Embarrassing. All week the Cirrus display was overflowing with people and the Beechcraft area was deserted. I love my Bo but the new one is totally obsolete compared to the competition. 8 Bonanza sales this year vs. almost 400 Cirrus's. Same for Cessna's.

Dan

Textron has a large area there, with a couple King Airs, a couple jets, 172, a Baron, and a Bonanza.

I walked through their area, pausing and looking at each plane; nobody paid any attention to me.....at all. Several Textron people were talking to each other.

It’s sad.

The Textron reps were are friendly and accommodating folks, but they can only work with what they are given. Cirrus is selling a lifestyle and an experience. Music, videos, things going on in their tent at all parts of the day. Textron came to Oshkosh, a GA event, with a commuter cabin mock-up of the new unpressurized twin they are building for FedEx in its tent?!? And any Beechcraft swag they had was emblazoned with Textron on it as well. I fear the days of Cessna and Beechcraft branding are limited.

This is the part of Oshkosh that absolutely boggles my mind.

When I go to trade shows I'll often hide my badge and move quickly past most booths so I don't get bombarded by sales people.

You can spend 15 minutes in many of the major manufacturers displays at Oshkosh examining every intricate detail of their airplanes and have no one approach you at all, even when most of the folks "working" the booth aren't engaged with anyone. That's bananas! The one exception is Cirrus.

I've no idea what the investment is to get everything to Oshkosh and pay for the space, but they ought to set aside 2% of it to train their people to approach ANYONE who walks into their space to at least acknowledge their presence.

FWIW, same thing for me at Hartzel.

I am very interested in a composite prop - Hartzel is developing one for the Bonanza crowd.

I would prefer to buy from Hartzel for a variety of reasons (as opposed to MT).

Went to their booth and was well-dressed (that should not matter).

Made an inquiry; the gent said so and so was not there but to come back.

I did about an hour later; the so and so gent was there.

I announced myself and said I would like to speak about the progress of the new composite prop b/c I wanted to buy one.

So and so said he would "be right with me."

I sat on a chair doing emails for .5 hour w/o further contact from the guys in the Hartzel shirts (including so and so) who were chewing the fact w/ each other.

After that left.

I will not be back.

Ever.

It's been the same way every year for many years.

Now you know what everyone else knows....hartzel sucks...

Once they threw in the towel and gave up on the TTX / T240 / Corvalis, etc. that was pretty much the ball game. They’ll sell their 172s to the Flight Schools but other than that, there is no commitment and little interest in the SE market.

Thanks to Burt Rutan, I made my choice between aluminum and composite construction in 1987. After finishing the kit, I have been very pleased with the performance, economy, and beauty of my fiberglass airplane. One thing I didn't consider, though, was resale value. It's a crime what Lancairs are selling for.

Agreed. Also, the cirrus - wow! Went back to ait in their planes three times. Incredible interiors. Makes the g36 feel very, very cheap (fit and finish).

It would help if you use real numbers.

2018 deliveries of piston singles:

Beechcraft: 15
Cessna: 192
Cirrus: 380
Total: 771

2019 has only one quarter reported so far from GAMA:

Beechcraft: 1
Cessna: 35
Cirrus: 66
Total: 154

While Cirrus does sell more piston singles, they haven't quite reached 50% market share, and Cessna sells more piston singles than people realize.

Mike C.

I was in the Cirrus tent today and a group of Textron employees came over to say hello to the Cirrus reps. They were asking about after party’s etc. Shortly after I stopped by a Kingair on display and the employee present was a ferry pilot not a salesman.

I'd rather talk to the ferry pilot anyway.

The absolute worst was piper. They had zero knowledge of the plane they were sitting beside.

Mike what are the delivery numbers for piper? They don’t even show in your list, so am I to assume it’s zero??

Far from it. Piper is #2 or #3 in piston single deliveries typically.

2018 deliveries of piston singles:

Cirrus: 380
Cessna: 192
Piper: 134
Beechcraft: 15
Total: 1047

2019 has only one quarter reported so far from GAMA:

Cirrus: 66
Piper: 42
Cessna: 35
Beechcraft: 1
Total: 241

(My previous total numbers were US manufactured only, updated to worldwide)

Data source:

https://gama.aero/facts-and-statistics/ ... -billings/

Mike C.