C-162
I don't know the internal costs and problems with the Skycatcher, but I can share some real-life experience. My RV-12 is not flying yet, and I had been renting a Skycatcher here locally. I for one, really liked it! It had a stick that was somewhat similar to what I will have in the RV-12, but most importantly, I liked that the castering nosewheel gave me some practice before my RV-12 was done. It's no speed demon, but neither is an RV-12. I was flying the 162 since it was economical to fly and rent. Visibility was outstanding and with the small Continental engine, it had plenty of power for my local flights.
Then one day it is removed from the flight line. There was a mandatory AD from Cessna that required that the leading edges of the wings be removed, additional rib gussets added, then everything riveted back together and repainted. Upon removal of the left wing leading edge, the mechanic at the FBO found a five pound tungsten bucking bar INSIDE the wing, just sliding around at free will. It was obviously inside the wing since they were buttoned up in China. This scared the he** out of me, since I flew it more than anyone else. That bucking bar could have caused some big problems. Once returned to the flightline, I flew it again for 1.5 hours.
The next week I went to fly it and was told the starter had gone out, and a new (warranty) starter was being sent. While installing the new starter a week later, the mechanic did an oil change. The oil was supposedly filled with a large amount of metal shavings. The aircraft sat in limbo for a few months while the FBO fought with Cessna. It never has flown again, and sits in Arlington, TX with a little over 100-hours on the plane.
I liked the Skycatcher for local flying. I was sad to see it go. But on the other hand, I think the fact that it was built in China could have really given the manufacturer a bad reputation.
BTW, as hard as I tried, they wouldn't give me the bucking bar
![Smile :) :)](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7)
That was used as evidence in their fight against Cessna- along with the need for a new engine.
I'm just glad my RV-12 will be complete relatively soon.