J

Jasonm

Well Known Member
I wanted to post some info I received from Chris at Aveo about the new ZipTips they are producing for the RVs. If you haven't seen them yet check out http://www.aveoengineering.com/index.php/products-1/ziptips-premiere-for-vans-and-f-1-rocket. I've been keeping an eye on these and it looks like they'll be coming to us in January.

Here is his reply-
Production molds are being finalized now and will be freighted to me within the next couple of weeks. Your Ziptips will be available for purchase in January 2015. We will not be selling the retrofit kit as it is not economically viable to produce as well as creating a tech support nightmare for me for those guys who are lacking in fiberglass experience. I shall keep you posted. Please see attached for pricing.

Jason
 
been following this product for what seem like 3 years now, i'll believe it when i see it! glad they are making progress, i heard of supplier delays, redesign, etc, etc, i've exchanged emails with the CEO a few times, and still, nothing until I see this today

any news is good news at this point
 
Jasonm said:
We will not be selling the retrofit kit as it is not economically viable to produce as well as creating a tech support nightmare for me for those guys who are lacking in fiberglass experience.
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Interesting. Building the entire wingtip somehow makes the production economically viable, whereas building only part of it does not?

VERY cool looking lights. I'd certainly be interested in a retrofit. Seems like a potential customer base of almost 9,000 flying RVs aren't going to be able to take advantage.
 
me too...but

Yes, I too have been following along since early 2012. I really like the product - from what I have been able to see. I am hoping the price comes down because I don't know if I will be able to commit $2,990.00 for the set of wing tip lights...as nice as they seem to be. I was hoping there would be a grandfathered price for those that have been patiently waiting. :rolleyes:
 
I got the same message after signing up number 8 for RV-10 tips at Oshkosh this year. They are on the second version of the design and I will say the guys were very nice to talk to. Their communication via email has been less than stellar, and it's really frustrating. I was told 8-10 weeks from Oshkosh, and now we're hearing January. Let's keep our fingers crossed. I'm not in a hurry, which helps, but their customer service is next to terrible for having such a great looking product.

The retrofit they decided would be too difficult for folks to install, as it would involve a lot of fiberglass work on the tips and they don't have the support network in place to handle the inquiries. So I was told.
 
majuro15 said:
...Their communication via email has been less than stellar, and it's really frustrating. ...their customer service is next to terrible for having such a great looking product.
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And it's always been that way, and doesn't seem to have gotten any better. I went through this same experience with everything I ordered from them directly...long, long delays, failure to return emails, etc. Very frustrating, but they *did* eventually finish the products and ship them.

Fortunately, some of the items I wanted were available from ACS, which helped, but yep...their customer service leaves a lot to be desired (along with the poor way of announcing a product "soon" and then having it drag on for years until it's finally released).

ETA: I am, however, quite pleased with all of the products I got from them...lights, switches, etc. Very nice products...once they finally get around to shipping them! :)
 
I agree and also vouch for their quality. I snagged all the rock rack switches i need for my build and also have the posimax strobe which is very nice. I got to lay eyes and hands on the ZipTips and almost went blind. The quality is there. I offered to come run their customer service department ;)
 
bkthomps said:
been following this product for what seem like 3 years now, i'll believe it when i see it! glad they are making progress, i heard of supplier delays, redesign, etc, etc, i've exchanged emails with the CEO a few times, and still, nothing until I see this today

any news is good news at this point
Click to expand...

Agreed. I'm not holding my breath any more, I went ahead and ordered Duckworks kits and cut my leading edges. The Ziptips did look like a very cool product, but between the seemingly endless production delays and the high price, I decided to go with a more standard setup.
 
I and a few other builders (I think we are the folks who ordered them at Osh this year) received an email last night from Christian about the tips. He apologized for the long delay on development but stated they wanted the design to be high quality and fault free before production begins. He spoke of some issues with the boards on the original design when I talked with them at Osh. He repeated the timeline of late January, as a shipment of initial tips and the molds are on the way to the US. After this initial set of orders are filled, the molds will be used to produce product here in the US.

Still cautiously optimistic, however, I'm getting less cautious and more optimistic!
 
January looks good

I have had some dialogue as well. AVEO may be slow but the product will not be released until it is correct. I know some have concerns about the price. Lets break it down.

Tip prices from Van's for a 7 = $247 x 2 = $494 (remove this from Finish kit order)

The price of the Zip Tips $2990 - $474 = $2516 or $1258 per tip

This is not bad considering that everything but mounting the tip on the wing is done. Further if you are using the VP-X the wigwag system wiring is simplified. Also, since these are LED's there is no need to separate landing and taxi lights. Have them both on all the time when in use!!! This is a lifetime guarantee on extremely bright noise free lights.

I had the the AVEO 6 in 1 light system on my first 7. They were extremely bright and noise free. Although the landing/taxi lights were more than adequate the new lights are going to be even brighter. In fact, at Oshkosh they had to dial down the lighting so not to aggravate other vendors when demonstrating:eek:

We have AVEO position lights on the helicopter I fly at work. I can tell you they are brighter than anything out there and COMPLETELY noise free.

Be patient grasshoppers:) These lights will be worth the wait and the cost.
 
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krw5927 said:
Seems like a potential customer base of almost 9,000 flying RVs aren't going to be able to take advantage.
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Why not? It couldn't be that hard to retrofit an entire new tip to the wing, could it?

The only real issue I see with it is needing 10 wires to each wingtip... :eek:

RV7Guy said:
The price of the Zip Tips $2990...
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Correction... I see *two* issues with them. :eek:
 
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