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Myth 1 - Composite aircraft can be built with fewer man-hours than aluminum aircraft.

The April 1995 issue of Aviation Consumer quoted Cirrus president Alan Klapmeier:

"...we have low cost as our highest goal. We're not saying it is going to be lighter, we're not shooting for performance, we're aiming for low assembly and low parts count."

The December 2002 issue of AOPA Pilot reported:

"When started, the SR took 2500 hours to build. It now takes 1906 hours of work.

Compare that with these numbers from Beechcraft:

550 hours - Model 23 Sundowner
725 hours - Model 24 Sierra
1,325 hours - Model 33A Straight -tail Bonanza
1,400 hours - Model 35 V-tail Bonanza
2,000 hours - Model B-55 Baron


Source: Internal Beech Memo
Manufacturing Hours Control (July 1980 to May 1981)

Or from Cessna:

MODEL RATE STANDARD ACTUAL
152 6 per day 400 hrs 400 hrs
172 6 per day 450 hrs 490 hrs
182 3 per day 550 hrs 620 hrs
T210 2 per day 1,050 hrs 1,250 hrs
P210 0.8 per day 1,400 hrs 1,800 hrs

Source: Former Cessna Production Manager
From his personal files in the 1970's