Avionics News July 2013 - 59

Measuring Flat
In 2007, the General Aviation Manufacturers Association
reported some 4,277 new aircraft deliveries worldwide. In
2012, that number was halved, to 2,133. The “good” news
from GAMA in 2012 was that a whopping 13 more aircraft were delivered when compared to the previous year.
In those aforementioned “normal” times, 13 aircraft would
be a rounding error, not an expanding market.
Also in 2007, the Federal Aviation Administration
counted an active general aviation fleet of 231,606 aircraft, up almost 10,000 from the year before. In 2010,
however, the last year that final FAA data are available,
the number dropped by 8,000 aircraft, to 223,370. Estimates for 2011 and 2012 show only slight increases.
The point is that the general aviation market shrank
during the past five-plus years, impacting many industry
segments. Are there any bright spots where avionics shops
might find a new market? Yes, actually, there are.
According to the Experimental Aircraft Association,
“The amateur-built aircraft fleet has shown the most consistent growth of any aircraft category in the U.S. during
the past 20 years, even during recessionary periods.” And
the EAA has the data to support that statement. The EAA
shows a net increase of some 500 experimental, amateurbuilt (E-AB) aircraft in 2011, the last year that complete
numbers are available. However slight this growth has
been in recent years, it’s still greater than sales by certificated aircraft manufacturers tracked by GAMA. In other
words, 500 is greater than 13.

Differences
But E-ABs are “different.” They’re designed, built, regulated and maintained separately from the “store-bought”
aircraft that the average avionics shop probably is familiar.
They don’t come with the same kind of “official” paperwork,
and the equipment in them isn’t standardized. That’s true to
a great extent. But for many owners and builders, that too
is a feature, not a bug. And E-ABs are attractive for other
reasons: A modern “homebuilt” like a Van’s RV-10 is comparable to a Cirrus SR22 in performance. Their builders are
equipping them with an SR22’s capabilities – or better – but
using different and less-expensive products designed and
sold to meet different standards. A new RV-10 can be built
and equipped with the latest and greatest for far less cash
than it would take to put a new SR22 in the hangar.

“… the ability of builders and owners
to mount avionics lacking FAA approval
means the avionics shop technician
confronting a problem or performing an
installation may encounter equipment
that he or she isn’t familiar.”

But perhaps most important for our purposes, the ability of builders and owners to mount avionics lacking FAA
approval means the avionics shop technician confronting a
problem or performing an installation may encounter equipment that he or she isn’t familiar. And the fact builders and
owners lacking formal training may perform maintenance
and modifications on their own E-AB can mean the mother
of all troubleshooting tasks.
Still, an avionics shop wanting to expand its business in
the present economy could do a lot worse than looking at
the E-AB market. What else might that shop be getting into?
To find out, we spent some time with Kirk Fryar, president
of Sarasota Avionics. Fryar’s company does enough installation and repair work at its three Florida facilities that there’s
usually a waiting list. Sarasota Avionics also has developed
a significant presence on the Internet to market certified and
experimental products, plus portables, and the company is a
fixture at major fly-ins and airshows around the U.S.
According to Fryar, his operation does 10-15 percent of its
business working on E-ABs or supplying parts, components
and services to their builders. He said perhaps the first challenge a shop will encounter when expanding into the E-AB
market is understanding that a start-to-finish installation
likely isn’t in the cards.
“If we get the airplane in, it’s usually a repair,” Fryar said.
“They can’t figure it out, or they can’t make it work the way
they want. And that’s when we step in, usually, to help fix the
problem.”
Continued on following page

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Avionics News July 2013

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