Hi,

I think the glut of used airplanes on the market has more to do with
current tax laws than anything else. What with bonus depreciation and
other incentives to buy a new airplane, you have people wanting to dump
their old planes in order to get a new one and no one wanting to buy a
used airplane.

That may be true to some extend - especially for the US market at the
moment. But what about all the Cirrus aircraft being sold in and around
germany? Maybe that's because of the lack of interest by Cirrus to do a
full certification in the EU? Or it's because of the typical Cirrus buyer
using this plane just as an interim solution whilst 'growing up' to a twin?

I don't know... Pity that there doesn't seem an expert in used airplanes
here...

Actually, the 'new' Cessna airplanes are much more crashworthy than the
'old' Cessna airplanes.

Oh I bet they are. Not only due to the usual metal fatigue of a 30-40 year
old peace of aluminium, but also due to constructional improvements. Having
seen pictures of a lot of crashed metal planes and composites I would
always prefer the composites. (I would prefer the proven design in spite of
this until the 'new' design has flown some years without (!) strange
accidents that can not be related easily to 'bad airmanship').

These pseudo-religious fights Cirrus - Cessna Fans are ridiculous.

Yeah, right on bro. Fights between Ford and Chevy fans or Bush and Kerry
fans are much more meaningful.

Windows - Linux - FreeBSD etc. etc. etc.

I think discussions about these things are doomed before they really start.
Every one has another set of beliefs, another viewpoint in regard to 'what
is safe?' etc.

The more conservative pilot who decides to choose the proven, but slower,
design - or the more modern pilot who decides to go with the sleek side
stick sportster

Honestly - the Cirrus is a very nice airplane - in my eyes. It's just that I
dislike their marketing, their certification policies, their accident
history and their fanatic fans

The Cessna is much less adorable regarding 'how sexy' the plane seems to be
(my god...) but it's proven, proven, proven. Cessna uses this concepts for
many many years with a very good safety record, their marketing seems to be
more honest (can marketing be honest?) and their fans write great IFR
diaries *g*

Kind regards,
Peter

PS: I think no one will question that composite is the future, no one will
question that the Cessna designs are historic (as are the dinosaurs...) and
there definitely IS a need for companies like Piper, Cessna etc. to put
some money into R&D. NOW. But who says that they don't yet work at it?