Over the years I have seen this kind of letter from many experimental aircraft companies before. Few are still with us. Good luck with your advancement of the KR.
Kevin Golden Harrisonville, MO In a message dated 10/19/2010 10:12:28 P.M. Central Daylight Time, n92...@cox.net writes: Netter's, As most of you know, we took over operations from RR this past year. So one can imagine there has been some growing pains while attempting to get things moving again. Between a blown out knee, moving in and out of hangars for due to potential flooding, and now with moving into a larger facility in attempt to streamline and be more productive, this has been a HUGE undertaking. We are working diligently to get the remaining orders out that we have and anticipate having everything caught up by the end of the year or shortly after depending on temperatures for the glass work. (Thank you for your patience to those we have outstanding orders with) Currently there is myself, and my partner Eric primarily doing EVERYTHING for production! We do not have enough revenue to hire employees as there still is not enough volume as we attempt to reenergize the KR design in the homebuilt community. This IS NOT our primary method for making a living. Eric is still on active duty with the US Navy and lives a couple hours away. He is instrumental in taking care of all website and administrative duties for nV Aero. He travels to the hangar to help with production, etc. when his time permits based upon his current Op Temp. Otherwise, production is basically me. I do the ordering, stocking, fabricating and any other gopher jobs required. We have some items contracted out such as welding, precision machining, etc. Eric and I have a desire to provide quality, affordable parts and materials for people to build their KR aircraft. We certainly didn't get into this to get rich. The first thing to understand is nV Aero does not own the rights to the plans for any of the KR aircraft. Jeanette has a price that she sells the plans to us. Based upon that price we charge enough to cover our shipping and administrative costs (picking up plans from RR which is 40 miles away, and other expenses associated with packaging and shipping.) Due to printing costs Jeanette has raised the price of the KR-1 plans to us. The drawings and additional copies she provides are at current market rates from the printers. The book is the same as everyone else has received for the past several years but those are rapidly running out so I anticipate another increase once the current inventory is depleted. This brings me to Mr. Caudle's post. I do feel he should have contacted me first before posting to the net with his "displeasure". I think I addressed it fairly well above but let me be clear, WE buy the plans for $95. We sell at $114.95. We found that is easier for flat rate shipping for our shopping cart system due to the various destinations in the US and abroad. So, $25 for "shipping" less up to 6% for credit card processing if a Corporate card is used. This leaves us $108.05. Subtract $5.70 for Priority Mail with delivery confirmation leaves $102.35 less $95 for RR leaves us $7.35 for our time to pick up plans from RR, print packing lists (The packing list was with Mr. Caudle's registration page), registration pages, package and get them to the post office or however we ship. Clearly we are making a TON of money for the hassle. I am a little displeased myself with Mr. Caudle's post given our original correspondence. Nothing was misleading when he inquired about the plans and their quality. I guess I should have been VERY specific as to the additional pages showing the new dimensions from the KR-2 changes with drawings instead of photos. You can see my email to him below. BEGIN MSG. "Dear Mr. Caudle, Thank you for your inquiry into the KR-1. I have not seen the Corby Starlet plans so could not comment on how they compare however, there have been several hundred KR-1's build over the years. The KR-1 plans were drawn in the 70's and have a builders manual with approximately 64 pages. The full size drawings are for the airfoil only. Dimensionally the additional photos and measurements in the manual are pretty clear. One positive thing regarding the KR series is the builder support is outstanding. The KR-net has about 600 members and answers to most of your are readily available. Of course you can contact us as well. I will work on converting a copy of a page from the plans to send to you." END. Keep in mind these plans were written a very long time ago. To answer the various questions posted regarding the KR-1 plans. The pages that have been removed from the back of the manual were outdated and did not reflect current building recommendations. There also was engine info from Revmaster as well as parts and kit availability that is not longer valid. These pages are removed by RR before we receive them. Hopefully this clears up any questions regarding the plans or our commitment to the KR series of aircraft. We have just moved into a 60' X 60' hangar at Corona (AJO) and are planning a build out to incorporate packing facilities, kitchen, bath office, and classroom/ pilot lounge areas. Our goal is to create and provide a builder assistance program and possible builder workshops. Once we have had a chance to get organized in the hangar we will be having Saturday morning coffee and hotcakes or waffles for those interested in learning what the KR is all about or for those who want some hands on experience to gain the confidence to start building their KR. The KR was designed as an affordable aircraft that just about anyone could afford or build. We really have taken that to heart and are attempting to facilitate the fulfilling of that dream for the average person. Feel free to stop by the hangar anytime we are there. We are always there on Saturdays and intermittently during the week. Please call if you are coming by on a weekday. The airport is 35 miles away from my house so it takes a little planning ahead of time. Lastly, put us on the list for hosting the KR Gathering 2012. I was talking with Joe Horton a week or so back and we figured it would take him a day and a half from PA to California. 2 fuel stops the first day and 1 fuel stop the second. Piece of cake with our little machines. The entire trip can be done without climbing over 10,500. 12,500 would by more than enough altitude. Richard Shirley and I have done it several times. It is a great trip! I am also considering a West Coast Gathering in the spring. There are at least 12 local KR's I know for certain would be here. Regards, Steve Glover www.nvaero.com 1-800-515-4811 _______________________________________ Search the KRnet Archives at http://www.maddyhome.com/krsrch/index.jsp to UNsubscribe from KRnet, send a message to krnet-le...@mylist.net please see other KRnet info at http://www.krnet.org/info.html
