Crab
Actually you probably have never owned or had to pay personally for owning a machine. Only when you do that, do you actually truly realise that the manufacturers view is, they are doing us a favour in letting them buy one of their machines.
The average manufacturer takes the Michael in what they charge for not only their product but also the parts that go with it
Here are a few examples
Tie bar for a Hu269, basically a steel tube 14 inches ling with 2 welded flat plates 2 inches across. I can have one fabricated out of the best steel for around £ 60, manufacturers price $1350 ...really
Auguta Westland pressure relief switch for AC system 14000 Euros.... for a switch ( no I have got the zero's correct)
A few years ago now SA341 clutch, from factory in Bosnia with no JAA paperwork £ 8k, from Airbus with JAA Form 1 £30k ( by the way Airbus got it from factory in Bosnia, so made £20k on a piece of paper )
MD last year put up the price for a main rotor gearbox from $ 85k to around $125, what other business would get away with it, unless of course it is selling to the military !
Remove the ridiculousness of what goes on in the industry and see what happens ! Too much resistance to change, which unfortunately stifles too many industries
So hopefully we will see a machine that is cheap to run goes like sh1t off a shovel and is made to a higher crash worthiness than any other current machine.
Crab you might even be able to afford one on your mil pension !