What will PBOR do to LSA prices?

[scottinohio]

:eek:Will it affect the prices?

[N981MS]

This has been discussed before but I do not think it will affect Kitfox value much. Kitfox was solid before LSA and still is. Solid design and performance. Popular configuration. Sure some will abandon for more seats but the reality is that most pilots spend lots of flying time alone or with only one passenger even if they have more seats.

With regard to some of these $90K factory built composite jobs. I expect they will take a hit. That is good or bad depending on if you are buying or selling. Surely no one on this list wants one of those anyway. LOL

Maxwell

[TahoeTim]

I own one certified plane and one experimental. I feel like my hands are tied on my certified plane regarding maintenance and annuals. I don't have the freedom to make changes or work on it. If saavy buyers understand the difference, they will continue to choose LSA over certified. Maybe kitfox will come out with a kitfox jumbo?

I do think sport pilots will migrate their license to open up night flying.

[efwd]

Night flight would be the only reason for me.

[jtpitkin06]

Before medical reform, I noted LSA pilots falling into one of two groups: Sport pilots, who never had a medical certificate, in one group; and, the other group mostly general aviation pilots moving down to LSA to avoid the medical process.

When LSA first opened up we saw a lot of pilots selling their larger machines and the market for LSA qualified planes took off. Prices for used certified aircraft stagnated for a while. Kits for LSA qualified aircraft popped up everywhere as did S-LSA factory built airplanes.

Now that the medical requirement will go away in a year or less, I see many private and above certificate holders migrating back to larger airplanes. That group will be looking for more room with four seats or more speed. There is also a large group of pilots that retired from flying. We don't know how many of those will return.

I have long predicted if medical reform got passed that prices for LSA aircraft would drop and used certified legacy aircraft prices will climb. There are a lot of pilots that dropped out that simply did not want to go to LSA. Many of them either needed four seats or their physique was simply too large to fit in LSA. There is also a large group of flying club members that dropped out of flying. As dropouts return, flying clubs may need to purchase additional aircraft.

The Kitfox is sort of in a crossover class. Especially the model 7. It can qualify for LSA under E-AB for now and then raise the weight to 1550 next year. For private and above pilots now flying under LSA this could be a very desirable feature. Because the Kitfox fits in this pigeon hole, I don't see the Kitfox amateur built prices changing very much. What will be interesting is to see how Kitfox LLC and other S-LSA manufacturers adapt to the changing regs and pilot migration.

We'll just have to wait a year to see if my prediction is correct.

John Pitkin

[colospace]

John, good to see you weigh in on this. I am private rated, but got tired of having the FAA's gun at my head and so decided to build within LSA limits as I don't feel the restrictions are a hindrance to my flying goals.
My wife doesn't want to be the spouse in a plane with an incapacitated husband, and so has made talk of getting her pilot's rating.
My current thought would be to register my Kitfox at the 1320 limit so that she could just get a light sport rating (to save money) and still be able to log it as PIC time. Neither of us are particularly heavy and my pre-purchase evaluation made camping with the plane look very doable with the two of us and gear. If circumstances changed, I could as you noted, raise the gross weight later.

[neville]

I fall into the "stay away from FAA physicals group" so I built a SS7 with 912iS.
When the FAA finalizes the new regulations I will change to constant speed
prop and 1550 gross. The folding wings allow me to keep the A/C at home
(keeps wife happy) and the E-AB status allows me to do the maintenance.
I suspect many individuals will stay with aircraft such as kitfox for reasons
mentioned.