Thought you'd like to read this.

I'll tell you what - it's a long way from the 20 grand that I paid for
my twin Beech many years ago. :)

Later,

Tom

----------------------------------------------------------------------------


Planes for all inches closer to reality
By Rukmini Callimachi, Associated Press Writer | May 1, 2005

BEND, Ore. --Nancy Huntsman uses her small plane the way some mothers
use their Volvos. She straps in her two children, yells at the dog to
hop in the back, pops in a DVD for the kids to watch and then takes
off to fly over soaring mountains and parched deserts. Three hours
later, they land at an airstrip near grandmother's house in northern
California.

While owning a private plane remains a dream few can realize, creative
financing options and advances in technology have helped manufacturers
inch closer to their far-off dream of putting a plane in every garage.

"It used to be that you had to do a geometry exercise to navigate a
plane," said Lance Neibauer, the founder of Lancair Co. of Bend, one
of a handful of airplane manufacturers helping to transform the way
Americans use private planes.

Today's small planes, however, have a "glass cockpit," the system of
computerized displays and controls that makes pilots' lives much
easier.

"You can literally read a book up there," said Neibauer, who sold
Huntsman her first four-seater plane for $326,000 three years ago.

And read is exactly what she does.

"Last year, we got through Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn," Huntsman
said.

Huntsman, 50, lives in Salt Lake City and uses the plane in the summer
to take her children to her parents' home in Crescent City, Calif. --
a 3 1/2-hour trip which would suck up an entire day if she were to fly
commercially.

Because of the new technology, Lancair's sales have been growing
exponentially. This year, the company expects to ship upwards of 180
planes, more than twice as many as last year.

The company's sales mirror the industry trend for piston-engine,
propeller planes. In 1994, the industry's worst year, just 455
piston-engine planes were shipped in the United States. Last year, the
total was up to 1,758, according to the General Aviation Manufacturers
Association.

Like many other plane owners, Huntsman keeps her costs down by sharing
it with another pilot who flies it on different weekends. Two-seaters
are being sold for as little as $160,000, and new financing laws allow
buyers to get 20-year loans rather than paying the balance up front.

"I think flight is much more accessible than ever," said Lee Brinley,
47, a financial analyst from Carol Stream, Ill., who recently
fulfilled a lifelong dream by buying a $300,000 Lancair kit plane.

People who can afford small planes are able to avoid the lines,
inconvenient schedules and increased security checks of flying on
commercial airlines.

"That's why people are buying their own planes -- they found a way to
take command of their lives," said Bruce Holmes, who founded NASA's
Advanced General Aviation Transportation Experiment, which is trying
to widen the use of private planes.

The growth is also partially a result of a 1994 change in legislation
that created an 18-year statute of limitation on lawsuits against
makers of small airplanes. Until then, investors scared off by the
prospect of unlimited liability had stopped backing these small
manufacturers.

James Fallows, whose book "Free Flight" explores the future of private
aviation, thinks there will come a time when it "will no longer be the
playground of the super rich." As more people fly and more planes are
built, the price will come down, said Dale Klapmeier, the co-founder
of Cirrus Design in Duluth, Minn., a company that like Lancair and
Wichita, Kan.-based Cessna Aircraft Co. has helped bring the glass
cockpit to small, singe-engine aircrafts in the last decade.

"The next big challenge is to get the cost to the Ford Taurus or Honda
Accord level. It's years away, but it can happen," Holmes said.

Still, the idea of a plane of every garage is one that some experts
think is farfetched.

"It's a charming fantasy," said aviation analyst Richard Aboulafia, a
vice president of the Teal Group in Fairfax, Va.

"It's just like driving a car," he said sarcastically, "except that
you have to be a pilot."

And then there's the cost. Huntsman spends around $8,000 a year just
to insure the plane for herself and a co-pilot. That doesn't count the
cost of gas, hangar rental and maintenance.

Still, manufacturers argue that the industry has turned a corner that
could allow private aviation to expand sooner rather than later.

"It's really easier to use than a car -- plus there's no other cars
coming at you," said Bing Lantis, CEO of Lancair Certified.

It's certainly no big deal for Huntsman's children.

"They've flown so much that they think it's boring. Taking a road trip
-- that's an adventure," she said.

Shortwave Sportfishing wrote:

BEND, Ore. --Nancy Huntsman uses her small plane the way some mothers
use their Volvos. She straps in her two children, yells at the dog to
hop in the back, pops in a DVD for the kids to watch and then takes
off to fly over soaring mountains and parched deserts. Three hours
later, they land at an airstrip near grandmother's house in northern
California.

Hmmm - crossing mountains and desert in a piston single.
Not the cleverest of ideas.
Is this even legal in the USofA ?, it would certainly be illegal over
the Namib or the Kalahari.

On Mon, 02 May 2005 03:14:59 +0100, Chris Newport
wrote:

Shortwave Sportfishing wrote:

BEND, Ore. --Nancy Huntsman uses her small plane the way some mothers
use their Volvos. She straps in her two children, yells at the dog to
hop in the back, pops in a DVD for the kids to watch and then takes
off to fly over soaring mountains and parched deserts. Three hours
later, they land at an airstrip near grandmother's house in northern
California.

Hmmm - crossing mountains and desert in a piston single.
Not the cleverest of ideas.
Is this even legal in the USofA ?, it would certainly be illegal over
the Namib or the Kalahari.

I would think so - it was written in the USofA by an USofA reporter
and the last time I checked Bend, OR was in the USofA.

Later,

Tom

"Shortwave Sportfishing" wrote in message
...
On Mon, 02 May 2005 03:14:59 +0100, Chris Newport
wrote:

Shortwave Sportfishing wrote:

BEND, Ore. --Nancy Huntsman uses her small plane the way some mothers
use their Volvos. She straps in her two children, yells at the dog to
hop in the back, pops in a DVD for the kids to watch and then takes
off to fly over soaring mountains and parched deserts. Three hours
later, they land at an airstrip near grandmother's house in northern
California.

Hmmm - crossing mountains and desert in a piston single.
Not the cleverest of ideas.
Is this even legal in the USofA ?, it would certainly be illegal over
the Namib or the Kalahari.

I would think so - it was written in the USofA by an USofA reporter
and the last time I checked Bend, OR was in the USofA.

Later,

Tom


Lots of singles crossing the Kalahari from what I see in pictures.

On Mon, 02 May 2005 18:08:49 -0400, "Gene Kearns"
wrote:

On Sun, 01 May 2005 23:08:43 GMT, Shortwave Sportfishing
wrote:

Thought you'd like to read this.

I'll tell you what - it's a long way from the 20 grand that I paid for
my twin Beech many years ago. :)

That's pretty cool...

Besides that poor little rich girl.... you are going to see a LOT of
interest in the sport pilot option. There are two manufacturing
facilities within 100 miles of me....

I almost choked when I saw the price of that plane. Way back when I
was still flying, I had 1/3 interest in a twin Beech and eventually
wound up owning it with the other two backing out over time.

Sure wasn't no $360,000 though. :)

Later,

Tom

Bill McKee wrote:


Hmmm - crossing mountains and desert in a piston single.
Not the cleverest of ideas.
Is this even legal in the USofA ?, it would certainly be illegal over
the Namib or the Kalahari.

I would think so - it was written in the USofA by an USofA reporter
and the last time I checked Bend, OR was in the USofA.


Lots of singles crossing the Kalahari from what I see in pictures.

I should have been more specific, the Kalahari is a big place.
Singles operate into the outer regions of the kalahari which extend
into South Africa and parts of southern Namibia.
Most of the Kalahari lies in Botswana, for this you need multi-engine
aircraft, a special desert rating, specified survival kit, and recent
appoved survival training for all occupants. Scheduled airlines have
different rules, IFR is mandatory and departure from approved airways
prohibited.
The same rules apply to the Namib, which extends from the Kalahari to
the appropriately named Skeleton Coast.

"Shortwave Sportfishing" wrote in message
...


I almost choked when I saw the price of that plane. Way back when I
was still flying, I had 1/3 interest in a twin Beech and eventually
wound up owning it with the other two backing out over time.

Sure wasn't no $360,000 though. :)

Later,

Tom

Priced a new Baron lately? 1 million bucks, fairly nicely equipped. Ouch.

Jack

On Tue, 03 May 2005 01:14:41 GMT, "Jack Goff" wrote:


"Shortwave Sportfishing" wrote in message
.. .


I almost choked when I saw the price of that plane. Way back when I
was still flying, I had 1/3 interest in a twin Beech and eventually
wound up owning it with the other two backing out over time.

Sure wasn't no $360,000 though. :)

Priced a new Baron lately? 1 million bucks, fairly nicely equipped. Ouch.

If I still had the urge to fly, I think I'd take up hang gliding.

Or soaring.

I can't see spending that kind of money on a plane - I wouldn't enjoy
it.

Although, when you think about it, what's a 50 foot Hatteras go for
new $4/500,000?

Later,

Tom

"Gene Kearns" wrote in message
...
On Tue, 03 May 2005 06:35:12 -0400, "Harry.Krause"
wrote:



Have you seen the Brit series on building your own airplane?



It is an American kitplane... all of Van's kits are winners...

http://www.vansaircraft.com/

--



Grady-White Gulfstream, out of Southport, NC.

http://myworkshop.idleplay.net/
Homepage*
http://www.thebayguide.com/rec.boats
Rec.boats at Lee Yeaton's Bayguide


Is that the british guy who rebuilds old motorcycles, and builds helicopters
from kits? He built a trike I'd love to have, with a VW engine.