freegespeed said:
I would catagorize myself as a "blue coller" guy. I bought a beautiful RV6A which I love, but it is expensive to fly. I heard about the whole LSA thing and thought that there may be something in it for me.
Clark,
Was I right when I wrote that the best kit you will ever own is the one someone else built? Congratulations on the 6.
There are plenty of LSA type of airplanes out there in the used market. A quick check on Barnstormers will show you a whole bunch of them from $18K to $35K. Some with more gadgets than others. Check for Titan Tornado, Rans S-7, Sonex (Argh!) and others out there that come equipped with the venerable Rotax 912S.
A fellow pilot from Sleepy Eye, MN Larry Lund is selling his 2000 OSH Grand Champ Titan Tornado for $28000 with a new 912S engine. His plane is a craftsmanship example and is beautiful. With avgas at $4.25 the difference between 5 GPH and 9 GPH adds up quickly. 100 Hours of flight time could mean about $1800 extra after tax dollars saved. Do that over 10 years and you are looking at almost $20 Grand saved for adding up cockpit fun time.
Add the cost of earning that dough and it could be as high as $37,000 dollars saved over 10 years of ownership. Never mind the maintenance costs and insurance are cheaper on these ?smaller?, less loaded, airplanes. An oil/filter change on the 912S sets you back $20. What does it cost in a Lyc?
Sure the RV12 kit may cost almost as much as say an RV7, but the finished plane will not because the gadgets and interior will not be the same. The panel in an amateur built LSA plane should be a fraction of what you?d normally find in a hogged-out, x-country, RV7. My Tornado has an ASI, EIS, ALT, handheld radio and an Ebay $350 Xpndr. I use my PDA with a GPS for navigation and I have flown as much as 1000 miles in a day. My panel is less than $2Gs. What is the average expense of a panel in the big RV planes?
Believe me you when I say that the operational costs is where we get the return in our LSA investment. I get even more in savings because I self-insure my hull, which after 6 years it means $8000 after tax dollars saved! I figure most of my money is in the engine prop, and panel. The hull I can alwys rebuild for a couple of G's.
I am not sure where the figure of $30K for an LSA came from. I think it is unreal to equate dollars spent to how much airplane you can get because the variables are too many. A paint job alone can add several thousand dollars to the cost of building an airplane. I took a peek inside the CT Sport and the interior finish was automotive like and did not look homemade. That costs money! The panel was cool looking and all electronic. Again more dough! I do agree the 912S engine is expensive, thanks in part to the $1.29 Euro and our lawyer friends.
I was dreaming of building the RV7 for under $35K. I had $11K invested and 1000 hours when I sold the unfinished kit. I quickly realized that was a dream that would have consisted of a tired O320, wood prop, spartan instrumentation and a bad homemade interior I was concoting. Worst yet it could not be operated from my 1100 runway. So I sold it and continue to fly my Tornado until I pick my next plane.
The average blue collar Joe needs to think about how much it will cost to own and operate the airplane, not just buy the kit and build it. Even if a 12 and 7 were similarly equipped, the 12 (as I illustrated above) will still cost a heck of a lot less to own and operate than the 7. When the much rumored fuel injected Rotax 912S appears it will burn even less gas!
It should be no different than buying a car or an SUV. What are you going to do with it after you get it? That?s where the LSA will fit. Is what we do with it and what it costs to do it, not what we pay for it.
I see a bright future in the LSA venture. As the word spreads out I see a lot of downsizing happening from the bigger engines to the smaller ones. Best part is all of us PPLs can go down to the SPL and continue flying w/o a medical. What's to hate? More cockpit time for a lot less money and no need to have a medical?
Jose Borja