The LSA Market Shows Signs of Life... and Growth!
As we noted in Part One of this Aero-TV
report, the 4th Annual Sebring FL-based US Sport
Aviation Expo is now history. The growing (occasionally struggling)
LSA movement shows signs that it may mature into a solid industry,
providing a new entry-level option for those who want to become
pilots and aircraft owners. While there are still too many
manufacturers barely keeping the doors open, the entry of industry
heavyweights Cirrus Design and Cessna Aircraft was a signal to one
and all that the LSA market had to be taken seriously.
Among the more significant news we heard from the 2008 USSAE,
was Cirrus Design's decision to start taking orders for their
speedy little SRS, the naming of US SkyCatcher completion centers
by Cessna, the unveiling of the new Flight Design CTLS, the
introduction of the TECNAM P92 Eaglet, the unveiling of the Gobosh
800XP, the chance to look over the updated Indus Aviation Thorpedo,
new options form American legend, a chance to look over the
Teledyne Continental O-200D (the engine that will power the
SkyCatcher), as well as the opportunity to catch up on all things
Rotax, AirCam, X-Air, Evektor, and so much more.
In other words, despite the rain, the cold and the wind; there
was no lack of things to see and do in Sebring, FL.
Still; there was the specter of trouble ahead... as most of the
better offerings at the USSAE cost well over 100K... and we;'re not
sure that their is a sustainable market for aircraft in that price
range. Much has been written about the need to bring "new blood"
into the aviation business... how we need new pilots and a way to
provide ready access to the freedom of the skies for tall those who
have dreamed of playing among the clouds.
We desperately need a cost-effective path for people to follow
to stretch their wings... but to be honest, we're not sure that
100-130K LSAs are the ticket we've been looking for. BUT... there
was NO mistaking the excitement of so many people we met at
Sebring... people who see LSA as THE answer to their search for
wings... and see this new market as a proper way for them to enter
the world of flight... We hope that their interest is a sustained
phenomenon.
For an overview of this year's event, we spent some time with
USSAE Event Chairman Robert Wood, who has been watching this
industry as closely as anyone, for his thoughts and feelings on the
state of the art and the state of the market for Light Sport
Aircraft... Without further delay, let's check out Aero-TV's
interview with USSAE Chairman Robert Wood.
US Sport Aviation Expo's Robert Wood Talks
LSA With Aero-TV!
About Aero-TV: It's DEFINITELY Show
Time!!!!
OK, folks, here we go... we are NOW initiating the first
feature programming series for Aero-TV... we're going to take it
slow, but we're also going to try and be steady about this. DO
UNDERSTAND that this is the most complex media program we've ever
undertaken and what you're seeing is just the tip of the iceberg...
but from here on out, we will be doing our best to educate,
inform, and entertain YOU about all aspects of the exciting worlds
of aviation and aerospace.
If you've been an observer of the media and associated media
industries over the last few years, it's not hard to mistake the
fact that a massive revolution is taking place. Old sources for
news and information are falling by the wayside, having to change
their modus operandi or risk obsolescence (or extinction).
Electronic media and print media are both under the assault of
progress, and the online world has been a cornerstone for
revolutionary change.
We've been ready to go for a while, but to be honest, there's so
much more to this program than we've alluded to, and so we've been
building and planning a massive new organization within ANN. That
said, we're hiring talented new people as
fast as we can find them (a far more difficult
task than we had imagined -- REALLY good people are hard to find),
and we're brainstorming at speeds that would make a deorbiting
Space Shuttle feel like a slug. Suffice it to say that we wanted to
do this right, rather than right-now, and that the development of
this program has been the most carefully pursued undertaking we've
ever undertaken.
E-I-C Note: The
complete feature shown above is embedded in this
story, with most of the slick and useful functionality
otherwise available on the main Aero-TV
site (which will be upgraded aggressively
over the next few weeks). The ability to embed a video on
another web page is but one of the hundreds of amazing little
features that we've worked hard on, for many months now, to
implement in different phases of the initial release of
Aero-TV. It is, BY NO MEANS, the only way to enjoy unaltered
Aero-TV programming on other parts of the web... as we have
extensive plans for future functionality, but this feature
allows those with an interest in a specific Aero-TV News or Feature
program to embed it on a different web site, though we must
note that we reserve the right to forbid such use for those sites
or purposes that we do not feel fit in with the proper mission of
the Aero-News Network, Inc.
Webmasters or Administrators of well-trafficked aviation or
aerospace related sites, are welcome to contact the Publisher to
start conversations on how they may be able to leverage some of the
immense power of Aero-TV programming for their sites and
constituency by clicking the I Want Aero-TV For
MY Website! link.
Coming Soon!
Aero-TV Shows You How To Build A Glasair Sportsman
2+2 in RECORD TIME, Gets Up Close And Personal With the Newest
Continental Powerplant To Grace A Cessna, Gets A Sobering Briefing
From P.A.S.S., Flies The Piper Matrix, Hears What's Hot At Blue
Moutain Avionics, Checks Out More "HIGH" Tech at I/ITSEC
2007, Hears From AOPA On Critical Aviation Issues, Spills Some
Juicy (and HIGHLY Detailed) Cirrus G3 Info, Shoots A Clarity Aloft
Headset Profile, Scores A BUNCH of LSA Reports, and SO
MUCH MORE!!!!! Do NOT Miss Them!
Aero-News: Quote of the Day (04.28.25)
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