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QuickTalk 20 - Mar/Apr 1985 - index

MAR/APR 1985
ISSUE NUMBER 20

QUICKIE BUILDERS ASSOCIATION

INTRODUCTION

by Jim Masal

Correspondence over the last couple of months indicates that there are many of you out there who are desperate for some good news about Quickie Aircraft Co. I have some. Sheehan has QAC open for business.

As this is written, Sheehan is at the Sun 'n Fun show at Lakeland, FL promoting the "new" QAC which has filed for relief under Chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code and is reorganizing while under protection from creditors and other lawsuits. The current lawsuit (described last issue) has been appealed with the resolution expected to take some six months yet.

Meanwhile, QAC has moved operations to a pair to T-type hangars, #37 and 38, and cut its staff to Sheehan, supergirl Debbie Schubert and shipping whiz Ron Lundgren. QAC still gets mail at P. O. Box 786 in Mojave and can be called for both order and builder questions at (805) 824-4313, (no builder hotline yet). Breathe easy, vortex generators, carbon spars, belly board kits and plans etc. etc. etc. are all going out the door regularly.

All parts and options are or will soon be available with longest backorder waits expected on prop extensions.

Debbie says that no records were thrown away and that QAC is trying to contact anyone who is due a backorder. It would help her tremendously if you would notify her in WRITING of anything you are due. A written note is better for her than a phone call as it's more permanent. Sheehan is reportedly expecting to crank up his newsletter again after Sun 'n Fun.

It's nice to discover that phones are being answered at QAC, but more encouraging is the fact that calls are being made FROM QAC. Sheehan has made several personal calls to dealers and builders (one builder he called was due a paid for $7,000 engine; he was biting his fingernails off to the elbows worrying about it.) I hear that all these conversations were pleasant, informative and supportive. (Incidentally, QBA still must be under a communication black out so we thank all you guys who have written and phoned us with valuable intelligence regarding QAC.)

Reports of Sheehan's phone calls are especially significant to me because when I visited Mojave a year ago I heard a story of how Sheehan and deceased partner Jewett referred to their builder/customers with a particular derogatory term (I forget the exact word now), which indicated superior attitude toward we who paid for their lifestyles. This was not the kind of EAA spirit and attitude that brought Poberezny such success with our support. I thought it was just a story, but more and more builder experiences seemed to lend credibility to it.

Sheehan's calls mean a shift in attitude to a wholehearted and enthusiastic support of each of us as we fulfill our dreams of homebuilt flight; we'll support him pound for pound. As usual, we'll wait 'n see - time will tell if a tiger can change his stripes.

I look for other good outcomes from the QAC lawsuit. Unlike others, I don't view this suit so much as an attack on a defective design (responsibility for which rests with the designer AND the builder who reproduces the design), but as a fist shaken at the advertising hype, half-truths and distortions that are beginning to run rampant in this industry for the sake of a sale. I hope this suit not only has a chilling effect on the perpetrators of such hype but positively freezes their pants off. Al Mullan may have done us a big fat favor.

 

There's been a lot of weeping, wailing and gnashing of teeth around here as I went through the enormous new procedure of annual membership renewal. Most of you are alert and thoughtful enough to get the correct dues mailed on time or early, but there have been enough wrong amounts, late checks, bounced checks, no checks, wrong addresses and other inconsiderateness to make life miserable. I don't look forward to ever doing this again. With the dust settling now, we've got 530 souls with us - less of a loss than expected, with a few yet dribbling in.

 

With Sun 'n Fun already in progress, it's not too early to think about the trek to Oshkosh. Robert Herd has a report on his "Get 'em To Oshkosh" campaign later. There is potential for 4 Texas Quickies and 1 from OK to darken the skies to OSH (including mine and Robert's). You other guys get cracking, OK?

However you get there, QBA will hold its annual forum on Saturday evening, July 27 at 8 pm. I've requested an adjacent tent so we can break up into separate Q-2/200 and Quickie discussion groups. In the past, we've held a lively wine and cheese get together at the University but we've always operated at a big loss so I'm considering dropping that this year. Any of you who've enjoyed these "socials" in the past are encouraged to give me 2 cents worth of your advice.

If your project is stalled, invest in a trip to Oshkosh, it'll be well worth it in mental attitude adjustment!

 

Other Articles In This Issue

LETTERS - by Jim Masal
Q-TIPS - by Jim Masal
Q-2 HINTS - by Jim Masal
QUICKIE PILOT REPORTS - by Jim Masal
CLASSIFIEDS - by Jim Masal
QUICKSHOTS - by Jim Masal
GET 'EM TO OSHKOSH UPDATE - by Robert E. Herd, P. O. Box 8604, Ft. Worth, TX 76124-0704

 


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