A new Cessna 172 costs roughly $234,500 and that's without some of the really cool bells and whistles. In 1956 that same type airplane cost you $8,995 which is even more of a bargain after you do some math. I took a trip to the handy inflation calculator provided by the bureau of labor and statistics and discovered that accounting for inflation the price of the 1956 Cessna today is $70,000. Ok, so I really didn't expect it to scale with inflation, and one can definitely argue that technology and safety are adding a great deal of cost to the airplane but that still seems a little crazy to me.

For some perspective I checked out what a 1956 Dodge cost and it rang in at $2,445. Today, since there's no real equivalent, I'll use a 2008 Dodge Charger that goes out the door for about $35,000 pretty well equipped. Considering that when you put the $2,445 through the calculator you get about $20,000 that seems a bit more reasonable. So what's with the aviation industry? It seems as though we're pricing ourselves right into extinction. The industry is having problems getting new pilots in the door, and General Aviation (GA) is suffering because of it.

So what can we do? Well Light Sport Aircraft (LSA) are trying their best to fill the gaps but even some of those still ring in over $100k. You can build your own, but not everyone has 2 or 3 years to finish that type of project. Used aircraft are probably the best option, in fact that 1956 Cessna is probably out there on Trade-A-Plane somewhere for less than that $70k inflation number. Unfortunately those aircraft incur the uncertainty and maintenance headaches associated with a used airplane. It seems to me like we what this country needs is a good $40,000 airplane... Otherwise your general aviator won't be able to afford to fly anything.