| Author | Message | ||
     Roy Davis Unregistered guest |
Express Manual One of the big complaints is that the Express manual is incomplete and some sections are obsolete. Having just finished our fuselage, wings and control surfaces I can say that is very true. There have been several attempts to fix this. The latest was the hiring of a licensed A&P with a manual writing background, but nothing came of it and that person departed about three weeks ago. Allyn has been trying to work on the manual in his spare time, but there is just too much for him to do in trying to get products out the door. Nancy and I will help that situation by taking some of the day-to-day tasks off his shoulders so he can get some of the CAD work done to get to some better illustrations. He’s already done an illustrated wing parts list that I wish I had when we were building our wings. What has happened is that Dan in the Builder Assist facility has been writing notes in the existing manual to capture some of the missing information. His background at Boeing is invaluable because we have a guy who can not only build parts, but can also write down how to build those parts. In addition we have been taking lots of pictures at many steps along the way. I can’t promise it tomorrow, but a more complete and easier to understand manual will make it easier for the builders and solve some of the customer issues we have. On the other side of the coin I’ve heard complaints that the manual is too thick and cost too much to print it all out. As we make it more complete and use larger and easier to understand illustrations and photographs the manual is going to get lots thicker, and you really need to print it in color. What do you think about shedding the standard book style manual and producing it as an HTML document? By that I mean a Web style document where you would have pages of text with thumbnails that lead to full size photographs and illustrations. Something along these lines is the Antenna section of our Web site at http://www.nancymoon.com where I have the design information and pictures of installing an antenna. The Express manual would have to be much more explicit, but you get the idea of the format. That means we could distribute it via a CD-R which you can read via a Web browser like Internet Explorer, which is a lot cheaper to reproduce and ship than a thick paper document. We can also continue to have it available via the Web site for those with a high speed Internet connection. You have the option of printing single pages, illustrations or whole sections if you need it on paper. For the Builder Assist Program we would put a computer and color monitor in each building so you could refer to the manual as your are working. Now you have a use for that old relic computer probably already taking up space in the garage. All it needs to have is a CD-ROM drive and a color graphics monitor and be able to run a Web browser. Let me know what you think. Roy | ||
| Hans Georg Schmid New member Username: Hgschmid Post Number: 15 Registered: 02-2001 |
New and updated manual: Great and long awaited news! The current manual is in many respects a disgrace as it is so incomplete and lacking too many essential drawings, explanations, measurements and / or pictures, not to speak of the mistakes... It is often a big problem to find out how something is meant and how it has to be done. I agree: a lot can be done by logic and personal experience. But there are safety related items that can not simply be ignored or tried by trial and error. In addition, a lot of time could be saved for builders, especially for those living (and building) a bit further from Washington state. A HTML and web based manual that can easily be updated, distributed and printed by every builder is the way to go. So everybody would have the amount of paper he actually needs and therefore prints. All changes could rapidly be distributed to everybody at the lowest possible cost. This new and updated manual (including a valid flight operations manual / FOM) together with the excellent EXPRESS Forum is in my opinion the way to go. An idea from Burt Rutan: to cover update costs make the updates mandatory for every builder as they might be safety relevant. Ask every builder for a small yearly fee (for the Long-Ez I believe to remember this to have been in the region of USD 20 to 30 / year). Rutan declared the Canard Newsletter for safety reasons as part of the licence and therefore mandatory for every builder and operator of one of his canard designs. He kept the (always awaited and highly regarded) newsletter up for many years after he had stopped to sell the plans. If you should think about this, make it easy: payment by credit card over the web and distribution of a personal one year valid password by return email. It could be a win – win situation for both sides. Good luck Roy and thank you for taking up the issue. Hans Georg Schmid | ||
| Jim Oyler New member Username: Midniteoyl Post Number: 41 Registered: 07-2003 |
An HTML format Manual on a CD would be a great idea. However, forcing builders to cover all update costs by declaring them 'mandatory' is close to fraud. This is an Experamental plane.. You are buying the parts, design, and vision of its creator and building it as the planes sole manufactor. As that manufactor, if you wish to incorperate that latest 'thinking' in the designs, that is your choice and should not be forced apon you. That said - if and when there are changes and improvements to the design, the costs of distributing those changes and improvements can be charged back to the builder - but only if the builder chooses to buy the changes. To 'force' builders and buyers to pay for a service they might or might not use themselves is not the way to go. Obviously then, the 'Update Subscription' would then need to be voluntary - and can be offered in yearly subscriptions and/or 'on a need' basis, with the people who choose the yearly plan obviously being offered a price break on the complete package of updates. To me, this would be a much more fair and less critisized system. It would go without saying that any mistakes made in the manual would be corrected and the 'patch' issued for free. Otherwise, I really like the 'Manual on CD' concept of distribution. I change I would make, however, is in the Builder Assist area of thinking - Instead of just having one or two computers available, which you should - along with a printer to print out individual pages, I would also hook up a secure WIFI and LAN so people could bring their own laptops and tap into the manual while they are there. this would help to reduce your overall costs in Hardware and Paper, while providing the most flexablity for both you, your staff, and your builders. Just my .02 - e-mail me. Jim | ||
| Eric Holmberg New member Username: Erich Post Number: 74 Registered: 05-2002 |
The HTML file idea is a great idea for online reference, if you don't want to print the final product. Printing HTML using Internet Explorer typically yields clipped text and improper paging. The other issue is that you end up with the pictures printed on separate pages and you have to collate them somehow, as the images normally don’t have names on them. Personally, I prefer PDF's since they can be printed and look identical to the electronic copy. I like to print the document and then make notes on it as I go for important items and also check-off things as I complete them. So, that said, I think that providing the document in both HTML and PDF format on a CD would be absolutely wonderful. The only issue is the extra work involved. Here are some ideas to minimize the work: 1) Layout your documentation with thumbnail images of the pictures in a subdirectory (say .\Thumbnails\). Keep the image file size small by using jpeg for pictures and gif or png for drawings and line-art. The web users can click on these thumbnails to bring up full-size images located in another directory (say .\BigHugeInternetCloggingImages\). 2) Place text on each image with a figure number or some other form of identification so we know where it goes if we print it out and want to put it into a binder. 3) For the PDF documents, you simply print the source pages from whatever software you used to layout the HTML pages. You can then print out an index file that contains all of the big images. This will allow a builder to print out the directions, with small thumb-nail images (or as large as file size permits) and then to print out all of the full-size images if needed and place them at the end of the chapter in a binder. Depending upon the PDF distiller that you use, the links to the large files will still exist in the PDF documents. Please let me know if you need more clarification of this. I appreciate your ambition to document everything! -Eric | ||
| Jim Oyler New member Username: Midniteoyl Post Number: 43 Registered: 07-2003 |
pdf's are a good idea - for printing. Eric has a good idea. HTML for browsing the manual, pdf's for printing. I, myself, *hate* browsing with pdf's  , but think they're great for when you need printed material. Jim | ||
| Theodore A Recker New member Username: Ted_recker Post Number: 1 Registered: 07-2004 |
I have early subkits 1,2,&3 plus an upper fuselage and a parts list to complete from Alen Roe. I only have manuals for the subkits. I wish to review a complete manual before ordering parts but Hope at Express tells me that a current manual is being updated and not currently available. Would anyone (hopefully not too far away) let me look at and perhaps copy a builders manual. I live about half way between St. Louis MO and Memphis TN. I would travel to do so and be grateful. | ||
| Anonymous |
The current manual is online at www.express-aircraft.com/manual | ||
| Carter A. Smith New member Username: Carter_smith Post Number: 3 Registered: 07-2004 |
Does anyone have a builders manual for the Express with the old wing and the new tail that I could borrow??? I just recovered my project from the factory and I am very anxious to get started. Please call or email me at 772-834-1750 or carterb767@aol.com. Thank you so much. Carter | ||
| Gary H. Wolfelt New member Username: Wolfelt Post Number: 5 Registered: 11-2003 |
Carter: I have a printed copy that I just paid my attorney $120.00 to get for me. I am not sure that is shows the "old" wing. But since the manual didn't get updated very much, very often, I will bet that it will work for you. I checked with the copy shop across the street and they said that they could duplicate my copy for about $20.00. So if you want me to do the job, just e-mail me your mailing address and I will go to work on it. I will send it out to you on "open account". Then when you can catch your wife out of the house the next time without her purse, you can send me a $20.00 bill. I also have a copy on a CD that I can dupe for you if you would like. GHW Gary H. Wolfelt ghw@wolfelt.com | ||
| Brian McKinney New member Username: Bmckinney Post Number: 62 Registered: 05-2000 |
Don't count on the new manual being much of a help for the old wings. The existing "new" manual contains about 70 pages related to the wings. The old Wheeler/EDI manuals have close to 300 pages with detailed drawings for each part to install for the wings. It's too bad EAC couldn't have used the Wheeler/EDI manual as a template for their manual as they modified the kit. I know a lot of time went into the development of the Wheeler manuals. I am guessing that the original electronic copies of the manuals were lost before they took over. I started scanning in my old Wheeler/EDI manuals awhile ago but never finished. I think I had scanned around 260 pages and was still only 1/2 way through the wing section. I never even started scanning the lower/upper fuse or tail sections. That's a project I hope to complete once I get an auto-feeding scanner. I'll get in trouble with Wayne if he hears I'm doing that and not working on my kit...  Brian | ||
| Jeff Dingbaum New member Username: Aviators Post Number: 25 Registered: 12-2000 |
Well, better working on your kit than your website!!!  I'm plugging away, but it's getting harder to get up in the morning when it's dark outside. I've been getting an hour of build time in the mornings before I get the kids off to school and me to work. I'll try to post some pics of my project sometime this month. Jeff | ||
| Roy Davis New member Username: Royhdavis Post Number: 50 Registered: 01-2003 |
The manual for the Series 2000FT has been on the Web for any builder for years at: http://www.express-aircraft.com/manual/ | ||
| Tom Hutchison Board Administrator Username: Admin Post Number: 11 Registered: 04-2002 |
Roy, Does the on-line manual have all the latest updates and content? I see revisions are all dated from 2002. Tom | ||
| Carter A. Smith New member Username: Carter_smith Post Number: 4 Registered: 07-2004 |
Thanks guys for the response. I was able to borrow a copy of the Express 2000 manual and copy it so I'm good to go. With any luck and the parts I need N410CS should be flying next summer! PS I love reading this forum. |