A sign of the new prosperity on the Asian continent is the increase in the number of Private Pilots in China. It's estimated that about 1000 new private planes are needed to fulfill the demand of the emerging trend in private aviation.
Diamond Aircraft is planning to open a manufacturing entity in China to build as many as 500 small aircraft per year for both the Asian and US markets. This follows Cessna's announcement that they would be building the C162 Skycatcher in China.
Granted, in relation to the number of non-airline pilots in the US, China's pilot population is tiny - the actual numbers are not published. But the Chinese government anticipates a surge in both private and business aviation in the years to come and training companies such as PanAm have entered the new market looking for the next General Aviation frontier.
The upside to this is that Chinese aircraft quality will benefit from the increased investment in high-tech manufacturing and industry oversight. The downside is that more jobs will leave the US in favor of the low labor costs associated with the Chinese workforce.
Don't let foreign interests upstage us! Support the rebirth of GA - keep our skies safe and affordable and keep building aircraft in the good old USA.
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