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Well, Jeff, you are very very right. When something breaks in our 1971 pickup, 1979 Suburban, or even our 1975 Cessna, I just fix it. If the check engine light comes on in our 2001 Jetta, it goes into the shop. I cannot work on it. And we plan on a minimum of a $500 bill each time that happens. Compound costs of parts and labor to aircraft rates, you just priced folks like us right out of airplane ownership.

True, but if the speedo cable on my motorcycle or car breaks, I can fix it myself for a few dollars. I don't have to send out the entire dashboard cluster to have it done.

I personally welcome the march of technology, especially with electronics. What I do not welcome are the expensive "all in one" gadgets. There is a reason that I still have a separate ipod, camera, and cell phone. The Garmin 296 is a wonderful product, but it is portable. If it breaks, the airplane is still airworthy.

I'd like to see electronic upgrades that could replace our instruments individually. Like I said before, don't put all of your eggs in one basket. Suppose some idiot tosses you a wrench, keys or something like that and it cracks the face of your MFD. Then what do you do? You can't be legal for VFR flight without it. The plane sits where it is until you get the unit back from the factory and have it installed.

It looks like even the engine gauges are part of it. That is a dangerous idea. Will people forget to monitor their oil pressure and temp? Do you have to scroll through a few pages to "scan switches and gauges"?

[quote=Eric_Salvo I personally welcome the march of technology, especially with electronics. What I do not welcome are the expensive "all in one" gadgets. [/quote]

Thanks fo saving me the time to write a sceond response, Eric!

I'm with Jeff on this. While the negative observations about the 162 all have some validity, I'm getting the impression that you guys are just looking for something not to like.

I for one, am impressed by the 162. It's everything it should be in my opinion. My only complaint is cost, $110K, but I understand why that is.

I have only one "downer" observation. At $110K+ how many customers can there possibly be? We all hear that interest in GA is way down, if there aren't enough customers for $20K airplanes, how many are there for $110K airplanes that perform pretty much like $20K airplanes?

Clearly, there is excitement around the LSA spec, and so hopefully a bunch of new folks who weren't formerly interested in airplane ownership will get involved.

But the pessimist in me has trouble believing it will amount to much. I hope I'm wrong, and I'm gradually getting caught up in the excitement. I do find the LSA airplanes very appealing, especially the 162, but I also like several others, like the legend cub and the kitfox derivative.

I'm not knocking the the 162 at all. Quite the opposite! LSA and Cessna's new plane are huge steps in the right direction for the future of aviation. Our planes aren't getting any younger and they're not being replaced as they are destroyed.

It is that MFD system that I'm not too sure about. As these planes age, will they be a tough sell on the used market with the buyers knowing that an avionics malfunction could cost as much as an engine overhaul? I think that breaking these new electronic avionics and gauge systems down into individually replaceable systems is the way to go.

Let me put this another way.

It wasn't long ago that I used to say.."who in their right mind is going to spend $20,000 for a stupid car" Of course now that figure (in the Lexus, Mercedes and Infiniti falvors) tops $40K and of all things...pick up trucks for $45-50K. "Why that's what a guy pays for a good house".

The bottom line is while we THINK there is not a lot of folks who will pay $110K for an airplane, I would argue that there is a whole batch of so called middle class folks that would.

Another shocker to me was people with my same job and pay scale buying $700k and above homes in Portland (Oregon for your Nor'easters) and whle at the same owning a Lexus and new Dodge pickup. Same folks usually have a hobby (insert $100K boat, 3 or 4 horses, or a $200K cabin) and they think that all of this is normal.

The Cessna name on an LSA will create opportunities for liberal financing packages and suddenly "for the price of a car payment, you too can own and fly your own airplane"

And these people want technology (so we can put that to rest). The only things I see creating or destroying demand will be

1) markeing...i.e. getting the word out: Right now aviation is still viewed with some sort of "cult" like appeal. Kind of like boats and motorhomes were 30 or so years ago. With the right packaging "it will fly". and

2) Financial Markets: As folks see "perceived" retirement investments shrink in their home equities and stock portfolio, they may get "religion". That religion is the one that I am trying to practice of carrying no debt load on "non-essentials".

If you look at this from a 20 or 30 something yuppies rose colored contact lenses, look around at your own neighborhoods (Bill, I looked at Grants Pass real estate recently and I can't afford to live there), you will see folks who are very willing to have $1000 EXTRA income tied up PER MONTH in toys and too much house. If they ever get to where they perceive that flying is for the common man (and woman). Katie bar the doors.

HOWEVER>>>>>>I do not believe that this will drive up the value of our old birds, until some sort of "classic" movement starts. Remember...it wasn't that many years ago that you could buy a 69 Camero for under $5K. These people will look at their Skycatcher (sorry, sounds like flycatcher to me) as a depreciable asset and expect to move up to the Lexus from the Toyota at some point which is where the Cirrus and such markets will do well...or the NexGen Cessna.

Our birds will likely be relegated to us "codgers" and those who are young now, but discovered "cheap" flying early on. Beyond that, they will become the Ford Mustang II's of the airplane community unless a way to revive them is found...OR...the financial considerations crush the LSA market in general. Then people will again be looking for cheap flying.

Okay...that is my prediction.

Jeff "Jean Dixon" Davis

I think the electronic displays have a least a 30 minute battery backup in case airplane electric system goes out. A "30 minute reserve" is all that is needed for VFR fuel, so should also suffice for electronic display.

Certified aircraft for VFR flight require only airspeed, altimeter, and compass. I think I would want those instruments for backup and then if the multifunction display goes out, the plane could still be flown even with the display removed for repair.

Homebuilt aircraft have even less restriction. For VFR flight in a homebuilt no instruments are required. You can fly with a perfectly blank instrument panel.

Hey, while we're all complaining about the electronics package, I'll add my two cents in.

Where do I get the Multi-Function Display? They only show the Primary Flight Display in the purchasing agreement. If I'm goin ta plunk $5,000 down, I want to know I can get both displays, find out what the Ballistic Recovery System is going to cost me, and whether the winders open (after all, how can I beat Poobs nerf drop record if I can't open a window?).

I've only seen photos of the Cessna LSA. Looks like it doesn't have direct nose-wheel steering, just differential braking to steer it, right?

With those gull wing doors, there may indeed be no winders!?