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AeroCad status?


Jon Matcho

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I verified my AeroCanard plans -- no mention of the RG (retractable gear) version, and so I believe that is a kit.

 

An AeroCanard kit would be a high-risk investment given the company's current status.

 

Besides, you don't need retractable gear anyway. Posted Image Doh!

Jon Matcho :busy:
Builder & Canard Zone Admin
Now:  Rebuilding Quickie Tri-Q200 N479E
Next:  Resume building a Cozy Mark IV

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  • 2 months later...
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  • 5 weeks later...

Jon and any who are interested,

 

I talked with Jeff Russell over this last week. The Missouri based company has come to pick up the molds from Jeff and will be setting up shop very soon. The newer website will be available within the next couple of weeks and will contain .pdf-based plans for those who want to download and explore the option of building an Aerocanard aircraft. Jeff will continue to be the holder of the full version of the plans and video tapes.

 

The good news for me is that I have taken the plunge for a set of Aerocanard plans as of Friday of this week :thumbsup: . I think there is a ton of support in the Canard Zone and from other builders out there that I am not so worried about the overarching status of AeroCAD Inc. Additionally, Jeff seems open to talking via email or by phone. So I have taken the plunge :banana: with great confidence. Now the only thing I am worried about is my personal talent to make one fast flying machine :scared:

 

I'll be setting up my website soon so that all to watch the progress.

 

Wil

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Wil, thanks for the update, and that's all great news. Jeff has/is taking on a lot in his efforts to make the plans electronic. I look forward to the result.

 

The good news for me is that I have taken the plunge for a set of Aerocanard plans as of Friday of this week :thumbsup: .

Congratulations! I'm glad to have another AeroCanard builder "out there" -- I was told I was the first/only plans-only AeroCanard FG builder.

 

I think there is a ton of support in the Canard Zone and from other builders out there that I am not so worried about the overarching status of AeroCAD Inc. Additionally, Jeff seems open to talking via email or by phone.

It's sometimes hard to get a hold of Jeff, but once you I have found I get answers to all my questions. The other thing to be comfortable about is that the AeroCanard FG could just as well be called the Cozy Mark IV+ (but Spruce/Nat won't allow that). It's the exact same building techniques, and some chapters are identical with the exception of AeroCanard replaced wherever Cozy was.

 

Now the only thing I am worried about is my personal talent to make one fast flying machine :scared:

I see you have a garage, table, and shopvac -- there's no doubt in my mind you'll be fine. :)

 

I'll be setting up my website soon so that all to watch the progress.

I can set you up with Web space at the Canard Zone (requires Microsoft FrontPage) if you'd like.

 

I'll look forward to bouncing questions/ideas around w/you. Welcome AeroCanard FG builder! :cool:

Jon Matcho :busy:
Builder & Canard Zone Admin
Now:  Rebuilding Quickie Tri-Q200 N479E
Next:  Resume building a Cozy Mark IV

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  • 5 weeks later...

AEROCAD UPDATE!

 

WELCOME TO THE “NEW” AEROCAD!

 

We are proud to present to you the "new" Aerocad, Inc. as the new manufacturers of the AeroCanard family of kit aircraft and advanced composite kit aircraft components.

 

We are committed to supplying the same high quality AeroCanard kits, composite parts and builder support that are synonymous with the Aerocad reputation.

 

The new Aerocad, Inc. will be located at the Bowling Green Municipal Airport (H19), 50 miles north of St.Louis, Missouri. Jeff Russell (Aerocad’s former owner and CEO) is providing support and direct assistance setting up the new manufacturing facility and training during the transition phase.

 

Aerocad, Inc. is a complete aircraft parts and supply source for the aircraft builder. If it goes on an aircraft, we probably have it! Check out our low prices! We hope to become your favorite aircraft parts and builder supplies resource.

 

Thanks for Your Support!

 

AEROCAD, INC.

Al Aldrich President/CEO

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This AeroCanard thing...

Interesting choice of words, and made me wonder why I concur with referring to it as such.

 

Al, are these two entities (AeroCad, Inc. and AeroCad2 LLC) related to one another legally? Specifically, I wonder if you would be better off renaming your new company as Molded Composite Canard Parts, Inc? I say this because it appears that Jeff has isolated his goodwill/property and created another company that you are no part of. If that's the case, why keep the names so similar that most everyone is left thoroughly confused?

 

Of course I may be missing something.

 

In any event, congratulations on your acquisition and best of luck!

Jon Matcho :busy:
Builder & Canard Zone Admin
Now:  Rebuilding Quickie Tri-Q200 N479E
Next:  Resume building a Cozy Mark IV

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Erm, Al has the "aerocad" website, Jeff just has "aerocad2". Maybe Jeff should change???

 

Nice price for landing gear struts.

Mark Spedding - Spodman
Darraweit Guim - Australia
Cozy IV #1331 -  Chapter 09
www.mykitlog.com/Spodman
www.sites.google.com/site/thespodplane/the-spodplane

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It's not really too complicated. . Al at AeroCad is going to set up facilities to make the AeroCanard kit. I believe he is an engineer at Boeing, so he should do it right. Jeff at AeroCad/2 is going to provide technical support and sell the plans to build an AeroCanard from plans. If you want a kit call Al. If you want advice or the complete plans call Jeff. I'm saying "complete plans" because as you all know the plans are available on his web site minus the templates. When you buy a printed set of the plans from Jeff you get the templates and his support in building the airplane.

I think I should get on the payroll here?? I just want to see the AeroCanard continue. We are a small group right now.

Long Ez, AeroCanard

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Please explain?

Ah! Yet again my ignorance shows, I had it in my head the main landing gear bow was about $1300, but on Nat's Featherlite link it's only $613 (or it was in 2000 anyhow). I doubt it's increase to more than $680 since then, so I'll pull my head in now! ("Schloop!" noise...)

Mark Spedding - Spodman
Darraweit Guim - Australia
Cozy IV #1331 -  Chapter 09
www.mykitlog.com/Spodman
www.sites.google.com/site/thespodplane/the-spodplane

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  • 5 months later...

Hello, just like to give everyone a quick update regarding AeroCad status and thank everyone that has been supportive during this transitional time. I assure you that we are aggressively working hard and making every possible effort to get AeroCad going. We are committed to continue manufacturing high quality aircraft kits and parts and continued builder support as well. (It sounds pretty easy if you say it fast)!

 

In the past six months since the purchase and transition of AeroCad we have made some substantial progress! In addition to the initial purchase of the AeroCad company assets we had to make some major improvements and investment in our airport building facility to initially move AeroCad into. We had also put a lot of effort into carefully moving and transporting all of the Aerocad tools, molds and equipment in place here. Jeff Russell has also been very supportive during this transition providing training and technical support for us.

 

One of our main initial goals in purchasing AeroCad was to help resolve all of the negative disagreement issues and disputes regarding Cozy and AeroCanard aircraft and I think we have made major progress in this area. We are in fact now working with Aircraft Spruce on a new distributor agreement and expect to be marketing both AeroCanard kits and Cozy aircraft parts with Aircraft Spruce soon! Additionally we are working with other aircraft distributor worldwide however we do plan to manufacture Cozy parts exclusively for Aircraft Spruce.

 

From the very start of purchasing AeroCad we were faced with many problems to overcome including the plans rights issue and public disagreements that made it very difficult to even get started! Several new potential customers considering purchasing a new AeroCanard kit from us were discouraged and scared away by all of the legal battles and disputing online.

 

We had initially only purchased the AeroCad kit aircraft assets while Jeff Russell retained the “plans rights” business and made available as free shareware online which added even more to the ongoing dispute (If that is possible) and was also causing some confusion with having the new AeroCad (us) and AeroCad2 (Jeff). So, finally in order to resolve this confusion and put and end to the disagreements and disputes, we had agreed to purchase the remaining AeroCad plans rights and assets from Jeff and discontinue the free shareware!

 

We have just recently completed all financial transactions of the remaining AeroCad assets and plans rights and now own 100 percent of the AeroCad business and things are starting to come together. We do already have several orders for complete kits now and focusing our attention back to manufacturing and production work! Also, as part of our agreement and for those concerned they may not receive the same quality parts as before, Jeff Russell will continue to provide us with ongoing technical support for the next few years.

 

A few additional things AeroCad is working on:

 

AeroCad was recently awarded a military design contract for a new small UCAV aircraft retractable landing gear system in which we completely designed, engineered and successfully delivered a full size prototype unit on schedule!

 

We have recently put a lot of effort into converting the AeroCanard construction training videos into DVD format. We did have some problems with the duplication company that had made some printing errors but are looking pretty good now.

 

We are also in the process of updating our website, AeroCanard plans and developing a new AeroCanard kit information package.

 

Also, for those of you that might be interested in who is Al Aldrich anyway? In addition to being the new owner of AeroCad, Inc. I am a Unigraphics CAD design engineer most recently working at Boeing STL on F-15K structures design team also worked on the F-18 E/F Super Hornet, Bell Helicopter, Eclipse Aviation, Visionaire and few other places as a contract engineer. I received my pilot license at 16 and have been flying Long-Ez's for over 20 years and also fly helicopters. In addition I own and operate the Bowling Green Municp-AL Airport the new home of AeroCad!

 

We still have a long way to go but, I believe that AeroCad has a lot to offer in the future of new aircraft design. We plan to continue improving our aircraft designs and manufacturing capabilities and over time I see AeroCad becoming the largest aircraft company in the world “I have a dream”.

 

Best Regards,

 

Al Aldrich

AeroCad, Inc.

 

P.S. As we are still in the process of getting organized here, it is possible occasionally that we may unintentionally misplace or overlook getting an order out. Please don’t take this personally or panic just give us a call and we will take care of it! :)

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:sad: I'm saddened to see the dissention of the free shareware. That information in the free shareware was a deciding factor if I should build an aircraft or not, and the PDF is not detailed enough to build an aircraft. You still need the temples. Ether way, I’m done with Part 1 of me 4 Part plan.

1) Out of det.

2) Buy a house.

3) Buy my wife a new car.

4) Build a aircraft.

 

It will be 2 or 3 more years before I will be able to build my plane.

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We are in fact now working with Aircraft Spruce on a new distributor agreement and expect to be marketing both AeroCanard kits and Cozy aircraft parts with Aircraft Spruce soon!

That's absolutely fantastic! Having the option for people to build a plans-built Cozy or AeroCanard SB, AND have the option to throw in a few pre-built parts is an advantage over a kit-only option. Offering a plans-to-kit migration plan is very unique and attractive. I, for one, would like to consider buying the AeroCanard FG molded turtledeck when I get to that point of decision. I'd love to drool over other options inside an updated AS&S catalog and AeroCad web site...

 

Best wishes and keep up the good work!

Jon Matcho :busy:
Builder & Canard Zone Admin
Now:  Rebuilding Quickie Tri-Q200 N479E
Next:  Resume building a Cozy Mark IV

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Jeff Russell has also been very supportive during this transition providing training and technical support for us.

He's provided good builder support as well...timely responses.

 

 

We are also in the process of updating... AeroCanard plans and developing a new AeroCanard kit information package.

Glad to hear!

 

We plan to continue improving our aircraft designs and manufacturing capabilities and over time I see AeroCad becoming the largest aircraft company in the world “I have a dream”.

I'll help anyway I can by buying your products (the build is fun though :) ).

 

Carlos Fernandez

AeroCanard FG #206

Chap. 4, 5, 10

Carlos Fernandez

AeroCanard FG

Plans #206

Chp. 13

aerocanard.kal-soft.com

Sales & Support

GRT Avionics

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  • 4 months later...

This quote comes from another forum and is a quote from Dust (I hope he doesn't mind). :o

 

"Just talked to Al on behalf of Kumaros, easier for me from Michigan than for Kumaros in Athens.

 

He said that the plans are being completely redone, new illustrations and M drawings and that the purchasers of the electronic version will be able to get the new electronic version for free and will probably have the option to purchase the printed version, for the cost of the printing."

 

I also spoke with Al a couple weeks ago and he did say he's working up new plans/drawings which would be ready in "3 months".

 

I wish AeroCad the best b/c I look forward to buying molded parts down the road.

Carlos Fernandez

AeroCanard FG

Plans #206

Chp. 13

aerocanard.kal-soft.com

Sales & Support

GRT Avionics

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I hope the policy of "upgrade to new plans for cost of printing" applies to those that purchased AeroCanard plans before the change in ownership. It would be a shame otherwise.

 

Having interacted w/Al in the past, I'm confident he'll do the right thing.

Jon Matcho :busy:
Builder & Canard Zone Admin
Now:  Rebuilding Quickie Tri-Q200 N479E
Next:  Resume building a Cozy Mark IV

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...purchasers of the electronic version...

But you bought the paper version Jon, no new stuff for you!

Mark Spedding - Spodman
Darraweit Guim - Australia
Cozy IV #1331 -  Chapter 09
www.mykitlog.com/Spodman
www.sites.google.com/site/thespodplane/the-spodplane

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But you bought the paper version Jon, no new stuff for you!

The paper version should be considered an upgrade to the electronic version, which was free at this time. The $199 for this electronic version was just for the templates, which I purchased along with the paper plans for ~$500. I downloaded the electronic plans for free.

 

Again, I don't anticipate any issue here with Al/AeroCad. I am an existing customer and my prior experiences with everything AeroCad leads me to believe that they want to keep their customers (hooked to buy the big stuff).

Jon Matcho :busy:
Builder & Canard Zone Admin
Now:  Rebuilding Quickie Tri-Q200 N479E
Next:  Resume building a Cozy Mark IV

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  • 7 months later...

 

I also spoke with Al a couple weeks ago and he did say he's working up new plans/drawings which would be ready in "3 months".

 

 

Well its been a little over 3 months but Al came through today with new CAD drawings and new plans book. They look great!

 

Keep it up Al!

Carlos Fernandez

AeroCanard FG

Plans #206

Chp. 13

aerocanard.kal-soft.com

Sales & Support

GRT Avionics

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I received mine and gave a brief look-through as well. The new binding setup is MUCH better than the prior AeroCanard FG book, and even better than the Cozy plans books as well. The binding is the same spiral bound type as the Cozy plans, but on the left side of the paper so you can turn pages like a book. The pages are now printed on the same size as the Cozy paper, and are much easier to read.

 

Many (most?) of the drawings have been redone electronically for clearer reading. I checked the Chapter 5 section where I found some measurements lacking in the Cozy plans and I think that there may be a new measurement or two in the AeroCanard FG plans. Some may view the cold feel of CAD as a step backwards from the hand-drawn diagrams. I got over it fairly quickly, except, in one place I noticed, a 2D technique was used when a 3D drawing technique was needed. For the most part, I came to appreciate the precision of the computer-drawn lines, but couldn't help but wonder whether anything was lost in the translation.

 

The plans can still use an update for spelling and other errors where the transition from the Cozy plans was not optimal. This would concern me as a prospective buyer (now that I know), for example, if a part number came out as AN-S vs. AN-5.

 

The AeroCanard FG plans do not include pictures at the end of each chapter, like the Cozy plans do. This shouldn't be a problem with all the builder web sites out there.

 

All things considered, this is a great step forward for the AeroCanard FG plans.

Jon Matcho :busy:
Builder & Canard Zone Admin
Now:  Rebuilding Quickie Tri-Q200 N479E
Next:  Resume building a Cozy Mark IV

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Many (most?) of the drawings have been redone electronically for clearer reading.

Correction. This is only true for the first few chapters and the 1st diagram at the beginning of every chapter that highlights what that chapter is about.

 

I checked the Chapter 5 section where I found some measurements lacking in the Cozy plans and I think that there may be a new measurement or two in the AeroCanard FG plans.

Correction. No new measurements exist (aside from those introduced to produce the larger AeroCanard FG.

 

Another benefit I forgot to mention is that the pages are printed on both sides of the paper, producing a book of approximately the same size as the Cozy IV Section I plans book. AeroCad is definitely on the right track here, and I hope they keep it up.

Jon Matcho :busy:
Builder & Canard Zone Admin
Now:  Rebuilding Quickie Tri-Q200 N479E
Next:  Resume building a Cozy Mark IV

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  • 2 months later...

While going through the AeroCanard FG full-size drawings, I noticed that ALL drawings have been computer rendered (using CAD I presume). The result is sharp and clear drawings that are very easy to read. I could imagine the amount of work that went into this to be weeks upon weeks of tedious effort.

Jon Matcho :busy:
Builder & Canard Zone Admin
Now:  Rebuilding Quickie Tri-Q200 N479E
Next:  Resume building a Cozy Mark IV

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