REFLECTOR: The redesigned Velocityxl.com website

[Andrew Ellzey]

Good work Brett, Be sure and add me to your list of users.
 
Andy Ellzey



----- Original Message ----
From: Brett Ferrell <reflector at velocityxl.com>
To: Velocity Aircraft Owners and Builders list <reflector at tvbf.org>
Sent: Sunday, April 27, 2008 5:28:18 PM
Subject: REFLECTOR: The redesigned Velocityxl.com website

I wanted to announce our newly renovated Velocityxl.com (and n44vf.com) website.  I hope to make it the ultimate resource for Velocity builders, owners, and fliers (outside of the factory site), and I think there are a bunch of features that folks will be interested in, including more non-building content and a greatly improved navigation system.  If you have suggestions for additional content, please let me know!  Here are some highlights of the new features:


Databases
I've created a Velocity owners and Airplanes database from a variety of publicly available sources (FAA database, Sport Aviation and Kitplanes Completions entries, Velocity Views, etc.) including owner name, address, email, builder's name, model, gear type, airworthiness date, engine, prop, and pictures of airplanes and pilots, and other data where available.  NOTE:  Although this information is all publicly available, I've decided to require a login (email me for this) for the database functionality to protect folk's privacy.  I simply ask that you provide me with updated information on your kit/aircraft to help improve the data quality to gain this access.

The database search page also displays current Velocity fleet information, such as total number of sold kits, flying aircraft, number in construction, and number destroyed or de-registered.  There is also a "mobile" version available for small-screen-formats, so you can lookup N-numbers on your phone or PDA, and contact the owner from the flight-line!

Also, there's a searchable KPC database so you can quickly find the KPC #'s relevant to your particular kit, and a text overview of the change (you should still see the factory site for the complete KPC with drawings, etc.).  


Publications
I have pulled together a large collection of articles and publications related to the Velocity for folk's enjoyment, including the articles announcing the XL, the XL-5, and Turbo Charlie as well as pieces covering the solution to the Deep Stall issue and development of the 173 wing.  Note that copyrighted content is also only available after logging in for obvious reasons.

Velocity Views    - The complete and searchable PDF collection, courteous of Rick Lavoie
Sport Aviation    - 23 articles from 1985-2006
Kitplanes         - 17 articles from 1991-2007 (NOTE: Reprints are no longer available from Kitplanes!)
Custom Planes    - February 2000
Air Progress     - April 1988 "Pilot Report"

Flyways          - 2003 Article about Kevin and Brooke Stiener's 'Deception'
Grass Field Tips - From "Waiter", and experienced Long-ez pilot

Canard Pusher    - Deep Stall article
IFR Requirements - EAA's thoughts on IFR requirements
Buffalo Forge    - Article on exhaust augmentation


Forum
Check our forums, which offer all of the Reflector messages online and searchable, displayed by conversation thread, and with new-messages-since-last-visit shown first for quick browsing.  Now you can check the reflector from anywhere-the house, work, the FBO, your phone, or while you travel.  Quickly find those old topics you know were covered, but can't easily find in your email.  Just click on Reflector on the main menu!


Pictures and Videos
I've collected all of my pictures, as well as many of my and other's Velocity videos, including the recent RRL test flight and press announcements, "World's most Extreme Homes" on Ricardo's cool home, as well as coverage of our test flights, engine runs, and 'building montage' slideshow.  Some of the sets of pictures provided are:

Airventure                   - 2005 Cup Race Kickoff and 2006 convention pics

Velocity Barnstorming Tour   - Houston 2005 stop

Rough River Fly-in           - 2003 Fly-in near Louisville
EAM RC Velocity              - Check out our RC Velocity from Experimental Aircraft Models
Bill Stockman                - Check out Bill's Thunderbird paint scheme!
Chuck Jenson                 - Chuck visits Ohio
Al Gietzen                   - Beautiful aircraft!
Rich Guerra                  - Rich takes great pictures on his travels
Antonia Espinal              - Jet powered Velocity!
Rocket Racing                - Some pictures of the RRL trainer
Jack Morrison                - Supercharged e-Racer!


History
I've been compiling, and will continue to refine, the "Unofficial History of Velocity Aircraft", and an easy-to-browse Timeline presentation.  I find it interesting to learn more about the people and events that brought this great design to us!

UnOfficial History   - http://n44vf.velocityxl.com/velocity_history.php
Timeline                  - http://n44vf.velocityxl.com/timeline/timeline2.htm
Venky!                   - A great historical builder website that many us loved, replicated here: http://n44vf.velocityxl.com/venky/index.html
Classic Ads!           - Check out the classic Velocity ads on the homepage



Accident Information
I've collected an extensive collection of accident and incident data, presented by date and by incident aircraft, with links to the relevant NTSB reports.  I will also be creating an analysis with accidents by Year, Model, Gear Type, Engine, % of Fleet, Flight Hour, % in First 40 Hours, etc.  Also, I've gathered a large collection of images to show just how well our aircraft perform in these extreme situations.  I do want to stress that I don't present this data to embarrass anyone, but to improve safety and confidence in the Velocity's design, and I try to be sensitive to the fact that folks will want this data to be as objective as possible.


Maintenance Documents
I've included as many documents as I can thus far to help folks who are completing their aircraft and doing 'on-going' maintenance, such as:

Checklists
Flight Test Plan
Condition Inspection Checklist
My Blue Mountain Avionics Calibration Tables
My Weight and Balance Spreadsheet
My Electrical Diagrams
Koch Chart
Bill-of-Sale

Pilot's Operating Handbook (must be a member)
Instrument Manuals - Garmin, Blue Mountain, Lightspeed Engineering, Honeywell, PS Engineering, RSA
Grass Field Tips - From "Waiter"
Buffalo Forge    - Article on exhaust augmentation
Brett
www.velocityxl.com
www.n44vf.com
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