On Jan 2, 10:27*am, Gezellig wrote:
Reading one of the piloting web/video services and came across this
comment:

"Still; there remains the specter of trouble ahead... as most of the
better offerings at the USSAE (LSA aircraft) cost well over 100K... and
we're not sure that there is a sustainable market for aircraft in that
price range. Much has been written about the need to bring "new blood"
into the aviation business... how we need new pilots and a way to
provide ready access to the freedom of the skies for tall those who have
dreamed of playing among the clouds. We desperately need a
cost-effective path for people to follow to stretch their wings... but
to be honest, we're not sure that 100-130K LSAs are the ticket we've
been looking for. BUT... there was NO mistaking the excitement of so
many people we met at Sebring."

I understand not every new pilot is a plane purchaser. But where is the
effort of the manufacturers especially Cessna, Diamond, Piper and the
others in making piloting instruction cheap if not free? Not free as in
"if you buy my plane" but free as in "long term, self-interested
investment in aviation."

Both Piper and Cessna have tried marketing programs designed to
encourage new entries into the market, and both have met with limited
success.
The economic situation in the United States will now most likely
result in a paradigm shift for the light aircraft market.
Actually it's been happening ahead of the economic turn down; i.e; the
light sport aircraft market.
It's very difficult at this point to forecast where the GA market will
go from here. Between the national security regulations limiting GA to
some extent, and the economy, the future may very well be the
ultralight for the average Sunday pilot.
But who really knows? The above would be a fair cross section of what
I get in feedback as I move through the aviation world in the United
States.
Dudley Henriques