Page 7 - Aerotech News and Review, Aug. 6, 2021

Light sport aviation aims to break cost barriers
by Larry Grooms
special to Aerotech News
MEXICO, Mo.— Even as world media focuses on the rich and famous pursuing dreams of space tourism, out here on a rural airport about 90 miles west of St. Louis, a small company is working to make the thrill of light sport aircraft flying avail- able and affordable to middle-income people.
Zenith Aircraft Company, an independent, pri- vately-owned company formed in 1992 by the late aeronautical engineer and designer Chris Heintz, continues to be owned and operated by the found- er’s son, President Sebastien Heintz.
In an exclusive interview with Aerotech News and Review in early July, Sebastien Heintz talked about the history, growth and future prospects in light sport aircraft manufacturing. While home- built aircraft, registered with the X for experimen- tal, have been constructed and flown by the thou- sands for decades, introduction of the Light Sport Aircraft category for “pre-fabricated airplanes” to be assembled by buyers, came in response to what was seen as a steepening death spiral for the general aviation industry in America.
General aviation piston-engine airplane sales began a steep decline in the late 1980s, as five- figure prices for new Cessna, Piper and Beechcraft planes rose to mid-six figures. The general avia- tion legacy builders responded to the downturn by building fewer single and twin models and relying on growing sales of corporate twins and jets to those who met the quarter-million-dollar threshold for ownership and operations.
Cost increases were driven primarily by product liability lawsuits. The General Aviation Revitaliza- tion Act of 1994 brought some relief by limiting
product liability for items built 18 or more years before an incident. But ultimately the manufactur- ers were still paying up to 30 percent of the price of the airplane for insuring against liability.
That concern led to passage of the Small Air- plane Revitalization Act of 2013, the intent be- ing to cut red tape and some regulatory rules that made building and maintaining small recreational airplanes unaffordable.
The legislation resulted in amendments to Fed- eral Aviation Administration Part 23 requirements going into force by 2018.
What all this means is a question for folks stop- ping by the Zenith Aircraft Company and other Light Sport Aircraft exhibits at the Experimental Aircraft Association’s (EAA) AirVenture in Osh- kosh, Wisc., July 26-Aug. 1 .
So, what’s the price of a Light Sport Aircraft?
Heintz would explain that the price of an LSA depends on what the buyer wants and needs in performance, optional equipment, instrumentation, powerplant, and — most importantly — the pure joy derived from flying, an ultimate expression of human freedom. Steeped in the principles of busi- ness and marketing, Heintz says general aviation traditionally misunderstood what motivates private plane buyers. “People buy airplanes for the same reasons they buy boats, because it’s fun, not be- cause it’s less expensive.”
He scoffs at any notion that light sport airplanes are for utilitarian personal transportation. And owning a pleasure boat, it turns out, costs about the same as a light plane.
Prices of Zenith kits start at around $17,500, with middle of the market kits beginning around the mid-twenty-thousands, and top of the line kits opening just over $32,000
Photograph by Larry Grooms
Then there’s the question of how soon you want it? Unless buying an aircraft already assembled by another light sport owner, the buyer is also the builder of at least 51 percent of the pre-cut, pre- drilled wings, tail assembly and fuselage.
Some buyers start with just purchasing the plans and coaching on what’s involved, buying next sec- tions of the plane sequentially. Heintz says some- one experienced in working with sheet metal and tools would begin with a lead, but almost anybody who can follow directions can do the job, with
consulting available from Zenith to get over any rough patches. The basic tools are a blind rivet tool and screwdrivers.
In what Heitnz called the Eight-Day-Wonder at Oshkosh in 1976, Zenith assembled a complete aircraft kit at the EAA gathering. On the other edge of that experience, Zenith’s website features an interview with a pilot who leisurely assembled his Zenith aircraft over seven years, and then flew it
See ZENITH, Page 11
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