James Fallows wrote an interesting book a decade ago called Free Flight. Part of the book covered the dismal state of general aviation, resulting from a death

James Fallows wrote an interesting book a decade ago called Free Flight. Part of the book covered the dismal state of general aviation, resulting from a death spiral in which product liability suits played a prominent role. The rest of the book is about attempts to revive the industry. So, yes, this is about a stagnant industry that has invested little in engineering over the last 50 years or so. Most general aviation aircraft have a lot in common with cars in Cuba. With that context, I took some of the comments in the article as being directed not at the conservatism not of manufacturers, but of owners doing retrofits and experimental plane builders.