If ever we needed more proof that yesterday’s conventional wisdom is today’s grim reality, the Cessna Skycatcher may be Exhibit A. Five years ago, it was destined to sweep its way to the top of the light sport aircraft market, mowing down most of the competition in a relentless drive to market dominance. Today, the Skycatcher is just another dead-end GA product, leaving owners, if not stranded, definitely baffled.
As an owner of a Zaon XRX, I am saddened to see the company go (December 2013 Aviation Consumer), but I’m not surprised. It is another casualty of the iPad Effect.
An acquaintance recently mentioned that she was considering going back to school for an advanced degree in business, but that she didn’t want to take a required marketing class. She said that, to her, marketing was teaching people how to lie. Her remark caused me to recall some of the less-than-scrupulous techniques used to sell aviation products and how buyers have been burned. I’ve been thinking about all of this as I consider a developing concern with the marketing of the fine Zaon portable collision system.
After reading Larry Anglisano’s article in the November issue about the conundrum in which avionics manufacturers find themselves, I couldn’t agree more with your conclusions. As an aircraft owner with a mix of newer and older avionics, I am one of those potential customers who are sitting on the fence, trying to decide how best to stretch my aircraft dollars. The debacle called ADS-B isn’t helping the situation, either.
As pilots and aircraft owners, we always seem to be worried—justifiably, I think— about fuel. We’re concerned about price; apprehensive about a reliable supply in the future (Paul Bertorelli has an article about one potential solution on page 12), cautious to assure we have enough on board, with reserves and, should we have an accident, we know, in that primitive place deep inside us where our fears reside, that the fuel we have been relying on can kill us.
The notion that ordinary automotive pump gas can be a cheaper alternative to increasingly expensive avgas has had a rough time of it. Mogas gained traction during the 1980s and saw wide enough distribution to be a player, but a shrinking price Delta against avgas, a cold shoulder from the engine manufacturers and a rising flood of ethanol has stunted the mogas movement.
I received your 2013 Aviation Consumer Buyer’s Guide and was very interested in your article covering engine overhauls. One important fact I did not see is: Customers who are thinking about ordering a Lycoming factory overhauled engine need to know about Lycoming’s 36-year policy. If the customer’s engine left the Lycoming factory more than 36 years before the order date, Lycoming will not accept that engine for a factory overhaul.
Many years ago, a wise aviator heard me comment that the airplane we were standing next to wasn’t cool. He quietly told me that any airplane that gets a person into the air and back down again safely is very cool because what’s truly matters is being able to rise off the ground and fly.
I own a Peterson Katmai conversion of a Cessna 182P. While this letter references your recent (September 2013 issue) article about BRS retrofits for Cessna 172s, 182s and LSAs, I would like to compliment your staff on the comprehensive and accurate article about the Katmai/King Katmai in the January 2013 issue.
If Continental Motors ever had any doubts about the aerodiesel market, it erased them in July with the stroke of a pen with the company’s acquisition of the bankrupt assets of Thielert aircraft Engines GmbH. Despite a rocky ending for Thielert culminating in the jailing of its founder, Thielert (and Diamond) put aircraft diesels on the map during the last decade. With its own in-house Jet A TD300 and the addition of Thielert, Continental instantly becomes the market volume leader in aircraft diesel.
Managing editor Larry Anglisano took the accompanying photo as we were on final for runway 27 at Oshkosh. It was at 3:15 PM on Sunday, the day before the official opening of AirVenture, a time when the airport has historically been bursting at the seams with airplanes, regardless of the weather. I was astonished by the relative absence of airplanes on the right (north) side of 27.
Thank you for the in-depth article on the Piper Warrior (August 2013 Aviation Consumer). I’ve owned mine for nearly 20 years and have long felt like it was the Rodney Dangerfield of airplanes. Your article did a great job of publicly destroying that image by bringing out the capabilities and flexibility of the Warrior. I’ve flown mine all over the country, on and off of all types of airports and runway surfaces—paved, grass and dirt, and while I’m cautious about density altitude and recognize that the bird isn’t going to set any speed records, it’s reliable and I know I’ll get where I’m going.
