On Monday 16 November 2009 07:33, roger lambert wrote:
<snip>
>(2) The designers, who may or may not survive economically, are
> bombarded by demands they pay for these "improvements" by owners so
> shortsighted they couldn't pass a flight physical without wearing
> binoculars backwards, will now be able to attribute every crash to
> builder/pilot error.
<snip>
Whoa, little buddy. Ignoring my visual accuity or lack thereof, I have every
reason to expect Zenith to provide these improvements at minimal cost.
Sure, they're a bunch of nice guys, and I'm more than willing to work with
them because of it. I have no desire to see them go under, but neither is it
reasonable for me to assume all the cost of what appears to be their error.
At a minimum, I have a lot of extra labor to undo things, and install the
"upgrades."
While their contract claims they have no responsibilty for results, I have
printed copies of their website, and promotional materials, making broad
claims for what can be accomplished with the kit. I suspect that, at a
minimum, is negotiating in bad faith. While their attorney may have been the
one forcing those words in the contract, the fact remains that they wind up
being responsible.
Zenith is a small company, which does not have endless resources. Conversely,
I'm retired, disabled, and I don't have an endless supply of money handy to
offset errors made by others, even if they're unintentional. I think Zenith
and I are on about an even playing field. I don't think I'm alone in this: I
believe there are several others who are disabled or retirees who are
building these kits. Given the nature of the aircraft, I would suspect there
aren't that many really wealthy people building this aircraft: I doubt most
of us can afford to eat the cost of the "upgrade."
I'm waiting to see exactly what Zenith offers, and at what price. They are, as
many have been pointing out, really nice people who are willing to work with
us as builders. I'm waiting to see just how much this policy carries over
into the pricing of this modification.
--
============================================
Do not archive.
============================================
Jim B Belcher
BS, MS Physics, Math, Computer Science
A&P/IA
Retired aerospace technical manager
Mathematics and alcohol do not mix.
Do not drink and derive.
============================================
