All hand crafted production pays off in small volumes. This is independent of materials. Modern ultralights are made of everything from tubing and fabric, to wood, aluminium, carbon fibres etc. The Atec aircraft for instance. The Zephyr has a carbon skin body and wood/fabric wing. Their Faeta has the same carbon body, but also carbon wings. I would say there are more 50-60 year old aluminium or steel tube frame aircraft flying than 50-60 year old wooden planes. Wood does not like changes in climate, either it has to stay dry, or stay wet. If it changes between wet and dry, it will not last.
We had a C182 with the SMA engine, absolutely brilliant! Of course, most of the flying was in Africa so for our ops it was a game changer. I agree the maths are not so clear if you’re flying around Europe (and even less so in the US).
Only plane I’ve ever flown where we’d often go 3 or four flights without refuelling, just kept on going…
Cheers, Sam.
Aart,
great interview with the guys at Robin. I find I very much agree with them.
There are lots of businesses in Europe who, like us, put priority on healthy survival rather than on growth. If we were going after a growth for growth plan, we would seek at competing with Cessna, Cirrus or the like. To do that, we would have to become like them. Instead, we remain small and distinctive. However, we did grow by territory. We were born in ’57 to address the French market, and our ancestor airplane was a homemade. But now we sell and service in 8 European countries.
I honestly buy that. Healthy survival with a small but steady production of new airplanes and servicing the existing fleet. That is what makes a manufacturer interesting to those who are interested in a family like environment, where everyone from the factory to the end customer have one common interest: to keep and improve a well proven design and take it further without “word domination” fantasies. Exactly that is the reason I am also very happy with the folks who do the same for the make I fly.
I like it if a company is open to the extent that if I have a question, I will get the answer not from a call center employee but from the guy who made the thing or has been taught by the guy who originally made it. Sending a question to a factory about a very basic thing and getting an answer from the very guy who takes each new airplane up first and knows them inside out is different than from a tech support chap.
I like Robin. I was very interested in their HR100 design, almost bought one. They do their thing slowly but steadily and have their well deserved following. I know of two clubs here who just decided after long evaluation to go for the Robin Diesel to replace older models. In one case, it even replaces a much newer design which proved not to be adequate for training as they hoped it to be.
Xinjiang Tianxiang Flight School in northwest China is doubling its fleet of Diamond DA40 trainers to 30 airplanes.
A real boom that is Shorrick 
Has Diamond sold enough to afford a booth at AERO this year?
I heard something about two booths this year.
13 hours per day per aircraft, that’s almost 5000 hours a year. I don’t believe a word of that.
compression ignition diesel engines
Just like spark ignition otto engines 
Isn’t that the old SMA 230HP flat four?
