Florida man finds an airplane that's been abandoned for over 20 years so decides he needs to get it running again

A locked hangar at a small Florida airport hadn’t been opened in more than 20 years.

Nobody really knew what was inside anymore, just that it had been sitting there untouched, gathering dust and rumors.

That was enough to pull in Jimmy from Jimmy’s World, who decided to cut the locks and finally see what had been left behind.

And with the doors finally open, he was in for a shock.

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The abandoned airplane that had been sealed away for decades

Upon opening the hangar, the first clue as to its contents was a wing, barely visible through the mess, sticking out from behind years of clutter.

Buried inside the hangar was a Piper Comanche 180, an aircraft that locals said hadn’t seen daylight in over two decades. 

The woman connected to the estate had never even seen it herself. 

She only knew there might be an airplane in there.

The hangar looked like time had dumped everything it didn’t know what to do with. 

There were old jet skis, boat parts, TVs, and random tools. 

And in the middle of it all, the Comanche sat, layered in dust, with paw prints across the fuselage and animal droppings scattered through the cabin.

Jimmy worked his way through the interior, finding old radios, seats still bolted in place, and the kind of grime that only comes from long-term abandonment. 

Then things took an unexpected turn.

Inside a folder, he discovered a last will and testament that no one in the family knew existed. 

It was immediately handed back to the estate, but the moment added a strange weight to the find. 

This airplane hadn’t just been forgotten – it had been left behind with pieces of someone’s life still inside it.

What Jimmy didn’t find mattered just as much. 

There were no official log books.

Without them, an abandoned airplane’s history disappears, and its value drops sharply. 

In aviation terms, that alone can decide whether something is restorable or just a source of parts.

Why Jimmy decided to see if it would still run

Despite everything, the Comanche wasn’t completely lifeless.

The engine wasn’t seized, there was oil inside, and it looked clean. 

Even more surprising: fuel was still sitting in the tanks after all those years. 

Once a battery was hooked up, the cockpit came back to life.

Gauges moved, switches responded, and the starter turned over.

But the fuel system told a different story. 

Years of sitting had clogged the fuel system, so Jimmy bypassed it just to see if the engine would cooperate.

The plane was rolled into daylight for the first time in decades. 

The tires held air, fuel went straight into the carburetor, and the first start attempts followed.

It never fully fired, but it did come close.

For an abandoned airplane that had been still for 20 years, that was proof it wasn’t just scrap. 

And for Jimmy, it was reason enough to believe this forgotten Comanche might still have another chapter left to write.

To see more, you can find the full Jimmy’s World video here.

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