----- Original Message -----
Sent: Thursday, January 30, 2003 9:34
AM
Subject: [LML] Re: Kit Business
Future
Rob writes:
"so we know where Lance got the $$ to
personal invest
more in the Bend company..now, how about a two seat
something with a turbo prop williams TSX-2.... hmmm..."
I appreciate
your viewpoint, Rob, but I respectfully disagree. I have said for many
years that Lance should stop coming out with design after new design, and that
he should finish the earlier projects in deference to the loyal buyers that
have already spent money with him.
Look at all of the money that has
been pounded down a rat hole in the form of new designs and abandoned
projects.
In my own case, the manual was never fully completed
in the five years that we spent building our LIV. But, new and promising
designs seemed to take precedence over our needs.
To the new
owner--stick to the core business. Don't try to be a pioneer. You
know the old saying about how to tell a pioneer--the one with all the arrows
sticking out...
Give the builders manuals with digital pictures if this
has not already been done. Give them accessories that they would love to
have--such as window bezels to aid in their interior finishing, to name
one. Give them accessory sunshades that work. Give them instrument
panels that open up for easy component replacement, perhaps modular three-part
panels with the center module on tracks. Give them
adjustable seats such as I have in my plane. Sell them fireproof
carpet. Sell them Carbon Fiber oxygen tanks (mine weighs 12 lbs fully
charged). Send them a new catalog once in a while... And
when you make revisions to your manuals, highlight the change on the
page so the builder can focus on what has changed.
In short don't try
to redesign the wheel. Lance has done a wonderful job with his basic
designs--it is just that the LIV and 320 are already complex planes with much
improvement still to be done.
Make small improvements that will bring
income to your company, while at the same time will facilitate the tedious
tasks confronting your loyal builders that have already spent
money.
New owner--I consider your new venture to be
exciting. You start it off with a smart and loyal core of people that
have been tremendously helpful to us early builders. Never have I seen
such a great group of employees. Give them attainable goals that will
make them feel successful, and you will succeed in your new
endeavor.
David Jones, Pecatonica, Illinois