Gordon,

Based on my back of the envelope analysis of the theoretical base price
of a 2 place aircraft, I think wishing for a plane costing less than 50K
is nothing more than a pipe dream. If you use the following numbers as a
guide, you'll see what I mean.

Airframe + instruments + basic engine + labor = theoretical base
price
20000 + 4000 + 15000 + ( 500 * 45 ) = 61500

Notice that this price doesn't include any profit, overhead costs or
insurance. Add those in, & you quickly get to a point where $80K looks
reasonable & $100K understandable.

As I've mentioned before, until the structural issues affecting cost
(labor & machined materials) are addressed with better up-front
engineering, these costs won't come down.

Evan