[GabAlmighty]

Originally Posted by Timpo

Ok you're fucking idiot.

Airplanes have to go through air law...get approved by FAA, Transport Canada, etc.
It's not like cars where you can pretty much invent whatever you want. This is why cars get advanced so fast.

This is the primary reason why Cessna, Piper and all the other small airplanes use engines from 1950s technology. They're all like lawnmower engine. It's not controlled by ECU.
You have to adjust mixture, carb heat, everything by yourself.

It would cost them couple million $ for each technology they want to get approved. (Fuel injection, automatic mixture, etc)

This is why Lycoming still sells "lawnmower technology" engines.
Otherwise they would have to sell it as a "non-certified" engine so that aircraft can be registered as "Experiment Aircraft"

Originally Posted by Timpo

Also, $250,000 that you're talking about is AFTER they paid several million $ to get approved. The cost to produce that auto pilot isn't nearly as high.

Just look at Cessna(certified aircraft manufacture) and VansAir or Lancair(Experimental Aircraft Manufacture).

For $100,000+, you can only get a Cessna 152(although they have 162).
Whereas for that price, if you go to Lancair, you can get way more sophisticated aircraft that can cruise at 250kias instead of 100kias like Cessna, pressurized cabin, etc. because they get to save money on approval.

This is why (certified) Aviation GPS would cost at least $8,000-$10,000, whereas for cars, you can find one for $100-$200.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA