那樣，只是單純把飛機拆成廢鐵。專業拆解公司會先清除燃油、液壓油等危險物質，再拆除發動機與各種可重複使用的零件。這些零件經過檢查與認證後，會進入二手零件市場繼續發揮價值。直到最後，才會將機身切割並回收金屬材料。延伸閱讀：《知識》退役的飛機，何去何從？
這也反映出航空維修與拆解產業一個有趣的現象：一架飛機最值錢的部分，往往不是飛機本身，而是那些能讓其它飛機繼續飛行的零件。這其實和汽車報廢的概念很相似，有時候一具引擎、變速箱，或某些稀有零件的價值，甚至可能超過整輛老車。
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When a retired aircraft is more valuable in parts than as a whole
I recently read an article titled “A Scrapped Boeing 747's Airframe Is Worth Less Than a Single Piece of Its Landing Gear”, which showed that even a single landing gear assembly can be worth more than the entire stripped airframe.
When a 747 is retired, its most valuable assets are not the fuselage, but reusable parts. A landing gear set alone can be worth around $300,000, sometimes more than the remaining airframe.
This is because many components, such as engines, avionics, and flight control systems, can be repaired, certified, and reused on other aircraft. A Boeing 747 contains around 6 million parts, and many still have strong demand in the market.
Once these parts are removed, the remaining structure is mostly aluminum and titanium, worth only about $55,000 as scrap.
Aircraft dismantling is a careful process: hazardous fluids are removed first, then valuable parts are salvaged and resold, and only the final structure is recycled as metal. Read more: Where Do Retired Airplanes Go?
This highlights a key reality in aviation: the value of a retired aircraft lies in its reusable parts, not the aircraft itself. It is much like a single car engine or a transmission can be worth more than an old car.
