Sporty’s John Zimmerman, who blogs at AirFactsJournal.com, takes a look at the state of general aviation in 12 charts, ranging from the number of airplanes sold, to the age of the pilot population, to avgas production.
He begins by saying: “What’s the state of the general aviation industry? That’s a question we hear at lot at Air Facts, sometimes by prophets of doom looking for confirmation, sometimes by new pilots trying to get a handle on the community they have just joined, and sometimes by outsiders who genuinely don’t know. Unfortunately there’s no simple answer, although plenty of pilots are willing to offer one.
“Answering the question is hard because, for a start, general aviation includes a huge variety of airplanes, pilots, and operations. A powered parachute soaring at treetop level on a quiet evening is lumped in with a Gulfstream flying from JFK to LAX. So an assessment of the industry’s health really depends on which part of the aviation world you inhabit.”
Check out the full blog, plus charts, here, then let us know what you think the state of the general aviation industry is.
Great! Thanks for sharing very incredible and informative aviation facts regarding aircraft activities, pilots, causes of aviation accident which describe through the graphical chats.
The number of drones and drone operators is not comprable to any of the other trained pilot categories. I don’t find stats for drones to be of much interest other than to indicate the danger to fixed wing aircraft from them.
Regarding cost of aircraft – one must adjust the price for a new plane in 2017 for inflation. A $1 in 1960 is worth $9 today. So, are aircraft prices rising at a 9:1 ratio?
Thanks for the data points and pictorial presentation, John. This is very interesting information and sums up what most of us in the industry know. I hope we can all pull together and return “aviation” to its proper place in our economy.