4,000

[Ironflight]

This might surprise many, but I don?t really like ?writing?. I can?t type or write as fast as the thoughts flow through my head, and that makes it a little tedious. However, I love ?Having Written?. I like to see when a comment I make sparks thoughts in another. I enjoy sharing the few things that I have learned with others. Most of all, I love being a member of (and contributing to) a community ? even a virtual one ? where like-minded people share ideas and knowledge. And that (to me) is what VAF is really about, why I spend time on the computer visiting, and how I give back to the homebuilding community. Back when I owned and flew a Grumman, I wrote a lot for the American Yankee Association newsletter, and while that was both fun and rewarding, the instant feedback that I get from writing in an online forum is so much better. Writing for print is ?transmitting in the blind?. Writing in a forum is actual communication!

I have mused many times over the nature of the ?RV Community?. Especially interesting to me are the number of RV builders and flyers that I run in to around the country ( and world) that don?t even know about ?Vanairforce.net?. Yet that is perfectly OK - they are themselves members of other vibrant RV communities in their local area, and sometimes on-line. To me, this says a lot. Van?s aircraft have inspired many people to share their lives with other people. Other builders at their airport. Other flyers in the regional area. And other enthusiasts throughout the world. VAF does not, and should not replace all of the interpersonal relationships and regional activity groups that exist across the planet ? yet because of it, these varied groups have the ability to stay in touch with one another, to cross-pollinate ideas and news, and to come together for larger activities once in awhile. This is the local watering hole, the city square where people come to spend a small amount of their time to find out what is going on everywhere else, and bring this information back to their own region.

I started coming to the VAF forums when Doug started them mostly because I was tired of the text-only formats of the existing Yahoo groups. The software here was great, you could include pictures, and the response time was phenomenal. All of that has improved over the years, getting even better (although anyone who has climbed the picture-posting learning curve will admit it is as much a right-of-passage as drilling that first hole in your finger!) ? but the real growth has been in the character and culture of the on-line RV community. I am pretty old-fashioned in the way I see people ? I am a Midwesterner who believes folks to be good, and I like to practice what has been referred to as ?Minnesota Nice?. Folks might laugh, but it is how I was brought up ? and generally what I find here at VAF. Be nice, be thoughtful, contribute, and get out of it more than you put in as a result!

I am not the world?s greatest airplane builder ? there is so much more to learn! But I have a certain expertise in aircraft system?s conceptual design, risk management, and flight operations. I share those ideas with others as I soak up building techniques from those far more skilled than I. I try and share my experiences in flying the Valkyrie around the country, and am thankful that I had teachers that encouraged me not to ignore the English language in my pursuit of my technical interests. And mostly, when I am reading and writing here on VAF, I try to imagine that I am sitting with friends in front of an open hangar, watching the sunset on a perfect airport evening. I am trading stories and ideas, and keeping things civil ? because it is very hard to be uncivil when you are face to face with someone that shares such a deep common interest as aviation. I picture the faces of those I have met, and for those I have not, I see their avatars (a somewhat scary thought!), and try not to embarrass myself (or others) in public. And I am thankful to everyone that forms the VAF family for spending a little time away from their local friends and regional groups to come to this common ?watering hole?, this meeting place in cyberspace, to share what is going on between the many small communities that make up the RV world.

Paul