REFLECTOR: The redesigned Velocityxl.com website

Tue Apr 29 08:46:26 CDT 2008

Brett,

I want to thank you for creating such an easily navigable site. Two weeks ago during a flight, my left rudder cable broke at the rudder end. In less than 30 seconds, I was able to locate a  picture (http://www.velocityxl.com/Rudder_Bushing.JPG) on your site of the repair that needs to be done. Since I'm not the original builder, having pictures to accompany a text description is invaluable.

Kirk Aragon
N360TV SE/RG

Date: Sun, 27 Apr 2008 18:28:18 -0400
From: reflector at velocityxl.com
To: reflector at tvbf.org
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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