Beechcraft sold

In article om,
"Jay Honeck" wrote:

As an instructor, I get to fly a lot of different airplanes and talk to
a lot of owners. I'm convinced that the only people who hate Beech
airplanes are those who haven't flown them.

I didn't say I hated Beech -- far from it. Although none of their
birds fits my current mission, which requires lots of economical
lifting capacity and a wide CG range -- I would LOVE to own a Bonanza
some day.

What I said was that they have become irrelevant. They sell a tiny
number of aircraft each year (thanks to their outrageous pricing), and
the last new aircraft design to come out of Beech was....what? I
can't think of anything new since the Starship debacle of the early
1980s.

Since that occurred right after I graduated from college -- and I'm now
48 years old -- I think I'm safe in saying that Beech has become
irrelevant to aviation. If they went away tomorrow, we would all shed
a tear for the Beech line -- but it would have zero impact on general
aviation.

The same cannot be said, for example, of Cessna, Piper, Cirrus or
Columbia.

What on earth has Cessna or Piper done in the last 20 years? The 172
Cessna is selling today is the same airframe they were selling 20 years
ago, just with a glass panel, 13(!) fuel drains, and 100 lbs less useful
load. Same with Piper. I was in a brand new Archer a couple of years ago;
the biggest change they had managed to make was to move some of the
switches to an overhead panel which made the windshield smaller and reduced
forward/upward visibility. Made it look cool (like a miniature airliner),
but a net decrease in safety.

Cirrus, Katana, Columbia, and the like are the future of GA today.
Assuming there is any future left in GA :-(

The 172
Cessna is selling today is the same airframe they were selling 20 years
ago, just with a glass panel, 13(!) fuel drains, and 100 lbs less useful
load.

In all fairness, it picked up twenty knots.

Jose
--
"There are 3 secrets to the perfect landing. Unfortunately, nobody knows
what they are." - (mike).
for Email, make the obvious change in the address.

"Jose" wrote in message
. net...
The 172 Cessna is selling today is the same airframe they were selling 20
years ago, just with a glass panel, 13(!) fuel drains, and 100 lbs less
useful load.

In all fairness, it picked up twenty knots.

With increased fuel burn, to match!
--
Jim in NC

In all fairness, it picked up twenty knots.
With increased fuel burn, to match!

That's what fuel is for. Nothing is free.

Jose
--
"There are 3 secrets to the perfect landing. Unfortunately, nobody knows
what they are." - (mike).
for Email, make the obvious change in the address.

Jose schrieb:

In all fairness, it picked up twenty knots.
With increased fuel burn, to match!

That's what fuel is for. Nothing is free.

It's pretty easy to fly faster if you burn more fuel.

There's an old joke:

What do Europeans do if they want to fly faster? They develop better
aerodynamics.

What do Americans do if they want to fly faster? They put in a bigger
engine.

Stefan
(Just back from a 700nm trip at an average speed of 100 knots with a
fuel burn of 3.5 US gal/h of mogas. Or, in other words, more miles per
gallon than an average car.)

What on earth has Cessna or Piper done in the last 20 years?

I agree, they've been late to the game -- but at least they're starting
to get the hang of it.

Cessna is especially exciting, with their new LSA and composite planes.
Piper is shaking itself out of its old union mentality, and actually
looking at new things -- like jets. (When I heard Chuck Suma, Piper's
old CEO, making fun of Cirrus' "plastic planes" at the Cherokee Pilots
Association dinner in 2005, I knew he was history. 3 months later, he
got the axe.)

Raytheon/Beech still hasn't figured it out. Maybe the new owners will?


Cirrus, Katana, Columbia, and the like are the future of GA today.

No argument there -- although it may not be too late for Piper/Cessna
to recover. The fact that they've survived is a sign of underlying
strength.

Assuming there is any future left in GA :-(

Whether GA itself survives is a political, not economic, decision. If
the political class decides to tax it out of existence, as they've done
in Europe, GA will die.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

"Jay Honeck" wrote in message
ps.com...
What on earth has Cessna or Piper done in the last 20 years?

I agree, they've been late to the game -- but at least they're starting
to get the hang of it.

Cessna is especially exciting, with their new LSA and composite planes.
Piper is shaking itself out of its old union mentality, and actually
looking at new things -- like jets. (When I heard Chuck Suma, Piper's
old CEO, making fun of Cirrus' "plastic planes" at the Cherokee Pilots
Association dinner in 2005, I knew he was history. 3 months later, he
got the axe.)

Raytheon/Beech still hasn't figured it out. Maybe the new owners will?


Cirrus, Katana, Columbia, and the like are the future of GA today.

No argument there -- although it may not be too late for Piper/Cessna
to recover. The fact that they've survived is a sign of underlying
strength.

How much $$$ is Cessna making on Citations? On SEs? What's their backorder
on the Citation X?


--
Matt
---------------------
Matthew W. Barrow
Site-Fill Homes, LLC.
Montrose, CO (MTJ)