KITPLANES Magazine Survey Comparisons

Survey Year:

 1986 1989 1992 1994 1996 1998 2002
Ownership:
Own an aircraft 31% 51% 57% 47% 56% 46% 58%
Own two or more aircraft n/a n/a n/a 34% 40% 45% 34%
Own Experimental aircraft 22% 53% 58% 61% 68% 63% 58%
Own certified aircraft 84% 62% 55% 54% 53% 48% 48%
Own an ultralight n/a n/a n/a 11% 18% 14% 14%
Total aircraft owned n/a n/a n/a 55,805 76,844 78,724 63,620
Aircraft Building Plans:
Building/plan to build 61% 46% 78% 69% 65% 58% 58%
Plan to build single-place 22% 18% 17% 16% 20% 19% 19%
Plan to build two-seat 67% 71% 69% 40% 58% 62% 66%
Plane to build four-seat 4% 5% 10% 11% 16% 18% 13%
Undecided n/a n/a n/a 33% 3% 6% 4%
Construction Materials:
Tubing/fabric 14% 18% 38% 39% 21% 20% 21%
Composite 47% 33% 33% 35% 29% 40% 26%
Metal/aluminum 26% 29% 28% 29% 23% 26% 46%
Wood 13% 11% 19% 18% 15% 35% 12%
Engine Size:
Under 65 hp 13% 13% 20% 19% 17% 13% 11%
65-100 hp 33% 33% 36% 27% 28% 29% 30%
101-200 hp 45% 45% 35% 45% 38% 45% 44%
Over 200 hp 9% 9% 9% 9% 16% 13% 13%
Conventional Engines: 65%
Continental 13% 13% 16% 16% 18% 15% 21%
Lycoming 37% 37% 35% 52% 48% 52% 49%
Rotax (four-stroke) 13% 13% 36% 25% 25% 14% 12%
Rotax (two-stroke) n/a n/a n/a n/a 18% 23% 9%
Other: Franklin, LOM, etc. n/a n/a n/a n/a 9% 19% 8%
Auto Coversion: 35%
Volkswagen 13% 13% 46% 37% 21% 19% 12%
Ford 3% 3% 11% 2% 8% 3% 2%
Mazda 3% 3% 11% 12% 10% 3% 5%
Chevy/Corvette 1% 1% 9% 4% 6% 10% 3%
Buick/Oldsmobile 3% 2% 5% 6% 2% 1% 1%
Subaru n/a n/a n/a 23% 21% 24% 19%
Other n/a n/a n/a n/a 14% 17% 4%