Why don't plane manufactures update their models?
- Thread starter A_User55555
- Start date
4WD
$50 site donor 2024
As @Kuato said, it costs a lot to certify a new airplane (or engine). For GA prop planes they don't sell enough to justify that cost and make it back. @y_p_w said brand new isn't much different from a decades old model. That's true. In fact the older model often has better performance (payload, speed, efficiency) since it has the same engine & airframe yet is lighter.
Experimental is where it's at for innovation. Most are lighter, faster, more efficient and less expensive than certified airplanes. Yet the difference isn't huge, and comes with greater demands on owner time & effort, and doesn't have quite as good safety record as certified.
Experimental is where it's at for innovation. Most are lighter, faster, more efficient and less expensive than certified airplanes. Yet the difference isn't huge, and comes with greater demands on owner time & effort, and doesn't have quite as good safety record as certified.
I find the 2 semi loads of food they're loading into it more impressive!
John Denver had a pretty bad experience in one.
Poor preflight and little familiarization got him, it had nothing to do with an airplane malfunction.
I get it. However, whoever built it customized the fuel tank switch, That's always a danger with those things. Kind of reminds me about things I've heard of former Soviet era helicopters where everything might be in a different place depending on who assembled it.
I did see an episode of Northern Exposure where Maggie the bush pilot decides to build a kit plane. Her boyfriend (I think - or was it maybe the ex-Marine pilot she consulted with) comes by and protests when he finds that she has leftover parts and didn't follow the instructions precisely. But then the FAA inspector checks it out and says she did a better job than most.
It's done quite a lot in the rest of the world. Easiest example was the Nissan Tsuru B13 Sentra that was a 1990s Sentra sold until 2017 in Mexico for only $7000. They also sold first gen Golfs and Jettas in South Africa, along with 90s or so Toyota Corollas. Mexico I think still sold the MKIV Jetta until very recently, too.
Toyota South Africa
Discover Toyota South Africa, a leading automotive brand. Explore Toyota vehicles, services, and career opportunities in South Africa.
www.toyota.co.za
This Is The Cheapest Car In China
This little beauty is the cheapest car in China. It is called the Jiangnan TT. It is manufactured by Jiangnan Auto, a subsidiary of Zotye Automobile. The list price of the TT starts at 20,800 yuan but dealers offer a 5,000 yuan discount, and that brings the price down to [...]
www.forbes.com
Everyone argues the ethics that newer vehicles *should* be safer, etc, but I'd make the argument it's better for poorer people to be able to buy old cars in new metal for cheap like that, and not have to deal with rust and the general points of failure of just being old, even if crash safety remains the same.
Regarding Checker Cabs, Japan did exactly that with the Toyota Crown taxis.
Toyota Comfort - Wikipedia
Early 1990s Toyota Crown kept in production for taxi use only until 2017.
Understanding the problems of introducing new and improved aircraft engines...
Studebaker! Seems like a good idea to me (who thinks automotive styling passed its high-water mark many years ago).
I think automotive designers should have been shot when they brought out that ugly Scion XB. That rolling box looked like it was designed by a kindergarten class, with stick men as drivers..... Or Chipmunks like the Chuck E. Cheese commercial.
I agree with you, but there are lots of complaints about the lack of a refresh of the styling of the Tesla Model S and Tesla Model 3. And there have been lots of invisible upgrades.
