From: Lyle Cox <LyleCox@funaerosports.com>
To: Sport_Aircraft@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Sat, December 18, 2010 12:11:39 AM
Subject: RE: Re: Light-Sport Aircraft Yahoo group LSA
Actually…..not so sure it's all those evil rich people either. It's a little bit of greed on everyone's part. The company investors, wanting bigger returns on their investments, the corporate management, wanting bigger bonuses, the laborers wanting bigger salaries and more perks, the kids at home wanting more toys…..in other words…there is not really a point of blame, but rather it is spread amongst us all. Someone gets peevish because their neighbor moved to a bigger house and it all starts. It's a classic case of class envy…..no matter who you are, someone has more money than you and someone has less money than you.
The endless chain has a lot to do with the price of LSA's today. Unfortunately, the USA isn't the only country facing those same greedy cultures and the next thing you know, we have $120,000 two seat low horsepower (but danged fun to fly) airplanes. One of the biggest burdens on the price is the fact that no one can build enough of any one model to take advantage of economies of scale. In its day, Cessna was producing over 1000 Cessna 150's per year and selling every one of them. With those kinds of numbers, companies can negotiate much better prices on all the components and that trickles down. If Rotax suddenly started supplying 1000 more engines per year, their prices would come down. Competition is not the driver, believe it or not, market is. If I can produce an airplane for $50,000 but the market bears $100,000 then I would be crazy to sell at $50,000. I would have to build twice as many airplanes just to make the same amount of money.
You know, Abid sells a really nice fixed wing SLSA for considerably under $100,000. What is it Abid…around $75,000 I think with a lot of bells and whistles. I'm looking to rep a new SLSA that's becoming available very soon in the US and the manufacturer is telling me it should sell for around $80,000. Now…what is the difference between these two airplanes and a Piper Sport Cruiser at $120,000? Market. People really like that gorgeous sleek looking Piper. Heck, so do I. It's my favorite bird out there. I have to ask myself…will the Piper give me $40,000 more value to what I seek in an airplane? I can get there 10-20 knots faster than many other LSA's. On a typical one hour flight for a sport pilot, that is a savings of a minute or two. The Piper is all metal (sort of) and Abid's is a tube and fabric airplane. So that means I can safely leave the Piper tied down on the ramp and I should hangar Abid's. I can hangar Abid's airplane for more than 10 years (@$300 per month) for the difference in price. Do you know why Piper sells for $120,000? Because many people have been PAYING $120,000 for one. Abid and I both hope we can trim off 10-20 people per year that have figured out that the sleek looks are really neat, but just not what flying is about and they will come plunk down their $70-80,000 for a nice, comfortable, safe, and fun to fly airplane. Of course, for full disclosure….I own a 1965 Piper Cherokee. I'd LOVE to have a 2010, but my old Cherokee performs exactly the same job as the 2010 would, but it cost me about 1/10 of the price. I am, therefore, not likely to plunk down $120,000 for an airplane that will do exactly what a $75,000 dollar airplane will do. Granted, I won't look quite as good and the chicks won't fawn all over me, but I've got some extra cash to buy them a drink with.
From: Sport_Aircraft@yahoogroups.com [mailto:Sport_Aircraft@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of b d
Sent: Friday, December 17, 2010 4:48 PM
To: Roger Poyner; Sport_Aircraft@yahoogroups.com
Subject: Re: Re: Light-Sport Aircraft Yahoo group LSA
Kind of like Helen I don't know how this morphed to have any thing to do with flying. One of lifes mysteries I guess.
Well it started by someone on this list generaliseing and blaming the Chinese people for all the ills of the US. The wealthy with the help of the US leaders did it to all of us and to the Chinese people. Someone was complaining about Americans getting paid too much, not concerned about the Chinese people getting paid too liitle.
I remember back in the Actor's administration when women said they wanted equal pay but they worded it wrong. They said "men make to much money, we should be paid the same as them" Mr. Big Corporation said "we can fix that" ," Mr. Husband you're making too much money, you're own wife said so. I will have to lay you off now. Now I can hire your wife for less money. Oh by the way Mr. Husband, if you want your job back, you'll have to take the same wage as your wife because she demands equal pay" And that happened for real. I watched it in awe!
The simple people are doing the same thing all over again. "We American workers are being paid entirely too much money." (as you heard someone say on this list) The solution then must be our wealthy companies cannot make their exponential profits so they should move overseas and take advantage of the Chinese people for cheap labor? . . . and this makes sense to us? How is that working for us? Not too well you say? What's wrong with this picture?
Bruce
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