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FD at Oshkosh


Roger Lee

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This Year the weather was perfect in Wisconsin for most of the week. The Flight Design team met with customers, prospects, distributors and vendors all week. We had a very successful show.

 

The booth had a CTLSi from Stanton Sport Aviation and Airtime Aviation supplied us with a beautiful CTLS on Amphibious floats. The C4 Exterior Mock up and the Refurbished interior were all there. In addition we had a customer CTLS on display for sale from Lockwood Aviation. See other Images HERE.

 

The IO 360 AF engine from Continental and the 912 ULSi from Rotax were holding down the front corners of the booth. Our partners at BRS also had a display at our booth. The mornings were heavy with traffic and most folks were supportive and appreciative.

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Our news summary:

 

We had, according to Dan Johnson, the "best attended press conference" with over 50 Aviation Journalists in attendance. They must have anticipated the news. web0015.jpg

 

Here are some links to the News Articles we got at Oshkosh/Airventure.

 

Aero News: Aviation Week, AvWeb, EAA News, Aviation International News,Flying Magazine, GA News, Aviation Pros,

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There were some knowledgeable people there. One thing that gripes me for the second year in a row is the German engineers attend but they sit behind the curtain and one can't get to them. I have questions for them and feel stiffed. The people out front are friendly and helpful.

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Better yet sometimes it's better to be ignored than have the following play out.

Walk up to the booth and ask the question "I noticed 3 holes on either side of my air filter allowing unfiltered air into the manifold and was wondering if I should do something about it or is it a design feature."

Reply "i'm not sure, send me an email and I will get right back to you"(I am not going to call the person out, I sure would like to though)

So I stand there and send the email, fully expecting a response in a reasonable amount of time.

That was last Friday.

Still waiting...

Crickets............

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Trade shows are not a very good place to try and get tech support. They vendors have spent Tens, if not Hundreds, of thousands of dollars on the booth, setup, and travel... and they position sales types on the floor (to do sales!). It's unusual if a tech-type is around.

 

But... a show is also an opportunity for PR.... in this case, a lost opportunity.

Tim

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Tim,

The frustration showing is evidence that they don't have good tech support outside the trade show circuit, so I was foolishly hoping to get some answers while there.

I have to say everyone was polite, nice and helpful - but I specifically asked to meet with the Germans and couldn't get it done.

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Jim, I spend a fair amount of time at the booth while at Oshkosh. For the guys from Germany this is a working trip. They meet with vendors, distributors, and such. They don't spend much time behind the curtain unless they are in a meeting of some type, unless they are working on the computer. I have seen them, when they have time talking to customers in the booth.

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Jim, I spend a fair amount of time at the booth while at Oshkosh. For the guys from Germany this is a working trip. They meet with vendors, distributors, and such. They don't spend much time behind the curtain unless they are in a meeting of some type, unless they are working on the computer. I have seen them, when they have time talking to customers in the booth.

Tom,

I wish I'd have that opportunity. I stopped by the booth several times as you know and they weren't available then. Maybe next year.

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I will say that if FD has a short coming it is communications and responses. This is a major area they could improve on. And should be included in a managers Monday morning meeting for improvement goals.

I assume you are referring to the FD factory people in Germany, not US sales HQ.? I always get quick emailed replies from John Gilmore or from Service/Parts, etc. -George

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