Mooney article in this month's Flyer

[Fuji Abound]

I can also guarantee you that the size or value of an advertiser makes no difference to opinions/conclusions in the reviews.

It is good to know journalism hasn’t succumbed to commercial pressures – at least in aviation circles at any rate. Mac McClellan in Flying recently commented that despite Eclipse pulling all advertising he didnt change his view that the aircraft would not succeed.

The TB20 and Mooney occupy niche markets for a reason. If the aircraft ticked the majority of the boxes (and to be fair to the TB20 we must consider the GA environment at that time, which was quite different from five years ago, as will the market be quite different for the next five years) they would have sold in volume.

For good or for bad Diamond and Cirrus have sold their aircraft in volume – they have identified a product pilots or flying schools want and capitalised on the market in a way neither Mooney or Socata were able to. In short speed alone does not sell aircraft nor does FIKI and nor does speed and FIKI.

As to glass there is much merit in your views IO, however I suspect glass is her to stay. It is far easier to design an aircraft around glass and the manufacturing costs of an integrated panel are significantly less. I have also found very few pilots who do not prefer glass once they have given it a fair trial. However don’t be deceived into believing it is complicated. As you will well know IO Garmin’s incarnation is really little more than the traditional black boxes tied together via a CPU and an LCD. Swapping out the modules is easier than with a conventional panel so although the cost may be higher initially as volumes increase inevitably prices will fall.