La Rochelle, France-based Elixir Aircraft is making steady progress with its EASA-certified, two-seat, molded carbon fiber aircraft, ramping up production and expanding its facilities. In this podcast recorded at Aero 2023 in Friedrichshafen, Germany, Elixir co-founder Cyril Champenois discusses the company’s expansion plans, accomplishments and where the aircraft fits in the current market.
Badazz looking plane. Lovely. I hope there’s a market.
There will be. Unless they price themselves out of said market. Like what Cessna did with their ill fated 162. Another 2 seater that failed miserably….
When this project was first announced, the low parts count was touted. Most assumed this would translate to lower costs, but this seems not the case, as the basic version is $300k.
After all of these year of watching GA aircraft hit the market at a price much higher than initially claimed, it seems to me that if manufacturing a reasonably priced certified GA aircraft were possible, someone would be doing it by now. For whatever reason, whether regulatory burden or liability concerns, it seems GA is destined to slowly fade away in a flurry of dollar bills, leaving the realm of things accessible to the middle class.
So in 1975 a Pickup Truck cost $3609 average, today it is $48,000. Apply that ratio to a new Cessna 172 in 1975 at $16,055 and today a Cessna 172 should cost $213532 but they start at $432,000……why double? General aviation will continue to flop not fly.