As suggested above, it's purely a function of maintenence. As long as the aircraft is maintained as it should be, the aircraft can be flown indefinately. The 172 I currently operate has recently had a rather large sum of money spent on it. It got the ham, cheese and tomatoe. Paint, intereior, engine, the works. It looks better now than it did when it first rolled out the factory door in 1978.
I would still expect it to be operating satisfactoraly in 20 years time, when it will nearly be 50 years old.
The maintenence organisation is the key. Some a very ordinary, most are satisfactory (no better or worse than anyone else) and a very few are exceptional. These are the operators that one must seek out and identify. Happy hunting.
And what will we be flying in 20 to 30 years time?
I reckon the bulk of the GA fleet will be made up of the same Cessna's and Piper's we are flying today. There's nothing on the horizon to replace them.
Last edited by gassed budgie; 15th Jul 2005 at 14:15.