"tscottme" wrote in message
...
"C J Campbell" wrote in message
...
Okay, we have gone 'round and 'round about why new airplanes cost so
much:
low demand, liability, inefficient manufacturing, regulatory
requirements,
etc. It is so daunting that Toyota appears to have scrapped its GA
project.

Perhaps one reason demand is so low is because of the cost of becoming a
pilot. It takes most people about a year and $7,000 to learn to fly.
snip

If your theory was correct, wouldn't the implementation of the
Recreational
license have provided a near flood, or significant increase, of students?
That is certainly toward the direction of making the license cheaper to
obtain. How many Rec Pilots are clogging the CFI schedules, not many I
would guess.

That was the original idea for the recreational certificate and it is also a
big part of the driving force behind Sport Pilot. Recreational Pilot never
worked because it saved almost nothing off the cost of a Private Pilot.
Sport Pilot may prove much more popular because it allows medical
self-certification. I have had half a dozen students now who took more than
a year just to get a medical certificate. I think Sport Pilot may be tailor
made for such people.