A plane in every garage? It's getting closer

“I think flight is much more accessible than ever,” said Lee Brinley, 47, a financial analyst from Carol Stream, Ill., who recently fulfilled a lifelong dream by buying a $300,000 Lancair kit plane.

People who can afford small planes are able to avoid the lines, inconvenient schedules and increased security checks of flying on commercial airlines.

“That’s why people are buying their own planes — they found a way to take command of their lives,” said Bruce Holmes, who founded NASA’s Advanced General Aviation Transportation Experiment, which is trying to widen the use of private planes.

The growth is also partially a result of a 1994 change in legislation that created an 18-year statute of limitation on lawsuits against makers of small airplanes. Until then, investors scared off by the prospect of unlimited liability had stopped backing these small manufacturers.

James Fallows, whose book “Free Flight” explores the future of private aviation, thinks there will come a time when it “will no longer be the playground of the super rich.” As more people fly and more planes are built, the price will come down, said Dale Klapmeier, the co-founder of Cirrus Design in Duluth, Minn., a company that like Lancair and Wichita, Kan.-based Cessna Aircraft Co. has helped bring the glass cockpit to small, singe-engine aircrafts in the last decade.

“The next big challenge is to get the cost to the Ford Taurus or Honda Accord level. It’s years away, but it can happen,” Holmes said.

Still, the idea of a plane of every garage is one that some experts think is farfetched.

“It’s a charming fantasy,” said aviation analyst Richard Aboulafia, a vice president of the Teal Group in Fairfax, Va.

“It’s just like driving a car,” he said sarcastically, “except that you have to be a pilot.”

And then there’s the cost. Huntsman spends around $8,000 a year just to insure the plane for herself and a co-pilot. That doesn’t count the cost of gas, hangar rental and maintenance.

Still, manufacturers argue that the industry has turned a corner that could allow private aviation to expand sooner rather than later.

“It’s really easier to use than a car — plus there’s no other cars coming at you,” said Bing Lantis, CEO of Lancair Certified.

It’s certainly no big deal for Huntsman’s children.

“They’ve flown so much that they think it’s boring. Taking a road trip — that’s an adventure,” she said.

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