On Sun, 21 Sep 2003 07:12:06 +0000, Brent Rehmel wrote:

You can buy a Zodiac ready-to-fly today for $42,500 plus shipping.
If Light Sport becomes law, this aircraft would be legal to fly already
assembled.
If a Cessna 150 is adequate then a Zodiac is more than adequate.
This will change the value of a Cessna 150.

Have you flown the Zenith? I have, it's a nice plane, and definitely
beats the 150 in most every area you can compare. But, you should also be
aware that the specs that Zenith claim for the plane are optimistic. In
reality they rarely meet them, that includes weight and most definitely
speeds. The weight could be done by excluding much of the typical
avionics, but if you equip it like a 150 using certified engines it will
not meet the weight specs. The one I flew didn't. I suspect it will be
like ultralights, people will ignore a few lbs here and there, plus how
many times will it really be checked after the fact?

However, the price you quote is twice that of a typical 150, and the one I
flew was only 10 mph faster than my 150, $20,000 more didn't buy much speed
in this case. 117 mph was the best it could do that day. This was the
factory demo plane if you want to know. There will be no effect on value
because it will be just like the Piper vs Cessna vs whatever that we have
right now. A lot of pilots fly planes based on what they can afford and
those planes you mentioned cost more than a 150. Why would a 150 drop in
price because a newer more expensive plane is introduced? That idea is
silly, did all GA planes drop in value when Cessna introduced it's new
jet? It's faster and more capable, yet the fleet seems to retain it's
value. Did Cessna's drop in value when Mooney introduced a newer faster
version? That's not how the market works. It works by supply and demand,
and the 150's target audience will not change. People said the same thing
about the recreational certificate, not many took them up on it. Same
thing will happen here. You will only see those who can no longer pass a
medical using it. I just hope they have enough sense to no longer fly
when it's not sensible to do so.

So, in essence you posted a list of planes very similar in performance to
a 150 costing twice as much and think they will drive the price of a 150
down. I wish it would, but I don't think it will because I don't think
people will flock to the new license. It will be a trickle at best.