"Nathan Young" wrote in message
...
On Mon, 01 Nov 2004 22:50:09 GMT, "Mike Rapoport"

There was a period recently where used
airplane appreciated, mostly because the new airplanes weren't improved
over
the older ones. Cars would hold their value if manufacturers produced the
same models for decades without improvement. Now that virtually all new
airplanes are being delivered with glass cockpits you can expect the old
ones to continue sliding.

This is an interesting viewpoint, and it will be interesting to see
what happens to the price of used planes. I personally think the used
market will move sideways, perhaps a bit down for a while, largely
driven by increased fuel and insurance costs and the overall economy
reflecting a lack of free cash to indulge in the aviation market.

-Nathan

I agree with you that higher fuel and insurance will negatively impact the
market but I think that the glass cockpit airplanes are a big deal. How
would you like to be the last guy to buy a 206 without the G1000? That
announcement cost him at least $50,000. Lets face reality, used machinery
generally depreciates both because of wear and because the current product
generally improves. Airplanes have been stagnant for years, but now Cirrus,
Diamond and Lancair have delivered genuine improvements in terms of speed
per dollar. Soon there will be diesels with significantly longer TBOs,
single lever control and much better economy. An old airplane is simply not
going to hold its value when the new ones go 50% faster on 70% of the fuel
and the engines last half again as long. It is about time that GA started
moving forward again!

Mike
MU-2