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Thread: Be Experimenters again

  1. #1
    Jim Heffelfinger's Avatar
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    Be Experimenters again

    Synergy Aircraft.
    Some in the experimental world are skeptics , not early adopters – wait and see types. When that great new whatever comes out and the wait-and-sees just watch from the sidelines - the project falters – unable to sustain itself past the observation period. The skeptics just say – well, I guess it wasn’t such a good thing – it never made it past the prototype. I’m glad I didn’t buy into that one. Is that you ?

    So, along comes Synergy – it’s radical and to some just weird. It is trying to combine a half dozen engineering concepts all at once – because they are so interactive. It defies common engineering design programs - because they were based on last century’s status quo. It doesn’t even look like an airplane and it’s using a near prototype engine.
    The bleachers of “wait and see” are filling fast.

    I think of another visionary who has yet to stop being a game changer – He too had to buck the ‘wait and sees’ of the time but the Rutan designs came when the American homebuilder was young and open to things that defied convention. Heck, a whole generation was looking to challenge convention in every facet of our world. It was the period of hang gliding, ultralights, gyros, PPG, trikes, and a dozen other designs.

    Imagination has moved into the computer and internet arenas with only a few still impassioned to aviation. Do we want aviation to grow?

    We as experimental aircraft supporters have a chance to get off the side line, to leave the bleachers and move on to the court – to put on our imagination again and support something that might be a game changer.

    Skeptics – So what if Synergy only delivers 50% on claims? Then we are still way ahead of the way we have done things for the last 75 years.

    I encourage you to take a moment and pledge to help make a difference in aircraft design. To support pushing back the status quo. To join the Wrights and Rutans and all in between as visionaries.

    Get off the bleachers.
    Be experimenters again.
    http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/...rcraft-project

  2. #2
    Jim Heffelfinger's Avatar
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    Looks like John got his first wish..... now for the second. Where is that guy with the lamps??

  3. #3
    Jim Heffelfinger's Avatar
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    great support

    Well, the kickstarter is closed and $ 95,600 was committed. I am sure John is really pleased. We might actually get to see Synergy at AV12. Whooo woo

  4. #4
    John McGinnis's Avatar
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    Mighty thankful to you, Jim, as well as to the more than 799 supporters who pitched in. Unfortunately, getting to OSH 12 became a physical impossibility when we ran out of money in January and everyone had to go find some employment. Somehow, we got through the tense part and when EAAers decided this shouldn't get pushed back or mothballed, we were able to avoid the worst case scenario. But we're a long way from flyable right now. Next year! The first funds should arrive at the end of June and will get us looking like an airplane sometime this fall.

    With the success of the Kickstarter project we funded our phase one goal, but came up far short of the stretch goal. Just as before, that means the cash will run out before we're finished, absent additional funding or investment. With the global exposure that occurred in connection with the Kickstarter campaign that should probably work out, but probably is not certainly. Once the plane flies we'll have a different opportunity, yet the work will only have just begun.

    When I was a kid I read about stuff like this, people helping MacCready and Rutan do awesome projects, but as a kid I thought it was all too late for me. I never imagined I'd be right smack in the middle of one myself. I did imagine, though, that EAA would be what it is today. I guess you could say I was counting on it, and eager to play a small part some day. Thank you all very much.

    John McGinnis

    <a data-cke-saved-href="http://www.synergyaircraft.com" href="http://www.synergyaircraft.com">

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