4 ms·
So you're saying the next big thing is indie aircraft?
by navls 11y ago
So you're saying the next big thing is indie aircraft?
- dogma1138 11y agoThat literally will not fly, at least not in the commercial space.
- dredmorbius 11y agoPerhaps not in commercial space, but given liability structures in private and small aircraft, the situation for quite some decades has been that innovative design has largely emerged in kit aircraft. I recall discussion of this when John Denver died in the crash of his experimental airplane in 1997.
- dogma1138 11y agoYou still need to pass quite a bit of regulation for private aircraft because you know if they fall they can kill more than just their pilot. Kit aircraft can only be licensed as "experimental" under FAA rules AFAIK which quite limits the potential customer base which is quite small to begin with.
- dredmorbius 11y agoUnderstood. Point being that manufacturer liability means that there's been exceptionally little innovation in basic private aircraft (e.g., Cessna, Piper) for decades. Your basic designs date from the 1950s/1960s. Private jets, somewhat less so, but still pretty conservative.
- dogma1138 11y agoThere's also very little profits in the market, most aerospace companies that sold aircraft to individuals have died, all business jet makers have also died. Learjet wen't bankrupt, it's now owned by Bombardier, Gulfstream is owned by General Dynamics and even before that it had to shed much of it's design and manufacturing capabilities and had to license the designs for their most popular jets like the G100 and 200 series from Israel Aerospace Industries.
- dredmorbius 11y agoThanks for the additional info. I didn't realise the business jet space had consolidated. Most of what I know about Lear is Chrystal Shanda.