State of the industry

[WaiexN143NM]

Hi all,
Not sure if you all have seen the situation at vans aircraft, but please go to their website and see the video
from. DVG.
http://www.vansaircraft.com

also blake from flyboy accessories has a new you tube video
‘state of the biz- cleveland aircraft tools’
http://www.youtube.com
type in subject.
flyboys bought out cleveland tools this year.

many kit companies had a yr wait list during covid.
supply chain issues, price of materials has skyrocketed, shipping charges way up.
many companies staffed up to meet demand.

it seems now that things are slowing. vans had a perfect storm crop up , mainly a lcp laser cut parts issue
where thinner sheet with holes near the edge were laser cut instead of punched or cnc.
when dimpled and or then riveted cracks appeared. heat from laser cutting changed the properties of the aluminum.
the thread (lcp) on VAF. vans airforce has been locked . a third have been removed. as you can tell there are some very unhappy customers. trying to see what parts were laser cut , who got what etc.
many sub assemblies have been built and may be affected.
they also had a batch of quickbuild kits assembled in the philipines , but they started using a primer that was causing alum corrosion. many airframes had to be scrapped. This alone was a multimillion dollar loss.
vans is struggleing, flyboys is struggleing.
ive bought many accessories over the years from vans. , flyboys, and from lanceair glasair etc.

i hope the other kit companies are hanging in there. i guess if theres a time to buy parts, accessories, kits , subassemblies , tools, etc. now is the time. its in our best interest to help them out.
i surely hope sonex is doing ok. things have been very quiet all year.

winters coming, time to get back to building . happy veterans day to fellow vets.

RIP Frank Borman (nov7) billings mt. , 95, gemini 7, apollo 8. Nasa. CEO Eastern Airlines.

WaiexN143NM
Michael.

[WaiexN143NM]

Hi all,

If you havent seen or watched it, a good video posted on www.sonexaircraft.com,
dec. 14th, on the state of the kit industry.

Thanks to Bryan Walstrum, Experimental Aircraft Channel.

Panel includes:

Mark Schaible. Sonex aircraft

Randy Schlitter. Rans aircraft

Sebastien Heintz. Zenith aircraft


Good roundtable discussion. Thanks for the inside info on the kit industry.


Good luck to Vans aircraft as they navigate chapter 11.


Video is 1+16. so grab a beverage.


Happy holidays and be safe.


WaiexN143NM
Michael.