@RV14. That is why I stated “in my opinion”. You may have another take on that.
If you must know exactly how I drew my conclusion it is from a combination of the January 2022 video from Van’s saying “laser cut part haven’t been allowed in the aerospace industry in the past” and from posts on VAF of people who claim to be experts saying that this was a bad idea and also warning Van’s but were dismissed.
If you want to be directed to a specific post, that might be difficult because VAF censors all posts they deem are too critical of Van’s. These posts don’t get deleted right away, so if you have 8 hours a day because you are not building an airplane, you can sometimes see them before they are deleted. To that point I want to warn people about drawing the conclusion of Van’s “stellar reputation” biased on the forums. I do see why Van’s has had a good reputation in the past but many of us, myself included, have used VAF as a basis for Van’s reputation, to some degree. Now I see how that’s flawed if many posts and threads are being deleted. VAF also creates the illusion that Van’s is on top of these issues by freezing old threads on the issue and allowing Van’s to create a new thread. I’m sure they will have their reasons for that but it definitely creates the illusion of prompt response. The belief that Van’s quickly responded to this is even evident in posts on this thread.
@RV8Bob, the reason I’ve asked you about your background and profesional track record is that I had read your last posts and it’s clear to me, that the author has no clue about the subject. I have serious doubts about the author’s experience in RV building. There is a fine line between freedom of speech and RT style disinformation, poisoning the wells. Please don’t take it personally, but you might be a troll.
be so kind and share with us what you build
builder numer would be an appreciated plus
@RV14, you are still trying to marginalize me. If I was a troll I would just give you a made up number. How would you be able to verify that unless you work there.
Not that I’m trying to hide anything from Van’s. I have already emailed them with my concerns even about the censorship on VAF. I know VAF is supposed to be independent from Van’s.
No more personal stuff, please.
People are entitled to anonymity. If you don’t believe what somebody is posting, fair enough.
gallois wrote:
Would you choose to build a Vans, today?
More than ever in fact, and the reason is this episode. I still think this whole laser cut parts thing is blown out of proportions, but “the internet” obviously doesn’t 
That’s one thing.
Another thing is this “public court”. Has it ever occurred to you that what you are doing is literally shooting yourself in the foot? This episode will strengthen Van’s, and it’s all in the open for everyone to see. The aviation authorities, aviation media and others will look at this and think: hmm, kits produced after mid 2023-ish will all have a higher technical standard than just about anything else in the market (can’t wait to hear Paul Bertorelli’s take on this ). This knowledge will spread everywhere. What’s left is your particular kits, from 2022 to mid 2023. Those aircraft will be the bad eggs, even if they technically, eventually are OK or will become OK. The reason for this is mostly “the internet” and you.
Anyway, in 5-10 years, no one remembers this, unless of course, “the public court” makes people remember, which I personally think is highly unlikely
The court of public opinion will decide or the part of it that is likely to buy a kit built aircraft will.
I have no skin in this however I have played a role in many crisis management events as well as advising how to turn PR disaster into not so big a disaster from a media standpoint.
Often companies never recover..(some Brits might remember Gerald Ratner and Americans might remember New Coca Cola. Public perception is a very strong factor and once the public lose trust it is very difficult to regain it and that mistrust will run through every level of the brand.
In this case from reading the posts on here I would say that Vans will have to work very hard to save or more to the point, rebuild its reputation.
I shall be interested to see if and how they do it.
