From a comment in response to our story, “10 best selling piston airplanes in 2023,” reader David Duffer writes, “Add up the three models of Cirrus and you realize they are the serious driver of the piston market. I understand Beech has mothballed the Bonanza assembly line. I question if this level of production is enough to even sustain General Aviation. Thank goodness that Van’s looks like it will be exiting bankruptcy intact.”
I suppose it depends on how you define General Aviation, but aircraft manufacturers who report to the General Aviation Manufacturers Association (GAMA) delivered 1,682 piston-powered airplanes in 2023. (Of note: GAMA reports total 2023 airplane shipments at 3,050 and helicopter shipments at 1,020.)
According to ByDanJohnson.com contributor Steve Beste, 850 light sport aircraft were also registered in 2023. Baked into those 850 registrations are 451 experimental LSA.
Together, that’s more than 2,500 piston-powered aircraft. Perhaps there are aircraft that appear on both lists, but the number is likely minimal.
And of course there are also non-LSA experimental aircraft.
Yes, we are far removed from the years when annual deliveries totaled in the high four digits or low five digits.
A Statistical Data report (Page 8) from 1976 on the GAMA website shows 11,852 U.S. General Aviation Unit Shipments by eight companies in 1965. In 1966, 10 companies delivered 15,768 aircraft.
The plane I fly was one of 35,000 reportedly built in 1946, according to the same report. Airplanes just don’t seem to wear out as quickly as cars.
And not every aircraft manufacturer reports their deliveries, so the number of new aircraft delivered and/or registered is likely higher than the reports from GAMA and Steve Beste combined.
As for sustaining General Aviation, accidents, hurricanes, tornados, hail, and myriad other reasons take many airplanes out of the airworthy inventory.
But all the data I’ve found seems to point to a General Aviation inventory just over 200,000. And it has been there for a few decades.
Looking ahead, the FAA’s latest aerospace forecast predicts the general aviation aircraft fleet will increase each of the next two decades.
So, it would appear the General Aviation segment is sustaining itself — even as the aircraft category and class mixes are shifting.
And yes, I’m also happy Van’s Aircraft appears to be getting back into shape.
I am pleased to see Steve Beste’s work get attention. He’s been a source — really the only source — for LSA and Sport Pilot-eligible kits for more than a decade. He has carefully built and refined his data process (he’s a retired computer engineer) to make the highest quality reporting of this sector.
Homebuilts are by far the largest growing sector of aircraft for sport aviators. I’d also bet that they are better maintain and flown more often than the aging Part 23 spam-cans that are wasting away in T-hangars an on ramps all across the country. One of the biggest problems new aircraft owners face is finding an affordable hangar, anywhere. Perhaps the old planes no longer flown should be evicted? A healthy airport needs active aircraft owners.