A Squared said:-
Have you got an aircraft certificated in the Normal Category which has a larger cabin than the C172, and can go further and faster with more load than the 172 on less fuel at half the purchase price?
How Embarrassing! I should have checked before posting.
You are correct. Jabiru factory built aircraft only come in the LSA category and so in Australia are limited to 600kg gross weight. I suppose it should be of some comfort to know that the same aircraft if built in the experimental category has a 100 kg higher gross wt (and one site said 160 kg more.) The only difference between the two would be the word 'EXPERIMENTAL' written down the side.
So what do we have. As usual nothing is simple in aviation.
1 We don't have a C172 equivalent
certified normal category aircraft.
2 If you don't want to build it yourself we do have a factory built LSA 2 seater
J230D with a wider cockpit and a lower fuel burn. Other parameters are much the same as the 172 except fly away price ex Bundaberg. $106,450 Aus or $82,966 USD
3 If you are keen on building you could build in the experimental category a J450 four seater. for around $90,000 AUD ($69,300 USD)
Then for ...... Dah Dah......not half the price, not a quarter the price but about one fifth of the Cessna price you could own a new aircraft that does all the things highlighted above.