or a front engined car..... nevermind.Does Porsche need to offer an SUV? Oh, wait.....nevermind .
Does Porsche need to offer an SUV? Oh, wait.....nevermind .
Is Vans ever going to put out a high wing kit?
I'm waiting for a biplane.
If Van offered a high wing kit, they would corner the kit plane market. They have the kit plane process figured out. I would like to have a slow flying high wing bush plane with van's design.
I am all for a fast high wing. So that all us old farts can climb in easier. Not to mention the flyers that are somewhat handicap. I read stories were old pilots had to sell their RV 3 because they just could not climb in anymore; this is sad.
why folks keep wondering if Van's will ever put out a high wing kit.
It's not their forte. There are other manufacturers that do. People, go look there! Lot's of em!
Does Ferrari need to come out with a mini van? Does Jack Daniels have to come out with a beer? Does Vegas need to cater to children? Oh, wait, they tried that. Didn't work.
What happens at Van's stays at Van's baby! Let it be!
With that logic, Johnson & Johnson should just sell baby shampoo and nothing else. 3M should just sell post it notes and not expand into anything else. US automakers should just go back to selling nothing but black cars. And Airventure should just be a handful of guys with Pietenpols and nothing else.
Just keep the status quo and never change. Sounds like the old USSR and East Germany. You can buy any car you want, as long as it's a Trabant.
Wait, SONEX is making a jet and nothing of the sort is coming from the Vans Skunkworks? Instead of talking about Porsches lets talk about jets! I'm sure if Sonex can do it Van can do it better. Do I send my deposit to Doug or Van?
Change is not good if you can't make money at it. There are also plenty of example of companies going out of business because they changed to things outside of their strengths. Just looking at product, McDonald's no longer sells the McLean, Lockheed no longer makes commercial airliners, Ford no longer makes garden tractors.
But will sonex ever sell enough to recoup development cost? Vans is a business that is unwilling to increase prices (for customers benefit) of existing products to fund the risk of some they do not think will make them dollars. Remember they are the masters of a very thin margin and therefore can not afford very much risk.
How do you know what Van's accounting is like? Are you their CPA?
Change is not good if you can't make money at it. .
So let me speculate about a 'high wing' Van's aircraft. My opinion, Van's has done about all that they can with two person low wing aircraft except design and sell kits for a second high wing LSA or improve existing kits. So the high wing that I visualize will be a four place hauler with at least a 250 HP engine. Maybe a 'round' engine. @ 450 HP or a small turboprop.
Something that will be fast enough to move four people plenty fast with at least four hours of fuel. High lift type wing too. Something that the people who want to build a float plane or land on rough fields or haul heavy loads or parachutists will either build himself or have built for him. A 'working' machine primarily.
so, kitting up a Glastar sportsman type bush plane would require the -9 or -14 wing! ......and a super cool retro split door like on a cub, so you could fly with yer arm hangin out...and get at the stuff in the back. (no CAR doors please!)
I think the CH750/850 answers the question of what a bushplane looks like with a nosewheel, so forget that option!
Ruined the marque....
[ed. Couldn't agree more! But, sometimes, a company offering a product that at first look might not seem like a good idea turns out to be a home run. The following 'Porsche SUV' example is somewhat parallel to the hypothetical 'Van's high wing'.
My hopefully humorous point was that once they started offering the Cayenne (SUV), it became 31%-57% of their total N.American sales over 12 years. Wondering out loud if Van's high wing offering would do same.... Hard to argue with a 31-57% increase in sales... The Porsche 'SUV' was nearly 45% of their sales in 2011 - almost 13,000 sold in that one year (in N.America). Yep.
source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Porsche#North_American_sales
V/r, dr]
***Edit*** Yeah yeah, I know. Sales went up. But with that vehicle came the end of the racing program, the end of an era where every Porsche released was track worthy. Even the 996 (that era's 911 version) was released with a caveat that it wasn't ok with extended cornering loads. In other words, it wasn't a sportscar (they since fixed that after a meltdown from the masses). Dr Ferdinand did a few dozen backflips in his grave that year. For me, the new company direction took away the passion that used to be Porsche and created another volkswagon in it's place. The passion was replaced by sensibility. I'll admit, there is still one in my garage...but only because it's a highly massaged track beast that fits me and my driving style too well to let go of. It took me a decade to get it handling exactly how I want it...so it's hard to let go of. I won't buy another Porsche though...when one day my ambition exceeds my ability and I ball it up in turn 12 at Road Atlanta (I just know that's the one that will get me one day). The company just doesn't think like me anymore. Perhaps the soccer moms they are marketing SUV's to will end up being as loyal as the racers they replaced. A dozen of my friends who all used to race with me in PCA are now racing Mazda's or BMW and none of them would consider coming back. My problem of course is that I'm one of the group that the new Porsche turned their back on....it's entirely possible that the new group is just a better business model than we were but that doesn't mean I have to like them. I still give the Porsche mini van's a look of disdain and don't even get me started on the station wagon.