Mon, Feb 21, 2011
It was an interesting year for the folks of Piper Aircraft...
and while issues with the vendor that built their PiperSport turned
out to be serious enough to sever the program just a few weeks ago,
it sure showed it had the "right/light stuff" when it came to
working the LSA market.
Pier did some ingenious stuff with the PiperSport program --
including the mounting of one of the first credible social media
sales and support programs in GA... and garnered solid successes in
short order -- even to the point where a PiperSport was sold over
the web early in the program's genesis.
ANN corralled Piper's Director of Marketing, Jackie Carlon, at
the 2011 Sebring Florida US Sport Aviation Expo, where Piper showed
up (even after announcing the program's dissolution) to support the
PiperSport customer and sales base... and to tell us a little more
about what they'd learned... and can teach the rest of us...
about aviation marketing in of the toughest sales environments we
can recall in MANY years.
By the way; we really must extend serious kudos to Piper for
showing up even after the disappointments they'd suffered with the
problems with their vendor, Czech Sport Aircraft. They kept
smiling.
They were consummate professionals. We heard NO sour grapes.
Instead, they answered questions, continued the process of helping
the PiperSport dealers band together to support the remaining
aircraft, and showed the LSA industry what a serious aircraft
manufacturer does... even when things don't go as planned.
More News
Aero Linx: International Association of Professional Gyroplane Training (IAPGT) We are an Association of people who fly, build or regulate Gyroplanes, who have a dream of a single >[...]
NORDO (No Radio) Aircraft that cannot or do not communicate by radio when radio communication is required are referred to as “NORDO.”>[...]
Beyond Visual Line Of Sight (BVLOS) The operation of a UAS beyond the visual capability of the flight crew members (i.e., remote pilot in command [RPIC], the person manipulating th>[...]
Aero Linx: Malibu M-Class Owners and Pilots Association (MMOPA) The Piper M-Class Owners & Pilots Association (PMOPA) is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to the interest>[...]
“After eight months of negotiating, and a failed TA, unfortunately management has not recognized the pilots’ needs. We have expressed to management that we are willing >[...]