Kayberg(at)aol.com
Guest
|
 Posted: Mon Dec 03, 2007 7:38 am Post subject: virtual kit |
 |
|
Hi gang,
This mornings bright idea is: a Virtual kit.
Suppose there was a website, www.kitwitts.com where you could order the items normally found in a kitplane kit? That would include a build video, possibly build notes, parts, assemblies, assistance, etc.
Vendors could pay say $10 a month to list their items and if you clicked on the link, you could order directly from them.
My observation is that we all like doing different things. Some love to build ribs. Some love seats and upholstery. Some do panel/ electric. Some do fiberglass. Some may build complete wings or fuse or whatever. What if there were a few dollars to be made doing it?
As a kitplane seller, let me tell some secrets. First, no manufacturer makes everything. Even Sir Van gets gearlegs from Harmon, etc. Second, the more people who touch the stuff, the more it costs. If you had a Sitka Spruce forrest in your back yard, and the demand was high enough, you could offer the best deal on the planet for wing spars. But by the time our spars get shipped, the price has trippled. Ditto on everything else. It is true that the profit margins are quite low in kitplanes....usually. I aim for 25% with SkyRangers, and my dealers get about half that. Considering the low volume, high risk and difficult customers, it should be 50%. Additionally, a good chunk of my annoying times have to do with chasing suppliers. One supplier with a good price can only be contacted by cell phone and he never answers. I send a check to a PO box and wait for him to call me. Usually on a weekend I get a message to meet him at an interstate reststop and he has the goods....tho not usually the quanity I wanted. By far and away, it is the suppliers that drive kitplane manufacturers nuts!! Now that the Euro has tanked, it is even more of a nightmare. That supplier probably builds the part for less than half the price he sells it to me for. And because I buy it cheap, I actually triple the price....because I need some profit and that is the market price for the item. For our virtual kit, you could buy items without paying for the annoying factor.
So I am suggesting the builder be his own kit manufacturer. I am suggesting that some members of this listserve supliment their income by supplying everything annoying or critical to a succesful Tailwind/Buttercup/? build. Earl has done this to some degree by offering on his website some built parts. Jim C offers plans mods, Brian offers fiberglass, etc. But you have to fight to find the stuff.
I would also suggest mini-builder assist packages. For instance, if you are not a great welder, you might buy tack welded frames or just MIG tack a fuselage and someone would come to your location and weld it all up over a weekend....for a set price. Or if you have a problem setting the wing incidence, someone might offer assistance...for a price. Or a special "motivation weekend" where a couple of "Witts Nuts" come and get your project moving.
As a side note, for some reason, people make aircraft welding into some Mt Everest of a task. I suppose Cy can correct me, but I have a suspicion that few aircraft have crashed because of weld failures on the fuselage. Oh, I am sure there have been some welds fail in critical areas like the control surfaces that have resulted in crashes. I think it would be important to offer "critical kits" ; expert prewelded items that could kill you if done badly.
I think this listserve offers good build advice, perhaps with small contributions from its member it could also offer good parts cheap.
And some might be worried by liability issues. A simple LLC or Sub-S corp can turn away LegalMan. And of course you can require signitures on hold-harmless, release of liability and disclosures of risk documents. The big liabilities are attached to the final builder and even those are not that bad.
Just some thoughts.
Doug Koenigsberg
Check out AOL Money & Finance's list of the hottest products and top money wasters of 2007.
[quote][b]
| | - The Matronics Tailwind-List Email Forum - | | | Use the List Feature Navigator to browse the many List utilities available such as the Email Subscriptions page, Archive Search & Download, 7-Day Browse, Chat, FAQ, Photoshare, and much more:
http://www.matronics.com/Navigator?Tailwind-List |
|
|
|
Get Email Distribution Too!
FAQ
Search
Memberlist
Usergroups
Register
Profile
Log in to check your private messages
Log in
