I'm not being cynical, I'm just trying to be a realist. Though I'm not
intimately familiar with the aircraft industry, I doubt that Piper can
sustain themselves as a new airplane manufacturer on a piston-engine
parts business. They were late to the game with modern avionics in
their airplanes, all of which are 30+ year old designs. They could
innovate in the piston market and compete with Cirrus and Cessna, but is
there really that much room? My guess is that Piper is staking the
future of the company on moving away from pistons (and ditching the high
liability, low return associated with them) to focus on the young VLJ
market. Honestly, I can't say that I wouldn't consider the same if I
were running the company.

I agree 100% with you. In fact, I fully understand why Bass and
Piper would want to cut ties with the piston market, and only pursue
jets. Hell, it's Economics 101, if their only goal is to make more
money.

But then, don't come to a fly-in for CHEROKEE OWNERS, for
chrissakes. Just say you're "unavailable", and leave it at that.
The guy is an idiot for giving that speech in that venue.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"