I hope the best for them. That being said, and I know the development = of an engine, especially with FAA certification, is an amazing = expense. I have always had serious concern regarding their seeming business= plan. When I first started paying serious attention to them, IIRC , they were looking at the low= $30,000 range for the 190-200 hp model. While I thought that was high to c= ompete with a Lyc , I figured they took that type of th= ing into consideration and figured it would work out. As time went by I understand the price ballo= oooooned to $60k <yikes>.

I was lucky that I got one of their intakes (through the efforts of my= buddy Dave Staten) back when they toyed with the experimental market. = ; That avenue seemed to have dried up ages ago. It always seemed to m= e that some sales is better than no sales....and my intake was kinda pricey at just over $2k . For me it was worth it as my and Dave's= attempt were and would have been less than stellar. The Mistr= al intake is beautiful, IMAO.

As has been stated, it seems that some sales in the experimental marke= t, perhaps in the mid/high teen price range (donno if that is realistic, but a new engine is only around 6k from Mazda...add on there special stuff...but still donno ), especially if, as p= urported, they were using some Mazda parts (housings, rotors, eshaft= ??) for DEVELOPMENT (My intake fits my 2nd gen turbo nicely).= Seems as if this would have been a GREAT way to wet the appetite of a potentially willing marke= t while providing some cash flow and proving themselves. I do un= derstand some risk with unique installations and the possible PR (or possib= le civil liability) damage of others mistakes when using your product. However, most products incur some ri= sk and much has to do with how it is handled and mitigated. As is, un= til new information/money is found, they are dead in the water . Seem= s I saw a picture of some intakes etc sitting in a warehouse collecting dust.....again, it seems, collecting cash is better than collec= ting dust. I know when I practiced law full time as a solo practition= er, cash flow was critical. It could keep me up at nigh= t....now as a cop, cash flow is usually steady. I sleep better now <g>

I hope they were not victims of the pride/arrogance that can accompany= engineers who KNOW they have the best technology and product.....and/or&nb= sp;pressures from investors....thus assuming the price point will.....uh, f= ly...so to speak <g>

So it goes.......

All the best,

Chris Barber

Houston, GSOT

From: Rotary motors in aircraft [flyrotary= @lancaironline.net] on behalf of Steve Thomas [glasair2@me.com]
Sent: Thursday, June 10, 2010 7:21 PM
To: Rotary motors in aircraft
Subject: [FlyRotary] Re: Not surprised, but stilldisappointing...Mis= tral dimise

It's not over yet. I had a nice chat with the CEO of Mistral the= other day and, while I cannot disclose the content of the conversation, &n= bsp;I can say that it is not completely over yet. Stay tuned. A= s I have one of their engines, I will be watching this very closely. If anything comes up that i can share, I will do= so.

Best Regards,

Steve Thomas

____________________________________________________= ___

On Jun 10, 2010, at 1:28 PM, Chris Barber wrote:

Gee, I wonder if they will sell inventory/parts to= us side intake types. I do have their intake already and like it.
http://www.aopa.org/aircraft/articles/2010/100609mistral.h= tml

All the best,

Chris Barber
Houston, GSOT

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