"Sam Spade" wrote in message
...
Dudley Henriques wrote:


GA is definitely in for a hard road ahead in my opinion. The extremely
high costs vs the limited public access and required training can hold
few positive aspects for the community considering the current
economic situation.
Just my opinion of course.

GA paints too broad of a brush. Light aircraft GA (that's what's being
discussed here) has been on a downward spiral that started long before the
current economic downturn. The exception is the "fat cat" market of the
very affluent who flock to the new $500,000 range single engine aircraft.

The LSA market is too expensive and the Draconian maintenance control the
manufacturer has is extreme.

At the risk of seeming to be a PITA, 500K aint "fat cat" market in aviation!

The good news is that ANY homebuilt that fits the weight and performance
specs for LSA, as well as any certificated aircraft that happens to meet the
specs, automatically qualifies for operation by a sport pilot. There is no
need for it to have been sold as an ELSA--which is mostly a way for the
operator to trade maintenance requirements against the 51% rule without
busting any regs.

I admit to having been extremely critical of the 600KG weight limit, which I
still assert should have been 750KG, but how are the LSA manufacturers
different than the manufacturers of any other certified aircraft?

Peter