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Q-talk 23 - Sep/Oct 1990 - index

SEP/OCT 1990
ISSUE NUMBER 23

QUICKIE BUILDERS ASSOCIATION

NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK

by Jim Masal

 

Over the last 6-8 months I have noticed an increasing number of calls and letters from folks who are looking for a Q kit to buy or already have bought one (at fire sale prices). About half of these people aren't interested in joining the QBA but they want to use an hour of my time on the phone picking my brain about the design, performance, prices/value etc. etc. Or I'll get a 2-line letter that goes like this: "Dear Jim, I have just bought a Q-2 kit. I would greatly appreciate it if you would tell me the history of this design, any modifications and their effect on performance and where I can get various plans and parts and anything else you know that I should know." The letters and calls are always polite.

 

WHO DIED AND LEFT ME IN CHARGE?

I have a problem with all this and I need your opinion. First off, I do not accept any obligation to be the information and support source for these designs from now until kingdom come for every person who will ever unearth one of these kits. That is Gene Sheehan's obligation. He's not doing it and NOBODY'S gonna drop it on me by default. I am a sportplane builder just like you and a newsletter editor just for you. I'm NOT in the aviation business (just operating around the fringes). I AM your associate in the QBA and so long as you contribute your ideas and share the cost of putting them in print I recognize an obligation to support each QBA member in return.

Most of us still here were happily building away on our airplanes when QAC president Sheehan, loudly proclaiming his mission to protect the whole of sport aviation from THE LAW, dropped into a manhole somewhere and pulled the cover over. Fine. Most of us were left in a predicament not of our own creation. I was determined that we could all get our planes into the air by pooling our resources.

Now what do I do with these Johnny-come-latelys? These guys were not abandoned by QAC. They created their own predicament by stepping in to snatch up a bargain project (presumably under the influence of high testosterone levels) often with very little forethought. The smell of a bargain will do that. After the deed is done, they want free access to my time to summarize the history and improvements in the design. I am not willing to share the assets of the QBA with them. They are not interested in supporting us and so I resent spending excessive personal time on the phone with them. I will not write individual, lengthy letters (when they won't either), or go running off to the copy center for something they need RIGHT AWAY, or be a librarian and search through 52 back issues to find only the best ones to solve their problem. It annoys me. I prefer to save my free time to work with those of you who are committed to sharing with all of us in the QBA. I already don't have the spare time to work on my own projects.

To be sure, the above does not apply to all of our newcomers. About half of them are as eager to "associate" for the good of the group as the rest of us. Without being a smart alec, how do I dust off these guys who want a free lunch? Some of them act like all I want is to make a buck off them. I find myself feeling like a missionary who can barely evangelize a small Guatemala province while the entire earth is wanting. It can't be done by one. I sympathize with their problem, but they asked for it in the face of a defunct company. They can have everything we know but they must SHARE the informational and financial responsibility to get it. And nobody at this keyboard's gonna feed it to them one spoonful at a time.

 

 

 

'91 DUES due!

The '91 renewal dateline to the QBA is rapidly approaching. All you guys staying on board should know that the rate will continue at $20.00. Renewing now will keep me out of my usual January grumpiness.

Other Articles In This Issue

LETTERS - HINTS - Q-NEWS - by Jim Masal
CLASSIFIEDS - by Jim Masal
QUICKPIX - by Jim Masal

 


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