Guest Howard Hughes Posted May 22, 2012 Share Posted May 22, 2012 Have always wondered why trikes are so expensive... On the face of it they would seem to be some of the most simple flying machines available, so why are they so expensive? Am I missing something? To me they should be about half the cost that they are. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
facthunter Posted May 22, 2012 Share Posted May 22, 2012 Because they are so well made. have a good look at the construction. The Rans planes are too and they are a bit more expensive than most. The Gazelle was over 70K when new and that was a lot of money then. I guess if they were made in China they would be about 1/3rd of the price. The Cessna Skycatcher is made there and the price just keeps going up. What are they now 150K? Nev Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fly_tornado Posted May 22, 2012 Share Posted May 22, 2012 airtrikes.net makes cheap trikes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Crezzi Posted May 22, 2012 Share Posted May 22, 2012 What other Australian made, factory built, 4-stroke LSA would you get for $20,000 ? http://www.airborne.com.au/pages/ml_t-lite.php Cheers John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tomo Posted May 22, 2012 Share Posted May 22, 2012 Have always wondered why trikes are so expensive...On the face of it they would seem to be some of the most simple flying machines available, so why are they so expensive? Am I missing something? To me they should be about half the cost that they are. I wonder the same Mark, I think half of the price is the engine though... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fly_tornado Posted May 22, 2012 Share Posted May 22, 2012 Vassili from Airtrikes reckons you can build a trike for about US$15K, 2 seater with 100hp Suzuki engine. the biggest ticket items are the engine, gearbox and prop. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Crezzi Posted May 22, 2012 Share Posted May 22, 2012 There is no shortage of cheap trike vendors but their products aren't generally tested or certified to any standard that would be acceptable in Aus. The best most of them could be used for is possibly as a 95.10 single seater. The testing & certification process is a significant proportion of the cost of a trike as is the costs of becoming and remaining an NAA approved manufacturer. Cheers John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Tarran Posted May 22, 2012 Share Posted May 22, 2012 Because they are so well made. have a good look at the construction. The Rans planes are too and they are a bit more expensive than most.The Gazelle was over 70K when new and that was a lot of money then. I guess if they were made in China they would be about 1/3rd of the price. The Cessna Skycatcher is made there and the price just keeps going up. What are they now 150K? Nev Latest Sport Pilot has "new" Skycatchers for $170K inc GST Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest davidh10 Posted May 23, 2012 Share Posted May 23, 2012 The Airborne trikes are built in two versions. One for the overseas market (LSA) and the other for the home market (Primary category Certified). CASA does the certification. That does not just mean a CofA, but all the materials (not a once off, but each batch), design and build processes as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Howard Hughes Posted May 23, 2012 Share Posted May 23, 2012 I wonder the same Mark, I think half of the price is the engine though... That is what I figured Tomo, even second hand trikes I have seen advertised for $55k+, although they do appear to be higher end models. You can buy a barebones Xenon gyro for $39,500 Euros (about $52k, although was $50k only a couple of weeks ago) it uses the same 912 engine and it is also a certified machine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest davidh10 Posted May 24, 2012 Share Posted May 24, 2012 ...You can buy a barebones Xenon gyro for $39,500 Euros (about $52k, although was $50k only a couple of weeks ago) it uses the same 912 engine and it is also a certified machine. So is that an LSA Certification or a Primary Category Certification? It could be either, but I believe the difference in cost is substantial. See here for different certification categories. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Howard Hughes Posted May 24, 2012 Share Posted May 24, 2012 I'm not sure, I'll see what I can find out. I still think Trikes are on the expensive side, given their simplicity! In my opinion they should be sub $50k ish... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark11 Posted May 26, 2012 Share Posted May 26, 2012 I bought a second hand low hour 582 X series for a very reasonable price. Go second hand and get a. Good deal Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guernsey Posted May 27, 2012 Share Posted May 27, 2012 I bought a second hand low hour 582 X series for a very reasonable price. Go second hand and get a. Good deal Hear hear, there's a good one on the forum at the moment in SA. Alan. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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