Lou wrote:
Ok, just spent a week at Oshgosh like quite a few of you and, although
I noticed this before it just hasn't changed much. How many LSA's are
made in the U.S.A.? I don't mean assembled, I mean, manufactured. Is it
really impossible for Americans to design, manufacture, and sell
products at a reasonable price and still make a living? Aircraft should
be one thing my country could excel at. We have everything needed,
materials, knowledge, ability, and desire, but most every aircraft in
this category is either imported or the parts are imported and then
assembled here.
I'm not talking about a product that cost more to make than to just
buy a cheap import. Light Sport planes have gone through the roof in
just a matter of a couple of years. You can't convince me that there
isn't a plane that can be designed and manufactured for a competitve
price. It's not that I am against any other country making a buck here.
I'm just very dissapointed in Americans not even trying. What happened
here?


My theory: An excess of lawsuits.

Current aircraft and aircraft parts are so expensive because
manufacturers are afraid of being sued should anything happen to the
aircraft. IIRC, some legal decisions made 30-some-odd years ago set the
precedent that the manufacturer could be held liable in an accident,
regardless of the aircraft's (or part's) age, and often regardless of
the actual cause. Some aircraft manufacturers went out of business
because they didn't want to eventually end up being sued.

I don't know if or how foreign companies can be affected by these
lawsuits... but I would think that the sue-happy epidemic isn't as
widespread overseas. Therefore, combined with lower labor costs, they
can develop the aircraft cheaper, start them flying over there, and
recoup development costs first. Gaining US certification later would be
easier and cheaper, and therefore they can continue to offer them at a
lower price.



Additionally, getting something certified is a very expensive process,
and therefore more is charged to offset that cost. Avionics make an
interesting comparison. Say you have two autopilots with the same
capabilities. One is certified, the other is not (ie, intended for
homebuilts, which don't need the certification). The certified one will
almost certainly be several thousand dollars more. They might be from
the same manufacturer, and might even be the same product in a different
package. And since the pool of certified products is much smaller, they
can charge even more (supply/demand).

Bear in mind, too, that certified aircraft also need an A&P to do any
maintenance beyond something like changing the oil. Those guys cost
money, too. Didn't Canada create a category (called "owner maintained"
or something like that) where the owner is allowed to perform all
maintenance on an aircraft, but by doing so it becomes closer to the
experimental category (no passengers for hire, etc.) and can never
return to normal certified status?