Sport Pilot Talk

Since this is the time of year when we think about gift giving, I thought this might be a nice little mind-gift for LSA fans that would like to find something new, high-tech and high-quality under their Christmas tree. Is it possible? Perhaps.... But at the least, it's something one can dream about when thinking of what Santa might bring for 2012 if we've been good...

[by James Lawrence, just posted at Dan Johnson's blog-site bydanjohnson.com]
News travels fast these days: Just ask Herman Cain. New tech net scraper Gizmag just ran a blurb on the Pipistrel Alpha that I covered earlier. Gizmag's focus is on Alpha's low cost, which as they note is less than €60,000 (currently about $80,000). Now consider this: if the euro continues to go through its troubles and drops further against the dollar, imagine a quality SLSA, like the Alpha promises to be (it's based on a years-proven design — the Vinus/Sinus — with hundreds now delivered), priced at, perhaps, $70,000. For all of us who've decried the high costs of LSA, might this be the price point/airplane that would help break the LSA sales logjam?"

(BTW relative to 12 mos. ago when the Eurozone headache began - and despite the above comment on the Euro's value - it has actually increased in value a bit when measured against the USD, 1.32 to 1.34. Lawrence has never been the guy to listen to when he starts talking economics and currencies. See xe.com).

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Jack
RAF Florida State Liaison
Please visit www.theraf.org

Old news. Also, here's the original from a month ago:
http://light-sport-hangar-flyin.blogspo ... debut.html

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http://zaitcev.mee.nu/

Old news? Not really. The post wasn't about Pipestral announcing their new LSA trainer but rather about the possibility that a reduction in the Euro's value - not all that much of a conceptual stretch - could result in the low-cost, high-tech & relatively high-end LSA that's been eluding the marketplace.

Fanciful thinking? Well, maybe not. As noted just yesterday in AOPA's latest ePilot:
"When the announcement was first made, the Pipistrel price in euros amounted to $83,000. Now, five days later, the Pipistrel price of 59,000 euros amounts to $79,000."

Couple that with the (fanciful? maybe...but maybe not) drop in the value of the Euro proposed by James Lawrence and there might be some head-turning in the marketplace.

I dunno... But isn't this the time of year to enjoy having a few dreams about both special gifts and what lies ahead in the year to come?

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Jack
RAF Florida State Liaison
Please visit www.theraf.org

The 'value' category is one thing that hasn't been touched by LSA's. Even things like the CTLS Lite simply don't offer enough savings to be considered a value.

I would wager the first good LSA under 100k becomes a best seller. How is the new Sky Arrow coming along?