Punctuated equilibrium, a theory that evolutionary biologist Stephen Jay Gould popularized, holds that evolution isn’t a slow, gradual march toward change but, rather, a high-stakes series of dramatic breakthroughs that push the limits of the species toward their ultimate expression. The same is true, I’ve ventured, for the most popular aircraft configuration—the piston single. This type makes up the vast majority of the GA fleet, and for good reason. They’re less costly to make, and therefore to own, they’re relatively simple to operate, and they get the job done. Since the rise of the Piper Cub (not featured here) in the mid-1930s until the market dominance of the Cirrus SR22 today, the segment has seen no end of remarkable innovations, many of them in aircraft you’ve probably never heard of.
