Has anyone heard any more that what AvWeb has reported about New Piper
dumping Charles Suma as company president?

There's been a lot of talk over on the Cherokee Chat about Suma's
(That's the Cherokee Pilots Association's on-line chat page, at
www.piperowner.com) demotion. Chuck was the keynote speaker at our CPA
fly-in/convention this year, and he seemed like a very down-to-earth
guy.

I must admit I questioned his grasp of the competitive situation, when
he dismissed Cirris and Lancair as "plastic airplanes" -- but, for the
most part, I admire a guy that can take a company from $2K in the bank
(which is what New Piper had when he took over) to profitability, and
$56 million in sales.

It seems the consensus of the Cherokee group is that Piper's owners got
tired of waiting for the return on their investment, and are going to
start shifting production to Mexico.

Interestingly, New Piper just signed new contracts with the union, from
whence Suma came. I wonder if what he signed with them ****ed off the
board of directors?
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"