unscientific poll

[Bill Coleman AA4LR]

On 10/4/00 2:31, John Farrington at jfarr at LIVINGSTON.NET wrote:

>At 09:59 AM 10/03/2000, Bill Coleman, AA4LR wrote in response to
>comments about resurrecting Heathkit:
>
>>This may be true of electronics, but not of other things.
>>Kit aircraft are a booming industry.
>
>
>Aside from changing technology, can kits for aircraft or electronics
>or anything continue to exist for long in our legal climate?

Actually, yes. In the legal situation, the builder of the kit is
considered the manufacturer, not the supplier of the kit.

>The U.S. used to be a world leader in factory-built light aircraft,
>but that mostly stopped, the story goes, because some years ago on a
>stormy night a drunken private pilot went up in his small airplane
>and killed himself in weather that he wasn't qualified for even when
>sober.

Well, this story isn't isolated. Rather, there are hundreds of these
stories, all involving different incidents.

Collectively, they imposed a financial burden that was killing small
production aircraft.

>Not long after that the price for a
>$45,000 light aircraft jumped to near $250,000 because of product
>liability insurance. And not long after that, most U.S. manufacturers
>quit making small single-engine aircraft.

This was true right until the General Aviation Revitalization act of
1994. At that point, manufacturer liability ends at 18 years. Overnight,
it was profitable to build light aircraft again. Piper came out of
chapter 11, Cessna broke ground for a new plant.

>Recently I heard that Cessna was thinking of again making a popular
>model that used to cost $15-20,000, but the new price was estimated
>to be at least $120,000.

Cessna has been building piston-powered light aircraft since 1996! And
the prices aren't so exhorbitant when you adjust for inflation. But, yes,
liability insurance does play a role in the price.

However, you are grossly underestimating the costs of production. The
engine alone costs $15-20,000 in these aircraft.

>Technology may not be as simple as it used to be, but neither is
>the U.S. the place of reasonable laws that it used to be.

The laws are reasonable, it's the lawsuits that aren't. (Or perhaps their
awards!)

Bill Coleman, AA4LR, PP-ASEL        Mail: aa4lr at radio.org
Quote: "Boot, you transistorized tormentor! Boot!"
            -- Archibald Asparagus, VeggieTales

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