Captain Avgas
Well Known Member
OK, I'll come straight to the point. Without VansAirforce I don't believe that Vans Aircraft would be celebrating their 10,000 flying aircraft milestone at this time...or at any time in the near future for that matter.
When I bought my RV7A empennage and started building in 2004 my choice of kit was influenced by a number of factors. However the single most influential factor in that decision was the level of user group internet technical support for the RV.
At the time I was teetering on the edge between a Glasair Sportsman and the RV7A. In the end it was the level of internet technical support that tipped me over to the RV.
And when I say user group internet support I really mean VansAirforce.net. I began monitoring VansAirforce in about the year 2000 (it was part of Yahoo Groups in those days) and by 2004 it was apparent to me that technical user support for the RV through VansAirforce was vastly superior to the user group support for the Glasair products.
In other words the success of VansAirforce produced a sale for Vans Aircraft.
And my best guess is that I am not alone in this matter. I'd be pretty confident that the phenomenon that is VansAirforce has been instrumental in some degree in the sale of literally thousands of RVs.
In fact VansAirforce became such an amazing source and repository of RV technical knowledge that in 2011 Vans Aircraft decided to ditch its traditional RVator publication. This technical publication was replaced by a Facebook page that now largely consists of first flight notifications and social chitchat.
In December 2012, Flying Magazine called VansAirforce.net "the most vibrant and engaged online community arguably in all of aviation". That's a big call, but I would not dispute it. I believe that VansAirforce has now become the big bright shop-front window for Vans Aircraft. And for Vans Aircraft it is probably a very low cost shop window indeed.
Today it is obvious that many RV builders look to VansAirforce as a first stop for many technical support issues rather than contacting Vans Aircraft for support as they may have done in the past. This will have undoubtedly reduced the pressure on Vans Support despite a growing market thus reducing their overheads.
I'm only guessing but I imagine that VansAirforce might have 40-50 thousand regular viewers. It is truly a phenomenon and it is an enormous ongoing asset for Vans Aircraft for reasons expressed above.
One might argue that the success of Vans Aircraft has brought success to VansAirforce...that VansAirforce has simply been carried forward in the slipstream. I don't hold that view. I believe they have both been integral to each other's success.
So in conclusion, I say congratulations to Vans Aircraft for getting 10,000 aircraft into the air....and congratulations to VansAirforce for its undeniably enormous contribution to that milestone.
When I bought my RV7A empennage and started building in 2004 my choice of kit was influenced by a number of factors. However the single most influential factor in that decision was the level of user group internet technical support for the RV.
At the time I was teetering on the edge between a Glasair Sportsman and the RV7A. In the end it was the level of internet technical support that tipped me over to the RV.
And when I say user group internet support I really mean VansAirforce.net. I began monitoring VansAirforce in about the year 2000 (it was part of Yahoo Groups in those days) and by 2004 it was apparent to me that technical user support for the RV through VansAirforce was vastly superior to the user group support for the Glasair products.
In other words the success of VansAirforce produced a sale for Vans Aircraft.
And my best guess is that I am not alone in this matter. I'd be pretty confident that the phenomenon that is VansAirforce has been instrumental in some degree in the sale of literally thousands of RVs.
In fact VansAirforce became such an amazing source and repository of RV technical knowledge that in 2011 Vans Aircraft decided to ditch its traditional RVator publication. This technical publication was replaced by a Facebook page that now largely consists of first flight notifications and social chitchat.
In December 2012, Flying Magazine called VansAirforce.net "the most vibrant and engaged online community arguably in all of aviation". That's a big call, but I would not dispute it. I believe that VansAirforce has now become the big bright shop-front window for Vans Aircraft. And for Vans Aircraft it is probably a very low cost shop window indeed.
Today it is obvious that many RV builders look to VansAirforce as a first stop for many technical support issues rather than contacting Vans Aircraft for support as they may have done in the past. This will have undoubtedly reduced the pressure on Vans Support despite a growing market thus reducing their overheads.
I'm only guessing but I imagine that VansAirforce might have 40-50 thousand regular viewers. It is truly a phenomenon and it is an enormous ongoing asset for Vans Aircraft for reasons expressed above.
One might argue that the success of Vans Aircraft has brought success to VansAirforce...that VansAirforce has simply been carried forward in the slipstream. I don't hold that view. I believe they have both been integral to each other's success.
So in conclusion, I say congratulations to Vans Aircraft for getting 10,000 aircraft into the air....and congratulations to VansAirforce for its undeniably enormous contribution to that milestone.
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