The Duggars Allegedly Have a Suspicious Amount of Airplanes — and We’re Confused
The Duggar family is known for promoting a modest and thrifty lifestyle, so what's with them owning a private plane…or, you know, six? That's right, if you haven't noticed that half of the fundie fam's fake jobs are "pilot," you also might not have taken note that they supposedly own their own fleet of aircraft. And to say the least, we find that more than a little suspect. Read on as we try to unravel the motives being their expensive aerial obsession.
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![John david gets a plane](https://www.intouchweekly.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/john-david-gets-a-plane.png?fit=800%2C540&quality=86&strip=all)
Jim Bob and Michelle initially bought a plane after John-David got his pilot's license.
John-David is considered the "pilot" of the family, the first of the kids to get certified. As a result, Jim Bob purchased him a 4-seat Cirrus, which costs approximately…well, let's check, because none of us have ever earned an airplane.
Ah, allegedly the plane was a Cirrus SR22, which, in 2014, cost approximately $764,900 new. But it's likely that Jim Bob and Michelle got it secondhand (like everything else) and spent as low as $200,000.
You know. A steal.
At first, JD was the only for-real and legit pilot among the Duggar fam, but last we heard Josiah was getting his pilot license. And even Duggar in-laws are interested in aeronautics — Austin Forsyth is a pilot by profession too. Which is objectively cool, and yet in this family a little too strange to be a coincidence.
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![Duggar men plane](https://www.intouchweekly.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/duggar-men-plane.png?fit=800%2C599&quality=86&strip=all)
Since then, the Duggars now own six private planes and created their own corporation.
But not in that order! That's right, Duggar Aviation LLC is licensed in Springdale, Arkansas, initially a questionable move when it was first created. See, a plane is considered a luxury item, and creating a fake company would make the Duggars exempt from being taxed. Dun dun dun.
Now, we've already mentioned John David's Cirrus SR22 and later there was rumored to be an old 4-seat Cessna that Josiah mainly piloted. But in 2017 alone, they purchased at least four private planes from the ALERT Academy. So that would make eight planes total.
What even in the world, why.
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![Jim bob plane](https://www.intouchweekly.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/jim-bob-plane.png?fit=800%2C600&quality=86&strip=all)
So let's just talk about how insanely expensive each plane is.
We already mentioned that range of the Cirrus SR22, but let's just consider that one of their most recent purchases, a Mitsubishi MU-2B-36 airplane, still goes for about $895,000 in spite of it being an old model.
Now look, we didn't go to journalism school because we're good with numbers, but let's try to estimate how expensive this is. When you average out $200,000 (a very low figure for a private plane) and $895,000 (a high figure for a private plane if you're a non-Kardashian reality star) it comes to approximately $547,000. Half a million is a pretty standard price for private planes. So let's take $547,000, and multiply it by the Duggars potentially six aircraft. That totals to $3,282,000.
That. Is. F–king. Insane.
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![Jinger jana plane](https://www.intouchweekly.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/jinger-jana-plane.png?fit=800%2C798&quality=86&strip=all)
And not only is it financially insane, it's a rather hypocritical way to live, given the way Duggars preach modesty and pander their followers.
Was it not written in the Bible, "Blessed are the humble, and also eight private planes is a little much?"
Actually, we don't know because we would always fall asleep in CCD. Suffice to say, the family apparently rolled up to church in one of these bad boys and people were not pleased. And you know, it's just a little weird since those penny-pinching Duggars insist on thrifting all of those dowdy floor-length skirts, but they'll throw down half a mill to look fly like a G6.
Flashiness aside, we're astonished by the theoretical price tag of even one of these contraptions, which could easily pay for one of their daughter's TV weddings or like, a non-pilot-or-real-estate schooling for their kids. Or maybe they could use that money on a home for Jana so the 28-year-old doesn't have to be dehumanized and bunk with the little girls.
OR. OR. OR. OR. Maybe they could just give that money to Jill and Derick so they don't have to set up a GoFundMe for all their missions.
Just a thought.
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![Duggar boys plane](https://www.intouchweekly.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/duggar-boys-plane.png?fit=800%2C449&quality=86&strip=all)
Now, there is the possibility the Duggars are encouraging aviation with hopes to monetize in the future.
How do we feel about that, though? Sometimes (read: all the time) it feels like Jim Bob crushes his kids' dreams and ambitions in order to keep them close to the family. I mean, we don't have to get into how suppressed the girls are; they're not allowed a job, let alone an education.
But the boys are encouraged to work under their father, with Joseph recently acquiring his real estate license to join Jim Bob's business and Josiah following suit. So is it crazy to think that with this LLC and encouraged airplane fascination, he's trying to set up a new money-making venue? Is it creepy to also push the younger boys into the cockpit so they learn to fall in line?
Idk, dude.
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![Austin and joy airplane](https://www.intouchweekly.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/austin-and-joy-airplane.png?fit=800%2C537&quality=86&strip=all)
Sure enough, the Duggar clan is sort of tweaking the regulations.
Though everyone apparently has their licenses, they don't really follow the rules of the sky. Fans were quick to criticize when Austin and a heavily (so heavily) pregnant Joy-Anna were seen in a plane at approximately seven months. Now, this is skirting a line; though not technically against the standards for commercial flights (which in itself is different than private aircraft), it still seems like a risky move for a mother-to-be.
Oh, and when a nine-months-along Anna Duggar went traveling with the fam (very not regulation, guys), fans were incensed to see that not a single Duggar offered to help her board off the aircraft. That's like…that isn't even just a violation of rules, this is a flat-out proof that gentlemanliness isn't really a Duggar priority.
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![Josiah duggar plane](https://www.intouchweekly.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/josiah-duggar-plane.png?fit=800%2C542&quality=86&strip=all)
To be fair, with so many children in the family, it might be beneficial to have an alternate method of transportation.
Vacations have to be a nightmare, tbh. Wouldn't it make more sense, though, to have a fleet of soccer mom mini-vans?
Look it's just a bit baffling the way the Duggars are financing their planes and flying instead of hitting the road. Add it to the list of sky-high Duggar family mysteries.
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