medical exemption killing LSA

[Racegunz]

Yes a brand new LSA is expensive , but take alook at material cost alone to build one
Tenn- Air is tring to offer a SLSA for 75,000 price range
you are talking roughly 20,000 for the kit /materials , 25,000 aprox for engine , at least 7,000 to 10,000 for avionics thats over 50,00 already with out any labor costs or paint(paint is cost are very undestimated)
Pete`s 750 is very reasanable cost wise . I know the cost of composite material make the composite type aircraft higher
I am not saying they are cheap!! I couldnt afford anyone but Im saying right know at this moment in time with the possable exemtion you have customers that would buy one , holding off and waiting for a ruling and the manufatures are really hurting It seems it has always benn dificult to be in the airplane buisness

HAHA! 75k reasonable? that's funny, I mean really funny!, first off the engines should be 10k not 20-30k the price is SOOOOO inflated,Labor is only high (if it's high at all) because of poor production methods, painting processes are regulated but again it's about the volume and methods, you can justify it because of the overwhelming regulation and legal costs but it still doesn't make it "reasonable". I have a little over 20k in my experimental and I can assure you my building was anything but efficient.

[kscessnadriver]

HAHA! 75k reasonable? that's funny, I mean really funny!, first off the engines should be 10k not 20-30k the price is SOOOOO inflated,Labor is only high (if it's high at all) because of poor production methods, painting processes are regulated but again it's about the volume and methods, you can justify it because of the overwhelming regulation and legal costs but it still doesn't make it "reasonable". I have a little over 20k in my experimental and I can assure you my building was anything but efficient.

Yes, you don't have to carry the insurance a manufacture has to carry, because they will be sued sooner or later.

[martymayes]

I have a little over 20k in my experimental and I can assure you my building was anything but efficient.

But it was educational...

[Kyle Boatright]

HAHA! 75k reasonable? that's funny, I mean really funny!, first off the engines should be 10k not 20-30k the price is SOOOOO inflated,Labor is only high (if it's high at all) because of poor production methods, painting processes are regulated but again it's about the volume and methods, you can justify it because of the overwhelming regulation and legal costs but it still doesn't make it "reasonable". I have a little over 20k in my experimental and I can assure you my building was anything but efficient.

Here's another way to look at it. The kit for an RV-12 is about $70k. That's everything but the paint. It doesn't include any assembly labor. Certainly, Van's and the others in the supply chain have a profit built into the kit price, but I'd look at $70k as the materials cost for a metal LSA aircraft. Add in labor (call it 500 hours at $50/hr to account for shop space, tools, utilities, etc.) plus $10k for painting the thing and you're at $105k before corporate overhead, taxes, insurance, and profit. Looking at it that way, $125k seems like a reasonable retail price for a similar LSA. Not that it is a reasonable value, but it is a reasonable price.

[David Pavlich]

After reading this and a similar thread on a different forum and then reading the FAA regs on blood pressure, I'm beginning to get just a bit nervous. I've been on BP meds for about 15 years which is analopril, 20mg, once a day. It's contolled just fine with the meds. Does this mean that I have little or no chance at a private certification or do I have to find a doc that will pass me as long as I pay a "fee"?

Thanks!

David

[Mike Switzer]

As long as your BP is controlled by meds it is fairly easy, you just need a status letter from your GP, a EKG, & possibly a couple other blood tests depending on what meds you are on.

[Mike Switzer]

Third class exemption is dead? Thats news to me!

The FAA told both AOPA & EAA sometime last summer "No way, No how" yet they keep acting like it is a possibility. Some of the AMEs had a plan using the same standards required for a commercial driver's license but AOPA at least (not sure about EAA) rejected it as too restrictive.

[David Pavlich]

As long as your BP is controlled by meds it is fairly easy, you just need a status letter from your GP, a EKG, & possibly a couple other blood tests depending on what meds you are on.

Thanks, Mike. I'm also on a staten, Vitorin 10/20, and take a physical once a year. As a matter of fact, I do my blood draws this Tuesday and the physical the following week (not FAA, just my yearly deal :-)). My liver function, a critical test for anyone on a staten, has been fine. My BP is fine on the meds. Still, this makes me just a bit nervous. I'll still start the lessons when the time comes and just hope that the local FAA approved doc is ok. Maybe I ought to go on a diet now that the holidays are over. Well, after Carnival season, maybe.

David

[zaitcev]

The question was raised many times before. The official line from the leading LSA manufacturers is that they'll be all right, competing with other makers of new airplanes. Even Icon may win with this, by taking a certification route, while keeping their customers.

[Hal Bryan]

The FAA told both AOPA & EAA sometime last summer "No way, No how" yet they keep acting like it is a possibility.

You guys do realize the third class exemption is dead? DOA? Nada? Not happening?

Not true. The exemption is still under review by the FAA as we published here:

http://eaa.org/news/2013/2013-01-10_...on-request.asp