High Cost of Sportplanes

Gordon Arnaut wrote:
It seems a lot of people have been writing letters to Kitplanes magazine
complaining about the unexpectedly steep prices of the new crop of
factory-built sportplanes. So the editor of that publication decided to
respond. His message: Get used to it.

This really infuriated me, not only because the commentary lacked any
substance about why prices are what they appear to be, but also because this
is another example of the shameless pandering to advertisers, or potential
advertisers.

Pandering to advertisers, eh? Did you go into work last week and tell
your boss that he was a dip**** for such-n-such a decision? Naw, I
guess your pandering is acceptable then.


The "yes, boss" attitude toward industry is nothing new in the enthusiast
magazine sector of course (cars, bikes, what have you), but it is really
plumbing new lows lately. Flying, which used to be a decent rag under Dick
Collins, has zero integrity nowadays. A couple of years ago I read with
interest as Collins commented pointedly about the spate of deadly crashes in
Cirrus airplanes. He questioned whether the airplane was dangerous in spins
since it had not been certifed for such -- the parachute being considered as
a kind of substitute by regulators, apparently.

I silently applauded Collins' integrity, but remember thinking that such an
editorial faux pas as daring to criticize an advertiser -- even on something
as crucial as safety -- would not go unpunished. I was right. The very next
month's issue did not have an ad from Cirrus, which had been advertising
every month until the Collins commentary.


Way to go. No need to speak up when someone does the right thing, now
is there? How come you didn't volunteer to replace the lost add revenue
while you were remaining silent?

In fact it was quite a few months until the Cirrus ads reappeared in that
august publication -- with the spineless J. MacLellan , taking every
possible opportunity to gladhand Cirrus in the meantime, with all kinds of
glowing write-ups, cover photos, you name it. I guess the grovelling finally
paid off, and Cirrus decided to start writing checks to Flying again.

This is the tragi-comic state of "journalism" in the enthusiast magazine
sector. The bottom line is that the reader counts for zero, while the
advertiser is king. And issues like safety and price-gouging are swept under
the carpet by editorial apologists.


Bzzt! Wrong. The reader accounts for about $4.50 per magazine. That
just barely will cover the cost of printing...maybe. The major revenue,
the money that will keep the lights on, comes from....you guessed
it...the advertisers!!! And guess, what...I don't give money to people
who say bad things about me. And I don't ask that from others. You
could have kept Flying honest if you were willing to open your
checkbook. But of course, as is all to typical now days, you expect
others to sacrifice to coddle you.

Want a magazine that tells the truth and isn't worried about advertisers
(cause they don't have any), the subscribe to "Consumer Reports".

Now back to the issue about the high cost of sportplanes. What should have
been said in this "editorial" but wasn't is that the prices are too high.
Way too high in fact.

Frankly I don't think this price level will hold. I think there is a real
opportunity for enterprising individuals to jump in and build a nice little
sportplane at the $50,000 price point. Only then will this category take
off. If we don't see prices come down to this level, sportplanes will turn
out to be nothing but a marginal part of the aviation scene.


Maybe you can be that enterprising individual that is so much smarter
than all the guys-n-gals that are giving it their all, Gordon.
Personally, I've been building my Delta for over 3yrs now, in conditions
not far removed from the Allegro's that are being put together down in
Sanford. If I was expecting to feed and house my family from building
airplanes, I'd have to look at $100K as fairly minimal.

Furthermore, sportsplanes will be a marginal part of the aviation scene,
even if the planes were available for $25k. You don't make any money
with a light plane. They can't even be used as a serious mode of
transportation with most pilots, because the weather can rise up at any
time and destroy the best laid plans. Very few people could even use
one to get to work. They are toys, and they will always be toys until
someone finds a way to make money with them other than building and
selling them or giving flight training. That keeps the market volume
low, which drives the price up.

So, get over the price-gouging bull, until your ready to introduce the
Arnaut CloudWunker costing less than an average family sedan. If you
don't like the prices of the products of offering to you, don't buy it.

--
This is by far the hardest lesson about freedom. It goes against
instinct, and morality, to just sit back and watch people make
mistakes. We want to help them, which means control them and their
decisions, but in doing so we actually hurt them (and ourselves)."