1) Unfortunately not. In airplanes, just as important as how much weight is in the aircraft is where that weight is. 230 lbs is the maximum pilot weight regar

1) Unfortunately not. In airplanes, just as important as how much weight is in the aircraft is where that weight is. 230 lbs is the maximum pilot weight regardless of how much weight is in other parts of the plane. 2) By far, the single biggest factor in the price difference between us and a Cessna is the engine. Twice the horsepower is needed to fly the Skycatcher, but that translates to an engine cost of 3-4 times our engine. Historically speaking, engines have always been the price hog that keeps airplanes so expensive. 3) You are right on! This is a big reason why we are able to offer such good instrumentation while keeping our price down - the technology is so much better and cheaper than it was 10 years ago. These days entire airplanes are being run off of iPads with a couple hundred bucks of apps downloaded to them. I will say, the entire concept of "aviation grade" seems to be abused a lot in the aviation industry. I think airplane component manufacturers have gotten away with charging outrageous premiums for their products because of their perceived complexity. LSA has helped out a lot in lifting this veil. I think the aviation industry kind of sees us as a great case study in the direction of the market. If we succeed, the competition for more affordable airplanes will finally start heating up, and we'll start getting a slew of really impressive low cost airplanes. I genuinely can't wait. Flying is the coolest thing humans do besides explore space, and 100+ years since the invention of the airplane, you'd think a lot more people would be flying by now.