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.