The official statement from Piper was posted by none other than me.
Yeah, me. I spent most of Tuesday morning hiding from my boss so I
could work the phones, call Piper and deal with aviation magazine
editors because Jay waited 24 hours before he wrote down his
thoughts,
and GOT THE STORY WRONG.

I have spoken with Dennis, on the Cherokee Chat, and I appreciate his
delicate position as the man who cajoled Bass into speaking at the
Cherokee Pilots Association convention.

I have also spoken with the people who sat at my table during Bass'
speech -- and I also spent several hours after the speech with folks
in the bar. We all heard the same thing.

Which isn't to say that Dennis got it wrong. As I've stated over and
over, it was impossible to tell from his speech whether Bass was
merely floating the idea of limiting parts support to newer aircraft,
or whether he was actually announcing that this was to be Piper's new
policy.

Bass is a bean-counter, NOT a skilled public speaker, and none of us
was able to precisely parse what he was trying to say. However, in
the context of his further statements that, no, Piper would NOT
license the production of older Piper parts to other companies (if
they were to stop production themselves) what else could one possibly
conclude?

This much is clear: No one disputes the fact that Bass said that PIper
would absolutely NOT license the production of older, out-of-
production parts to any outside company, due to liability issues.
This was said in the context of his previous, breath-taking assertions
(so ineloquently stated) that Piper did not wish to support 25-year-
old aircraft indefinitely, and was in answer to a question from a
member of the crowd who had obviously heard the exact same thing I
did.

In my opinion, the asking of the question is proof-positive that Bass
said what he said -- otherwise, why would anyone even ask the
question? And why would Bass answer the way he did, if Piper had
every intention of continuing parts support? .

Here's the bottom line: Bass probably didn't say what he meant to
say. God knows we've all been victimized by similar circumstances.
His company spokesperson has clarified Piper's position, and it is in
our favor.

As far as I'm concerned, that's a "Good Thing".
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"