In article .com, "Bob Kuykendall" wrote:
Five years ago, I would have agreed wholeheartedly with Gordon. Heck,
three years ago I would have agreed. But these days I have a whole lot
better idea what it takes to develop, tool, and manufacture aircraft
components. At this point I think I qualify for a .org domain on the
basis of non-profit operation.

snip stuff about increasing costs


As a relative newcomer to (small) aircraft manufacturing who is still
digesting the ramifications of the Sport Pilot rule as it applies to
manufacturers, I unfortunately have to agree with Bob K.

While it very well may be true that some manufacturers (and importers) are
looking to take undue advantage of Sport Pilot as an excuse to raise prices,
for the smaller kit manufacturer there definitely are going to be substantial
costs involved. Couple those with the rising costs of raw materials
(aluminum), and transportation (fuel) and prices are bound to rise.

For those looking to purchase something along the line of a "fat ultralight",
(I can't speak for those 100K jobs) it may be worth thinking about buying
sooner, rather than later, and then converting to E-LSA by the 2008 deadline,
if that works for you.

Realize that even for a manufacturer to produce a from-the-factory E-LSA kit,
that manufacturer must first bear the cost of building and certifying that
exact plane configuration as a ready-to-fly S-LSA.

Ultimately many of us do it as a labor of love, but it will still have to pay
the bills.



Rob S.
www.sport-flight.com