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Cessna's LSA Plans

Re: the $30K LSA

RVbySDI said:
Interestingly, the latest issue of Popular Mechanics discusses this issue in some detail. It is intriguing to think about this capability but, realistically, how affordable do you suppose a self flying plane would be?
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I'm going to have to pick up a copy of PM. I couldn't find it on the web site.

But I'm not talking about "self-flying". What would be the fun in that? It just needs to be dumbed-down a little. I don't know about you, but I felt like I was taking my life in my hands on every flight for my first 100 hours. The vast majority of human beings just don't want to fly badly enough to put up with that. But if it was only as difficult as driving a car, millions would be interested.

RVbySDI said:
I don't think it would fall in the $30,000 (more than the average income of that "average joe") price range. I would even wager that it wouldn't even fall under the "affordable" category Flying magazine currently calls a VLJ that sells for $2 million.
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How much do you think your TV would cost if the entire population of potential TV watchers was a city about the size of Tulsa?

Five years ago I got interested in flat-panel TV, but $20K was a little out of my range. Now they're approaching $1K and I could have saved $1500 if I'd waited another year.

A short time ago the computer you're reading this on would have cost millions -- and the general consensus was that there were only about a million companies in the world big enough to need and afford a computer. As always, the general consensus was wrong. Even surrounded by the miraculous effects of capitalism, people underestimate it.

And it's not just high tech. Check out your local furniture store. Ever do any wood working? Try to buy the WOOD for the price of a bedroom suite. Wander over to the appliance section. Think you could build yourself a dryer for $500?

If you ask me, the amazing thing is that we don't ALREADY have a $30K airplane. The only reason this market has remained so tiny for so long is that it's been artificially constrained by excessive government regulation. LSA represents an opening for someone with vision and the capital to exploit it. Somebody is going to get very rich. And the rest of us are going to get very cheap airplanes.
 
jonbakerok said:
I'm going to have to pick up a copy of PM. I couldn't find it on the web site.

But I'm not talking about "self-flying". What would be the fun in that? It just needs to be dumbed-down a little. I don't know about you, but I felt like I was taking my life in my hands on every flight for my first 100 hours. The vast majority of human beings just don't want to fly badly enough to put up with that. But if it was only as difficult as driving a car, millions would be interested.
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I agree that if you just strap into your seat and let a computer do everything you are just along for the ride. That Popular Mechanics article I mentioned did not just focus on "self flying" airplanes. It does talk about some new thinking that would protect the pilot (and occupants) from major malfunctions or mishaps that would enhance safety for human pilots who are flying the airplane.

jonbakerok said:
If you ask me, the amazing thing is that we don't ALREADY have a $30K airplane. The only reason this market has remained so tiny for so long is that it's been artificially constrained by excessive government regulation. LSA represents an opening for someone with vision and the capital to exploit it. Somebody is going to get very rich. And the rest of us are going to get very cheap airplanes.
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Again, another good article in Plane & Pilot this month discusses the effect of the new avionics going into the new LSA planes. The author of that article does mention the idea that by being able to avoid the certification process and the "excessive government regulations" prices are substantially lower than certified equipment.

This is the type of thing that will have to occur to get these prices down. As long as the government keeps their medling out of it and allow competition to drive the industry, we can see price adjustment according to demand. On the other hand, if the FAA continues to adhere to their philosophy of more and more strict regulation requirements, stagnation in every aspect of aviation will continue. That will include the issue of price and cost of new and used parts, components, aircraft and anything labeled "aviation". This is the real shift in thinking that has to occur before true reform will occur in the industry.

No one wants to die. Every pilot's primary interest in staying alive is as strong as the ignorant beauracrat in Washington who thinks that if he doesn't "protect" the flying masses no one will. I, for one, don't believe the safest way to do things is to rely on someone else living thousands of miles away and on a different planet (in terms of thinking) to tell me what, how, when or why I can or should do something. Get rid of that philosophy and we will go a long way toward decreasing costs.
 
RVbySDI said:
Again, another good article in Plane & Pilot this month discusses the effect of the new avionics going into the new LSA planes. The author of that article does mention the idea that by being able to avoid the certification process and the "excessive government regulations" prices are substantially lower than certified equipment.
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No kidding! Imagine that the new AFS 3500 EFIS would cost if it were built by Garmin! The evolution of EFIS for experimental and LSA has been amazing.
 
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