To Joseph Bartels:

Welcome!  Here's two cents from a slow builder of a fast-build kit.

I love the people at Lancair.  They've been extremely helpful every time I've spoken with any of them.   Lifetime customer support (takes some of us that long) for FREE.  Where else can you find that in this day and age?  The individual support has been just super.  Please try to keep your people.

However, the manual for the ES (and I assume other models from what I read on this list) is FAR TOO STATIC.  In fact, mine has been completely static --- no changes or updates --- over 4 years.  I know that building techniques and ideas develop and improve from reading this list, but it does not appear that the company has made any systematic effort to incorporate this information into the manual.  I think this is very unfortunate.  Builders spend more time than necessary hunting for solutions and wondering whether solutions suggested by others would be blessed by the company.  Company engineers spend more time than necessary on the phone repeating the same solutions over and over again.  They do so with a "smile,"  but it's not very efficient.  Wouldn't it be better if they could say "why don't you have a look at drawing xyz or update abc on the website and call me if you feel you need to discuss it further."

In my opinion, Brent Regan's idea to offer manuals on a secure website with ongoing updates is a complete no brainer.  I think this is the number one step the company could take to improve customer satisfaction.  There seem to be a lot of smart techy types on this list (not me!) that could offer good suggestions on how to make such a site workable.  Obviously, this is not an improvement that can happen overnight.  But after a year or two of builder-experience-driven updates, my guess is the manual for each plane would look much, much better.

The ES manual is also woefully deficient in discussing certain systems, including the electrical system, the panel, and the interior.  I realize that a lot of builders farm out the panel and interior.  But some of us don't want to do that either because we want to save money or because we just want to say we built the whole thing.  If you're in one of these categories, like I am, then there is almost no guidance on how to proceed.  I've gotten most of what I need about the electrical system from Bob Nuckoll's Aeroelectric Connection, but this involved more work than necessary to track down design information and answers to questions.  I got information about panel construction off of various websites and talking to various people.  Slow process.  I'm still hunting for information on how to install a serviceable if not quite professional-looking interior.

Good luck in your new endeavor!