Within less than a week last month, scheduling placed me at two distinctly different companies, with somewhat similar facilities, both symbolizing a growing confidence in the revitalization of the general aviation marketplace.
I have been in Independence, Kansas, only twice: last year in May, and this year on July 3. Both occasions were for significant milestones that followed victory with the 1994 passage of product liability reform. The word milestone, however, doesn't really describe the significance of my last trip. Cessna had invited us to the dedication of its newly completed single-engine production facility in this small southeastern Kansas town. Fifteen months earlier I had looked at the barren land on the east side of Independence Municipal Airport (IDP) as dignitaries lifted shovels in a groundbreaking ceremony.
During our touchdown and rollout at IDP, I saw a transformation that none of us had expected. The dirt and dust had given rise to three modern buildings, built for but one purpose: to manufacture single-engine piston airplanes. Most impressive was the more than 250,000-square-foot main facility designed to house administrative, marketing, and engineering offices — and, most important, assembly lines for the 172s, 182s, 206s, and Turbo 206s that will be built there.
Over the two years that have ensued since President Clinton signed the General Aviation Revitalization Act on August 17, 1994, many people have asked me, "Is Cessna really serious...are they going to build new piston aircraft?" Standing in the entrance to this huge complex and looking down the production line that will be active as you read this column, one cannot help realizing that it is true.
Under a sweltering Kansas summer sun the dedication took place, hosted by Cessna Chairman and CEO Russ Meyer, who put forth tremendous personal and company effort to battle the powerful Association of Trial Lawyers of America and pass the 18-year statute of repose. While a host of local, state, and federal politicians spoke to the crowd of more than 5,000, most important was the presence of Senator Nancy Kassebaum (R-KS), who stuck with the battle for tort reform for almost a decade and provided the political "touchdown" that allowed us to win the Senate side of the game.
Throughout the day, one person who less than a year ago had no idea that this event would have any personal meaning, smiled from ear to ear. It was Sharon Hauser of San Jose, California, the winner of the 1995 AOPA sweepstakes and the "First New 172." She found herself a celebrity in Kansas, picking the colors for her airplane, touring the factory, and meeting many of the people who will build her Skyhawk.
It was almost 1 a.m. when we re turned home to Frederick, but this historic event was something none of us would have missed.
Less than a week later, I found myself in London, Ontario, Canada, at Diamond Aircraft Company's two-year-old factory. The two-place, fixed-gear, all-composite, single-engine Rotax-powered Katana is built there. This factory also is on an airport, with a beautiful long taxiway that gives the impression that you are driving a car through the woods of the Pacific Northwest rather than taxi- ing an airplane to another 250,000-plus-square-foot facility. Some 250 employees working here turn out an average of five aircraft a week.
Differing considerably from the tried-and-true design of the aircraft we had seen at Cessna just a week before, the Katana is a 1990s airplane that has obviously found a market since its introduction, with some 360 aircraft delivered worldwide, including 140 in the United States.
Diamond President and CEO Christian Dries has designed a full training curriculum for Katana operators. The two-place vehicle's primary market is training, although seasoned pilots can't help visualizing how much fun it would be just to bore holes in the sky with a Katana on a nice day. In addition to entertaining course materials, Diamond showed us one of five full visual simulators that replicate the cockpit in every detail. The company's hope is that flight schools will utilize these sims — priced at less than $80,000 and easily transportable — for both "Learn to Fly" promotions and student orientation on days when inclement weather would ordinarily cancel a lesson.
On past occasions I've visited Piper, Mooney, Commander, and other airframe manufacturers. Whether it is Piper's emergence from bankruptcy with increased production and employment, Mooney's continuing introduction of new models to the market, or new entrant Cirrus' certification efforts, there is definitely an upbeat attitude on the part of the manufacturers.
Airplanes today are pricey, compared to the standards of those of us who remember "the good old days." Manufacturers will have to sell these new airplanes, and the best prospects are new pilots. Building the pilot population is the key to bringing GA back to the climate that some of us experienced in the 1970s. That's why AOPA has been very instrumental in bringing the industry together and, with the General Aviation Manufacturers Association, has formed GA Team 2000. More than 50 founding members already have pledged to work together to increase student starts. The goal is quite simple: to increase last year's 60,000 student starts to 100,000 annually by the year 2000. It's ambitious, yet very achievable; in the late 1970s we had 140,000 student starts per year.
Building airplanes of both familiar and new designs — coupled with getting more people to become pilots — can turn general aviation around.
