Can Mooney and Cirrus save General Aviation?

At the prices Cirrus and Mooney charge they are not going to save GA in the least. With a population of 350,000,000 in the USA, what % of people can afford one of these high-performance singles? General aviation possibly could survive if the cost of LSA's (still way too pricey for most) becomes much, much lower. That's probably not going to happen as anything custom-built in small numbers is always going to cost a bundle. People may have an interest in flying but quickly come back to reality when they crunch the numbers. Why bother getting a pilot certificate when the cost of renting or buying is out of this world?
 
Brad Smith said:
At the prices Cirrus and Mooney charge they are not going to save GA in the least. With a population of 350,000,000 in the USA, what % of people can afford one of these high-performance singles? General aviation possibly could survive if the cost of LSA's (still way too pricey for most) becomes much, much lower. That's probably not going to happen as anything custom-built in small numbers is always going to cost a bundle. People may have an interest in flying but quickly come back to reality when they crunch the numbers. Why bother getting a pilot certificate when the cost of renting or buying is out of this world?
Click to expand...

Agreed. There is little hope for a return to the "golden era" of GA (whatever time you personally think that was). GA has always been expensive and there is no denying that. That's why people still are taken aback when you tell them that you own an airplane. They think in their minds, "Whoa! Daddy war bucks here!!". However the costs of airplane ownership has gone from expensive to insane expensive. It has climbed from the "golden era". The only hope for the future as I see it is E/AB.
 
Checkout_my_Six said:
...or 3-D printing .....is the next new buzz....we will just print the parts as we need them. o_O
Click to expand...

So how long before I can print up all the parts for a full size P-51? :cool:
 
GRG55 said:
So how long before I can print up all the parts for a full size P-51? :cool:
Click to expand...

As soon as they figure out how to prints parts in 2024 and 6061 aluminum in standard sheet thicknesses, in different tempers with an alclad surface coat, of course. :)
 
hindsight2020 said:
You mean parts for the Aztruck. Focus on the near rocks, then deal with the far ones. :D
Click to expand...

I don't need to print parts for the Aztruck. Got an entire spare airplane, cheap.

If we're gonna go through the pain and suffering of a scratch-built E-AB, part by part, might as well make it something worthwhile. Think of it as an RV-8 project...with a serious steroid problem. ;) :D
 
General aviation will safe cheap Gas :) But looks like price going up , 2008 it's coming again :)
 
I'm on The Cirrus Owners & Pilots Association facebook feed and it seems like every day someone is training and getting ready to fly the Cirrus they just purchased. I'm very happy for them but after watching that I don't believe General Aviation is dying....at all.

I was looking at a Cessna 182p that was on trade a plane....only one photo not much information. So I called the owner to find out more information. It turns out the owner didn't need to put any more information on there.....it sold the same day. At least I know what a good deal looks like...lol

General Aviation is dying?....Nah don't think so!
 
FloridaPilot said:
I'm on The Cirrus Owners & Pilots Association facebook feed and it seems like every day someone is training and getting ready to fly the Cirrus they just purchased. I'm very happy for them but after watching that I don't believe General Aviation is dying....at all.
Click to expand...

More power to them, but I’m not sure how even 365 new Cirrus owners a year moves the needle much on the overall health of GA.

As an aside, I also frequent COPA and I think I read that something like 70+ pilots have gotten SF50 type ratings so far. So there are at least pockets of activity!
 
Good to remember.... Some new planes are bought by uber rich, Most are bought by small companies that take advantage of the 50% purchase year tax credit. That makes them much more affordable offsetting $500K of income.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top