Jon Matcho

Presently, any outbound e-mail coming from the Canard Zone server has been disabled. This includes a variety of features, such as:

1) subscribed forum notifications

2) lost password retrieval

3) private message notification

This will be corrected within the next day or two.

If you need your password reset, send me an e-mail directly at jonmatcho@gmail.com and I'll have it reset so you can get back in and change it to what you like.

No passwords have been lost or changed.

Jon

Originally posted by mlefebvre

I have stumbled upon the SQ2000 from KSL Composites...

I was considering the SQ2000 before I purchased Cozy plans. Factors for me became:

 

1) It's a kit -- will they be around (KLS is already 2nd owner, I think)

2) Limited builders out there

 

I didn't have the guts. However, at first glance it looks like a very interesting plane. I saw a SQ2000 builder site last night who had very detailed pictures and narrative, better than most Cozy builder sites. You could tell the construction is rather different than that for a Cozy, but keeping with the moldless composite technique.

 

I say "go for it" if you can buy the entire kit upfront. We can setup a SQ2000-specific section here and can solicit additional SQ2000 builders.

 

Jon

Quote

Originally posted by John Slade

We might have lost a couple of messages.

The window where a message might have been lost was from about 4:15 to 5:15PM eastern time. Looking at the activity in both places, I don't think we lost any messages. The problem was that the forum software didn't actually shut down when I told it to. It just kept running for everyone.

I'd also like to thank John for his help with moving the site.

I look forward to a community-based process for the evolution of this site. Your feedback is most welcome.

Jon Matcho

Originally posted by dust

Why don't you take your additude to your workwhop and get something positive out of it, we really don't need it here.

I'm not sure which Marc you're referring to, or how he got mixed in here, but I have to disagree [although I am not angry] -- it would be more than a shame to lose the Marc I know from responding here.

 

If we do want to have this forum work out as the upgrade for all canard-related listserver members to move to, how does throwing stones their way help?

 

Jon #1185

Yeah, these search 'bots' are rather dumb, but much smarter and friendlier than a spam program. Regardless, if it were possible to kick them off, I'm not sure I'd want to. After all, we do want to have our little spot on the Internet found by those interested, don't we?

Originally posted by dust

...tried to use 10 search engines to duplicate effect, couldn't

To be precise, they are properly known as web crawlers rather than search engines. Search engines work off of previously found information, continuously collected by these web crawlers. This is how they immediately retrieve a bagillion links -- by searching a local database.

 

Entering 'canard forum' into a search engine will not immediately result in a Guest, however it might queue up work for a web crawler to connect with the search criteria for future requests.

 

The value of my point here? Perhaps none.

These 'guests' may not actually be humans. I'm online right now with 2 named members, and 5 guests. I took a closer look at the IP addresses for these so called guests, and find that they're definitely not human. They are Yahoo search engines at work, banging around places where they can't go, looking for keywords, etc.

 

Jon #1185

>I take it a contractor will be building the garage

I have made a deal w/a builder-friend of mine: He's helping and guiding me through building the garage (stuff that I can do), and I have to return the favor by helping him build his house.

 

I hope to have the structure up well before I even get to the sides. The table won't be making it into my basement.

 

Best wishes with your first flight, and breaking ground in the rotary category. I hope by the time I'm at that stage, a well-established rotary conversion kit/vendor is available consideration.

 

Talk soon,

Jon #1185

Originally posted by John Slade

...Nat's investment in the software should be returned to him before it's ownership is transferred.

Fair enough, and agreed.

Originally posted by Jon Matcho + John Slade

If I pay for the paper an idea is written on, it does not necessarily mean that the idea is mine. Nicely put!

This is not to say that the "right" legal team wouldn't be able to make a case for owning the idea on behalf of Farmer Joe -- the owner of the tree farm from which the tree that was used to make the paper that now holds the idea was found to have been improperly harvested.

Originally posted by John Slade

...let me say that I'm entirely happy with the choosen direction...I look forward to seeing it grow to become THE canard builder resource...I have a few ideas which might help further that direction...

Your tireless support is an absolute asset for everyone. Your ideas, input, and future contributions are most welcome.

 

Everyone, if by 1-February-2004 you do not agree that this site has been substantially improved for the best, I can assure you now that if you come ranting to my virtual office door, I will kindly turn over these reins as Nick has just done to me.

Originally posted by John Slade

Now, back to basics - when are you going to build those bulkheads?

I have actually decided to make an entire book case to put my book end on. For the real work, I have been obsessed with a proper work area, and have decided to build a detached garage. I just visited Jerry Schneider this past weekend to see how his portable Cozy workshop feels (it works!) It was 80 degrees at Jerry's place on Saturday, and then 30 degrees here in New Jersey, and so a well-insulated garage has become my decision. I am clearing trees now and will be building that this Fall-Winter while I use my basement in the interim.

 

Best regards all,

Jon #1185

Please allow me to straighten a few things out...

Originally posted by tu54

I've seen that this forum has done as well as it has only because of Slade's participation. Now it appears that largely-absent Nick hass slam-dunked / trumped it...

John Slade is clearly active within this site, and a positive influence on the incoming field of Cozy builders, including me! However, to discount the fact that it was Nick Ugolini who created these forums by opening up his own wallet, and giving his own personal time over many months to get it all going is insulting.

Originally posted by John Slade

It's really not a big deal who now owns (or should I say posseses) the software which Nat paid for. Actually, since he bought the software, and hosted the forum since it's inception, be interested to know his view on the matter.

John, what are you suggesting here? Is this what you think is best for the forum, to entice Nat and ACS into thinking that they should own the builder community?! We should all know by now how Nat feels about vigorously defending his property.

 

Only when Nick had everything setup on a different domain did Nat recognize advertising value and agree to cover a small portion of the actual costs (the software) as a token of his appreciation, which Nick did not expect to include labor fees, and initial hosting and setup charges. Nat paid for a single expense, but not for the end product. If I pay for the paper an idea is written on, it does not necessarily mean that the idea is mine.

Originally posted by tu54

I hope we get an offer of a good deal on the IPO or a cut if this is actually successfully grown and attempted to be sold to ACS in a couple years by Brickhouse.

I take it you lost money in the dot-com blowout? I am not interested in setting up an aviation-related business -- just a great builders community for everyone to enjoy.

 

I have been clear about my motive here -- I just want a much better place to go for my own building experience. I presently have the time, resources, experience and skills required that will allow me to evolve this place into its next generation of usability. It's nothing to do with "power", and is only about the ability to build the best solution possible on the proverbial shoestring. I am confident that my shoestring is quite a bit longer than anyone else's and that I will ultimately be able to do better-faster-more.

 

If you haven't noticed, I am in the position of doing 'it' already, and nothing at all has changed for the worse. Did you feel it?

 

Going forward, the same "faces" will continue to moderate the site. I have assumed Nick's administrative and technical responsibilities. I am NOT taking over ownership of any content, am NOT going to moderate, and with the exception of this thread, will continue to post only questions. I will not moderate or censor! In effect, nothing will change in the short term. Over the long term, the site and datastore will be professionally maintained, backed up on a daily basis, upgraded with the latest critical software fixes, and ultimately enhanced to provide additional features as requested by the community.

 

I look forward to next steps here.

 

Yours,

Jon #1185

Originally posted by tu54

I don't think you meant to say that John Slade would 'screw it up' were you?

Absolutely and entirely not. When I said '...we have the potential to screw it up...', I truly meant we.

 

Originally posted by John Slade

I'm not ready to "donate" the domain itself because I have plans for it.

This is reasonable and answers all my questions. It's an interesting thought to have this forum evolve to become the canard portal on the Internet, but without serious investment, advertising, and deals with all canard-related companies, I see this as an unrealistic expectation. Regardless, I do like the forward-looking setup of the forums here.

 

In any event, I am confident that ACS will not have a problem with continuing to forward www.cozyaircraft.com/forum to the NEW server and URL on/after 1-January-2004. Technically, we really don't even need a domain name if we just have the link continue to forward. Alternatively, any domain with 'canard' in it would work just fine. What about 'canardhangar.com'? Many options exist.

 

Originally posted by John Slade

I think Jon's heart is in the right place - he's a Cozy builder after all - but I think I'd still like ultimate "control" to be with either myself, Nick or both.

I'm not clear as to what control you're looking for here John, or why my heart is in question. I just want to ensure that a free forum continues to exist that is without any pop-ups or under the influence of a bias from a business. We can have a place for vendors, where we can certainly reserve a place for your new company as a charter 'sponsor'.

 

As far as my own biases, there's nothing I will do to attract any ill will or negative advertising to be sent my way. In fact, this is the biggest risk I see with taking on the forum. If things aren't right from the start, I won't even start, but I'll be a ____ if I won't be able to keep all of this forum's members happy. My agenda is not letting my hobby world interfere with my bread-and-butter.

 

FREE forum membership, commercial performance and quality, NO pop-ups, maintained software and improvements, ongoing attention and support, and a community-based process for improvements for several years. Is that good enough? I do want to do this, partly so I can stop thinking about NOT building, and partly because I know I will do a great job, and do look forward to working w/everyone willing to help.

 

Nick and John, I'll give you a call on Tuesday to setup some time to discuss next steps.

 

Virtually yours,

Jon #1185

ATC @ Brickhouse Software, Inc.

My offer was to host this forum on a dedicated server at a commercial data center with T-1 Internet access. We would have exclusive access to the hardware and software, and would NOT be rubbing bits and bytes up against 100 porn sites sharing the same hard drive.

 

The subscription I mentioned is for all the above plus software maintenance, a charge from Jelsoft/vBulletin so that we receive critical software patches and updates. Note that these are not gee-wiz features, but problems in their software. We are currently running 2.2.6 with 2.3.2 currently available. Looking at www.vbulletin.com, you can see that upgrading to the latest is "recommended as soon as possible" for security reasons (meaning, this site could be compromised if a jerk found it).

 

I just happened to be in a unique position to make such an offer. I was even thinking to take a step beyond and have an on-the-bench Web team I have put a nice wrapper of professional pages around the forum.

 

There's no doubt that the setup I offered would far exceed the quality and capability of a discount hosting package. I just can't help but feel that there are some other forces at work here. I am concerned where all of this is going, and whether this forum will end up indeed better than the e-mail list, or just evolve into some sort of disjoint clique. We each have the option of putting together our own personal sites.

 

I hope we can manage a decision as a true users group. We have the opportunity to establish a forum model by which all other builder groups would be judged. Cozy's are growing, and unfortunately, it seems to me, we have the potential to screw it up. Our current and future Cozy community deserves only the best. If we're to have a vote, let's manage a real vote where we understand all the options and implications. I still don't understand what I voted for in this poll.

 

Kindly and respectfully,

Jon #1185

String Puller at Brickhouse Software, Inc.

How about this...

 

John Slade contributes the domain name and all costs required to ensure that www.canardaviation.com is registered and renewed for the next N years (where N >= my build + flying time -- I'm selfish, can't you tell?)

 

I will contribute the physical hardware and software resources required to actually run and maintain the site. I will cover the hardware, software, and related subscription costs to keep these forums running for FREE. John can "point" www.canardaviation.com at the new environment when ready.

 

Nick Ugolini and John Slade will continue to administer this site along with myself. I will apply software updates and backup the database, unless, of course, Nick is already doing this. Do we have backups happening? Scary if we don't... as well as a case for those favoring the e-mail list.

 

Finally, Dust will contribute his burning wallet directly to me.

 

Everyone should understand that the vBulletin forum software is somewhat involved. I'm sure Nick can attest that it's simple, but not nearly as simple as "point and click". It can be a beast to handle at times. Who does what should not be a decision made based on seniority.

 

The bottomline is that we all want these interactive forums to continue to exist without interruption or distraction. I'd like to see this happen if possible, and am willing to put some time in to make this happen.

 

Jon #1185

I'm confident that with just a bit of attention this forum can be improved for all of us. I initially thought that the forum should be vendor-provided, but now realize that we'd be better off "by ourselves".

 

Having just set out with building a Cozy, I have a vested interest in having this site continue to exist as a free and open source of information for all builders and flyers (I no doubt will continue to need advice).

 

As far as I can tell, Nat must have purchased a vBulletin license and turned over administrative duties over to John Slade and Nick Ugolini. If this is true, it should be relatively painless to get the forums moved to a new location AND upgraded to use the latest vBulletin software (version 2.2.6 is running now; 2.3.2 available; 3.0 in test). It would be nice to take advantage of the new features available.

 

I mentioned that my day job is building custom software, and as a result I have ample resources available that allow me to consider funding this 'little project' for at least the period of my build so that it can be kept free for all to participate.

 

Thoughts everyone?

 

Jon #1185

I own Brickhouse Software and as a result have a number of options available for hosting high bandwidth applications.

 

I agree w/the points made here -- the forum and its content should be fully under the control of the builder community. The only point I disagree with is to charge anything to participate in a forum. Once that happens, activity will drop off to just a few subscribers.

 

Let me know what I can do so these forums remain open and active. I'll contribute whatever resources are required.

 

Jon #1185

Why would/should not Aircraft Spruce assume responsibility of footing whatever bill is required to maintain the same service of Cozy Aircraft as existed prior to their acquisition? As a customer of both, I would only expect for my overall service to be improved, and not made less.

 

Jon #1185

The question is, how much money did you save? For purposes of your calculations, I suggest you set an hourly rate for labor at around $3.82/hour...

See below for the latest from the Aerocad web site. I also wanted to point out that I have nothing against Jeff or Aerocad, and would consider purchasing prefab parts from anyone who provides good product and service. However, I remain convinced that the best approach is to buy Cozy Mark IV plans directly from Nat/ACS and manage your decisions from there...

 

Aerocad has gone thru some major changes. AeroCad was sold to a couple in the Denver area and their intent was to keep the factory at it's location in Ft Pierce, Florida. The sale was in October, 2002. In March this year, we were notified by these people that their home not selling back in the Denver and this was making their purchase with us more than they could handle. They had been fully trained and were making high quality parts. They walk out of the purchase of AeroCad and Greg and I were faced on what to do next. We talked to a few other people that were wanting to make parts for a living and found a new home for the factory. The factory has now moved to Naples, Florida. We have 2 qualified builders that wanted to start making parts professionally. I am going thru foreclosure to take the corporate stocks back. Parts and plans are still being sold at this time. Sorry for this confusion but we had no idea that these people were not going to work out. Thanks for your support and I will keep you posted on any up coming news.

Looks like the remnants of Chapter 1 from the Baby Special... I can recognize half the "material".

 

Power, lights, heating, cleaned, and organized shop. Got it. I'm lucky enough to have a 2-car garage, but first want to get everything in there spotless. I have a buddy who will be taking out the lolly columns and insulating the sides, leaving only the 2 doors.

 

In the meantime, I am reading the plans and hope to start late fall/early winter.

An update... browse to www.cozyaircraft.com, click the 'Look-a-like designs' link on the sidebar, and read the 8/29/03 news for the latest developments between Co-Z Development and Aerocad, Inc.

 

Jon

I don't know Jeff @ AeroCanard, but I can say I was VERY interested in what he had to sell. After some research, the problem, for me, became wondering whether AeroCanard would be in business years from now. I once was close to buying a Berkut kit, a great Long-EZ kit, but they closed doors.

 

The result has been my decision to buy Cozy plans, control the manufacturer (me), and build as I see fit. Given the last reply here, I wouldn't feel at all comfortable calling someone's mobile phone as opposed to a full-time place of business.

 

Calling Co-Z Development and having Nat Puffer pick up the phone convinced me that I'd have everything I needed in his plans. His plans are now my plans, and I am moving forward without any worries whatsoever about anyone other than me.

 

Buy the plans, build it yourself.

 

Jon

Lights, oh yes, but of course I didn't put 2 + 2 together to realize the outlets part. I'm planning to rip all the sheetrock down so I can insulate, and will add power then. Going to be a little project before the big project.

I'm clearing out my 2-car carage and want to know what everyone knows they should have done before they started building. What would you have made sure your shop had in place BEFORE starting to build?