Aviation Marketing Consulting Blog » Light Sport Aircraft

Why I Love to Fly: A Personal Flying Story

Rocco Cipriano — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 16:12:16 +0000

One of the great things about being a pilot is the freedom it provides. Recently, I had to take my daughter back to college. The plan was for me to drive after I finished work on Friday from our home in New York to the University of Delaware. The trip would take us the length of New Jersey before the start of a summer weekend.

The prospect of driving from New York to Delaware is not one I look forward to on the best of occasions, but trying to leave the NYC metro area and driving the length of New Jersey on a Friday night before a warm, sunny forecast, was not my idea of how to start a weekend. I knew full well, as anyone living in this part of the world knows, it often seems everyone in the Northeast is heading for the Jersey shore. A normal five hour car ride can easily turn into ten or more.

But I’m a pilot! I can rise above this congested nightmare of a commute! The solution was simple: fly.

I picked my daughter at 4:00 pm and drove to Panorama Flight Service at Westchester Airport in White Plains, New York, and rented one of their new Cessna 172s with a G1000 glass panel. We took off around 5:30, and a little over an hour later we landed in Wilmington, Delaware, where my daughter’s boyfriend met us. We walked over to Polidoro’s restaurant, right

next door to the airport, had a relaxing dinner with some excellent conversation (with no alcohol). By 8:30 pm, I was in the cockpit heading home.

Looking down as I flew over the New Jersey Turnpike (or rather, the New Jersey parking lot, as traffic was backed-up for miles and miles), I could appreciate the twinkling taillights and headlights as being quite beautiful from 5,000 feet above. Not having to be stuck in that awful traffic made me appreciate the freedom general aviation affords.

Flying… what a great way to travel!

SportCruiser Rebranded as PiperSport

Rocco Cipriano — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 21:54:30 +0000

Piper enters the Light Sport Aircraft Market

Piper entered the Light Sport Aircraft market with its announcement at last month’s Sebring Expo of an exclusive licensing and marketing agreement made with Czech Sport Aircraft for the SportCruiser light sport aircraft manufactured in the Czech Republic. The deal gives Piper a low-wing LSA to compete with the other prominent entry in this market, Cessna’s Skycatcher.

The financial stability of Czech Sport Aircraft was sales killer

In my dealings with buyers considering the SportCruiser, the financial stability of Czech Sport Aircraft company was a stumbling block. The original SportCruiser manufacturer, the Czech Aircraft Works founded by American Chip Erwin declaring bankruptcy in 2008. The company was take over by Slave Capital, renamed Czech Sport Aircraft and Martin Zikes was installed to run the company. Sales still flounder due in part to the global recession and also to linger doubts about financial solvency of the the company. No one wanted to buy a plane from a company that may be out of business in a year.

Piper and Czech Sport Aircraft have hit a home-run

With the deal, both companies may have hit a home-run. Piper gets a one of the top LSA in the market to add to their stable of aircraft without the costs Cessna incurred (and bad press) in development of the Skycatcher. The Czech Sport Aircraft company now has a solid partner in Piper to handle worldwide distribution and sales with an established dealer network.

Piper CEO Kevin Gould introducing the new PiperSport during the U.S. Sport Aviation Expo in Sebring, FL recalled, “Seventy-five years ago, Piper offered an aircraft that was easy-to-learn in, fun-to-fly, and affordable,” Gould said. “The PiperSport has the same characteristics, and it will have the same impact on aviation. It’s a blast to fly, and it will lead people to fall in love with our sport and our industry.”

Will Piper fully embrace an aircraft not actually made by them

One issue I see is how strongly will Piper and its dealers with fully embrace and support an aircraft not actually made by them. In addition, the margins on the PiperSport will be much lower for dealers, who may be much more interested in selling the million dollar Piper Meridians and Matix. Another issue is whether Piper will continue to provide service and support for SportCruisers already in the market.

In spite of these issues, on the surface, with the backing of Piper, the SportCruiser, rebranded as the PiperSport should have a great future.

Light Sport Aircraft at the 2009 Sun ‘n Fun Fly-In

admin — Tue, 19 May 2009 14:25:35 +0000

Contrary to our current economic conditions, the light sport category of aircraft manufactures were highly represented at this year’s Sun ‘n Fun Fly-In, with over 20 manufacturers on exhibit. I personally looked at almost every one of the light sport aircraft on display and came away as probably most prospective consumers – bewildered!!! There are so many choices available in this category; it is hard for the average pilot to determine what makes one particular manufacturer or model better than the others. In addition, the news regarding the Light Sport category of aircraft has not been very positive of late. There have been some hostile takeovers, cash-strapped manufacturers, and fatalities because of in-flight structural failures.
In this kind of unsettled environment, the manufacture that can project an image of stability, credibility and professionalism can win significant marketshare.
Consider that Cessna has already taken 1,000 orders for its light sport aircraft, the Skycatcher, which I found to a rather under-whelming light sport entry. The fact that Cessna has not yet delivered a single aircraft illustrates that brand recognition and Cessna’s reputation are more than enough to get people to buy their aircraft.
The other top manufacturers in terms of marketshare have done so with effective marketing and PR, in spite of the fact that their aircraft have been described as average, abet this comment made by a competitor who has made few sales, is struggling to raise, and in danger of going out of business.
In many industries, the company with the better mousetrap rarely wins. There are so many examples of inferior products that come to dominate an industry, consider this point if you’re reading this on a Windows computer rather a Mac.
Savvy marketing can generate enough sales to overcome the mediocre product.
Make enough sales and your company gains credibility, stability and awareness of its product. Properly managed, this success begins to feed on itself and continues to build momentum which leads to more sales, product improvements, and higher margins, which leads to greater profits and greater success, which leads to more sales, etc. etc.