Wow, wasn't expecting that. We all better learn how to say Ni-Hao quickly.

So here's a question, what airplanes are still made in the USA? Aviat and HBC???

Interesting, wonder if those plastic planes (or their parts) will someday don "Made in China" stickers on them?

Maule

I already thought they were made in China . . . .

Count on it.

The more this happens, the more I treasure my "Made in America" bird...

Best,
Rich

The language won't matter because nobody here will be buying any airplanes. This is about an emerging market 100 times the size of the shrunken walnut that GA has turned into here. It's still speculative because the Chinese government is just barely agreeing to open up airspace a tiny bit at a time, but prospects are far better over there.

Personally, I wouldn't bet a nickel on GA in either place. Beyond my irrationally large investment in actual airplanes, that is.

They won't let their people have internet but they're gonna let them have airplanes?

It's an interesting concept and I'd love to see GA get big over there. I wonder what their downside would be though.

Quality will suffer when they replace the carbon fiber and epoxy with wood chips and melamine, at least in interior components.

You're thinking like an American who can still pretend there's no class system here (people like W. Buffett are really good at perpetuating that idea) and that anybody can do anything if they work hard enough, etc. Not so in China; the class distinction are right up front, at least in the big cities. If you're somebody there, you ride around in a chauffeur-driven Audi A6L and deal very little with the commoners. There are a HELL of a lot of somebodies, more every time I visit. None of them care about the internet, but they have sizable appetites for personal comfort and cool toys.

Quality will suffer when they replace the carbon fiber and epoxy with wood chips and melamine, at least in interior components.

Funny thing is... I have an el cheapo Chinese made dirt bike (aka motorcycle), and if it is any indication of things to come from Chinese made aircraft - I ain't buying one! The welds on the frame are sloppy and it weighs considerably more than a similar Honda, Yamaha, etc. Not quality craftsmanship, but brute force over welding. I also can't imagine their quality control for fiberglass layups (and we thought the Cessna wing delamination issue was scarry).

So glad I fly a Beechcraft product made in the USA!

I've said this before: if you don't believe the Chinese are capable of quality manufacturing, pick up a Nikon lens made there. If quality is the goal, they can get there, no question. It just isn't the goal all that often, since their whole export model is based on underselling other countries.

When I was a kid, "Made in Japan" was a synonym for "cheap and poorly made." Might be again soon, but they've had pretty good luck turning that perception around.