Light Sport POC A Hit At AirVenture

Cessna Aircraft Chairman and CEO Jack Pelton is back home in Wichita after what can only be described as a VERY successful jaunt to Oshkosh last week. There, as you'll recall, Pelton unveiled the company's concept for a light sport aircraft... and surprised a lot of people with the fly-by of what Cessna calls its NGP... or Next Generation Piston aircraft.

"I can't tell you how many have said, 'I'll write you a check today,'" said Pelton to Wichita Eagle Aviation Reporter Molly McMillan, regarding the LSA proposal. "It's been unbelievable."

Pelton went on to say the company received hundreds of comments from AirVenture attendees on matters such as avionics, available room, and price... and, Pelton says, feedback indicates Cessna "hit all the marks on size and comfort level."

Next up for the company, Pelton says, is determining the most economical method for building the plane. Cessna has estimated the market for the LSA at approximately 600 aircraft per year... but in order to do that, the price must be kept under $100,000.

That's a mark several highline LSAs currently vault over, with all options.

"As you dissect the cost, if you do business as usual, we'll never make the price point," Pelton said. "We're going to have to look at every possible place to be competitive."

That could mean any one of several assembly methods for the aircraft... including the possibility that, while Pelton says he expects the LSA to be assembled in the United States, many of its components would be manufactured outside the borders.

"Like a lot of our other products, a lot of our piece parts and bits get fabricated around the world," said Pelton. "I think we'll continue to see that on this product."

Another option being considered, Pelton says, is to ship those components to Cessna dealers... who would then assemble the planes, a method used by several distributors of light sport planes manufactured outside the US.

"The game is wide open," he said.

That game, for the moment, seems to be Cessna's to join... as the company had a steady line of people asking to be put on a waiting list for the LSA throughout Oshkosh, with some even offering checks -- which, Pelton says, Cessna didn't accept.

FMI: www.cessna.com