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> Currently light aviation is kinda stalled because of high costs, safety issues, and noise. That's so vague as to be useless. Part 91 (GA) will always be les

> Currently light aviation is kinda stalled because of high costs, safety issues, and noise. That's so vague as to be useless. Part 91 (GA) will always be less safe than Part 121 (scheduled airliners.) Propellers will always be noisy, since theirs tips approach the speed of sound, whether driven by ICE or electric. And cost depends on the mission and certification. It's "kinda stalled" because transportation is a regulated industry and money-making certificated airplanes are expensive. So you might as well say "always stalled." The only practical use cases for the foreseeable future for electric planes are small trainers and consumer-level drones. Flight schools would welcome an electric trainer under $200k, compared to the Cessna 172 currently at $400+k. FYI: most of the small electric plane prototypes you've read about have been destroyed due to electrical fires. I can think of 2 or 3 in the past year. And the recent wire chafing found in 737 and Embraer airliners makes you wonder if tons of batteries is a good idea or not.

redis_mlc 7y ago
I looked on the cessna.com and controller.com websites for current Cessna 172 prices. For the first time, I couldn't find any, just "Call for pricing." The price I remember from about a year ago was $398,000. Most (nearly all) of their sales included fairly advanced avionics, and I believe they dropped the steam-gauge version. It's an interesting phenomenon that's documented in aviation news and interviews that people say they want low-priced planes, but actual sales are almost exclusively with the most options.
- Gibbon1 7y ago
  You're backing the point that redis_mlc thinks it too vague. The cost of ownership and operation is so high that they're relegated mostly as toys for rich people. And that's a very limited market. The only way to grow revenue is to sell ever more expensive aircraft. Electrics have the potential to reduce operating and maintenance costs enough to escape that trap.

redis_mlc 7y ago

I looked on the cessna.com and controller.com websites for current Cessna 172 prices. For the first time, I couldn't find any, just "Call for pricing." The price I remember from about a year ago was $398,000. Most (nearly all) of their sales included fairly advanced avionics, and I believe they dropped the steam-gauge version. It's an interesting phenomenon that's documented in aviation news and interviews that people say they want low-priced planes, but actual sales are almost exclusively with the most options.

Gibbon1 7y ago
You're backing the point that redis_mlc thinks it too vague. The cost of ownership and operation is so high that they're relegated mostly as toys for rich people. And that's a very limited market. The only way to grow revenue is to sell ever more expensive aircraft. Electrics have the potential to reduce operating and maintenance costs enough to escape that trap.