AOPA Pilot Magazine - March 2008 - (Page 125) AOPAPILOT 50 years The GA fleet— through the decades 50 years of GA airplanes BY DAVE HIRSCHMAN P ilots have always been a progress-oriented crowd. So, some of today’s headlines about the general aviation fleet—had pilots from 1958 been able to read them when the first AOPA Pilot rolled off the press—likely would have enthralled them: “Future Pilots Navigate By Satellite” “Cockpit Computers Show Maps, Weather, and Traffic” “Very Light Jets Become Air Taxis.” Other recent developments, however, might have confounded them: “New Airplanes Made of Plastic with Fixed Landing Gear” “New Trainers Built In China” “Skyhawks, Bonanzas, and Cubs Still Produced in Twenty-First Century” “Average Age of GA Piston Fleet Exceeds 30 Years.” Mid-twentieth century pilots, like other Ameri- CHRIS ROSE The Super Cub helped make Piper a household name in the 1950s (top). Cirrus is one of today’s success stories—its SR22 had outsold other models by the close of 2007. AOPA PILOT • 125 • MARCH 2008
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