The customer is always right 
Silvaire wrote:
The customer is always right
I do recall SWA insisted on the standard 737 instrument layout on the EFIS version and got it too. In fact, in the sim we have, we can actually configure it that way. It looks outright funny.
As opposed to the normal layout
My only interest in airliners is that they deliver me a couple times a year to a place on the other side of the world in 12 hrs or less, and that I can sleep while they do so.
There are still new aircraft being designed and certified but most fit niche markets.
In France we still have Robin (just about) but we also have Elixir and Issoire aviation have the D20Lionceau D30 Lion D40 Simba and they are currently certifying the D50 which is an aerobatic machine.
Sales of any of them will not be huge, not like Cirrus, Cessna or Piper but they could have the credentials to meet the French club market which is their target market.
Older aircraft do have to be replaced within the clubs and for many the choice is limited by price, maintenance (parts availability and supply) and fuel. Plus the problem of modernising or updating older aircraft to meet today’s needs, can be virtually impossible. You can renovate an old Robin to make it look brand new but you cannot add the most up to date avionics and instrumentation which makes it difficult to take advantage of the CBIR and the BIR.
I should add that most of these newcomers are based on Rotax engines which are cheaper to replace, maintain and fuel, here.
Peter wrote:
GA works perfectly as a means of transportation1hr flight versus a pretty crappy 4hr drive, or most of the day spent on trains.
Indeed, a friend of mine today flies a delivery for his company. What takes 3:30 round trip even with the PA28 he is flying would take 11+ hours in a car non-stop. That makes a lot of business sense even with today’s cost situation. (He is delivering sensitive equipment that he doesn’t want to entrust to a regular shipping company.)
Mooney_Driver wrote:
For the very same reason, there can’t be any new Mooney, even the latest Ultras were still M20’ties with a bunch of mods, there won’t be any Piper to replace the Cherokee and there is nothing to replace the 172 or similar concepts. It just does not make financial sense. The SR20/22 is as far as I know the most recent totally new designed certified airplane which made it past semi-bancruptcy to a success. The Columbia/Corvalis was similar, but also it’s parent went bust and got sold to Cessna.
The DA40 was certified the same year as the SR22. But we’re talking IFR tourers, you have a point. Otherwise there are lots of recently certified designs.
Silvaire wrote:
Here BTW
Where exactly? Which airports are you talking about?
Airborne_Again wrote:
The DA40 was certified the same year as the SR22
True. And as far as I know those two companies are the only ones who made it through certification of a new airplane in recent years without bancruptcy, even though Cirrus was close at some stage. Diamond is a story in itself and I have to admit that not many companies or concepts carry a name so deserved. Both Cirrus with CAPS and Diamond with Diesel engines did ground breaking stuff and both are deservedly successful.
gallois wrote:
In France we still have Robin (just about) but we also have Elixir and Issoire aviation have the D20Lionceau D30 Lion D40 Simba and they are currently certifying the D50 which is an aerobatic machine.
The French aviation industry has always amazed me, how they rise up, die and rise again from the flames. Actually, someone should invent a company with a phoenix logo. It would fit.
Personally I feel France is one of the few nations who really made a difference in terms of airplane design. I loved the Caravelle, which was a true winner, truely ahead of everything else at the time. Concorde… legend. The Mercure, father of the A320. Robin, Morane, Sud Aviation, Breguet, Dassault, Socata, Daher, Thales, the list goes on. Those companies came, died, rose again stronger, died again, daring, going further than many dared. Sometimes also quite recklessly and playing the aviation game of thrones violently if they needed to, but today, Airbus is the culmination of all the French aviation efforts.
In Ga: The Rallyes, the Jodels, the Robins, the SOCATA fleet and the TBM, plus of course the Dassault family of biz jets.
And one more reason France demands respect: They do their thing and don’t give a damn what others think. Looking at their GA, it appears they are doing the right thing for their people. Which is a lot more than can be said for many other countries, also in Europe.
