"Jeff" wrote in message
...
It's all getting scary.

You know, I had hoped that the Sport Pilot rage would help re-light a fire
in GA for the general public. But in my last trip to OSH, I was looking
at all the "Sport Pilot ready" planes (this was pre-release of the SP
rating/cat). Hoping to see where an average person could buy a plane for
the price of a really nice bass boat, I was definitely disappointed.

The cheapest Sport plane I saw there was still over $60k. Now, I know the
manufacturers have to make a profit (or at least pay the bills) and that
most of them will do good to sell 30 planes a year, but geez. You're note
going to attract a bunch of new interest at that kind of price tag. The
money is out there (look at the Harley Davidson craze of late) for people
to spend, but once you get past the $30-$40k range, you're outpricing the
masses.


I personally think they are marketing them wrong. The makers of LSAs should
promote small clubs where two to four people share the aircraft. That
includes offering such added services as online scheduling for each club
free along with pre-written membership agreements and, of course, help
match-making.

This would bring the price down on these planes to ~$20,000. Which is well
in the range for American's to spend for entertainment/hobby.