"Jay Honeck" wrote in message
oups.com...
Cessna builds quantity
Beech builds quality
Piper builds junk

Ah, the old Ford vs Chevy argument again. Sound and fury,
signifying...nothing.

I'm only a datapoint of one, but having owned two Pipers, and flown the
pants off both of them, I can say that I am more than satisfied with
their quality of construction.

To put it all in perspective, would you put your family into a 1974
Ford Galaxie 500 and drive it to California from Iowa? Probably not.
But my Pathfinder, built the same year, is as good (and some ways
better than) new, and we make the equivalent of that flight several
times per year. If that's not quality construction, I don't know what
is.

Jay, about 98% of the cars built in 1973 are no longer on the road. What
percent of SE aircraft are still flying (more or less)?

Thank Gawd that Ford doesn't make aircraft!! :~) (at least since the
Tri-Motor...)