Vans Aircraft and Richard VanGrunsven Documnetary

So I have been tossing around the idea of creating a Documentary/Short Film about Vans Aircraft and Richard VanGrunsven for starters. I would like to highlight the following in the film:

• The factory and some of the key employees
• Richard VanGrunsven
• Builders
• Aviators
• Builder groups
• Flying chapters
• Formation flying groups
• And Doug Reeves of course

I would like to throw it out into the community for some ideas and thoughts. Maybe some builders, groups and companies that would like to be involved in the project.

I lost my dad in an RV accident back in 1999 N41VA. I want this documentary to be a very positive and up building film. The building process is something every father and son should experience and I want to highlight families, couples and friends all building together. And of course I want to highlight everybody flying together as well!

This would be a digital download for around $5.00-$8.00 to watch. I would like to donate $0.50-$1.00 from each viewing to support VansAirforce.Net

UPDATE: We will be doing a Kickstarter campaign so those who would like to support the campaign can preorder a few different rewards.

So I will open this up for discussion and see what everybody thinks about it. Would everybody like to see something like this come to life?

Thanks in advance for all of the advice!

You can read about my dads plane N41VA here starting on page 4.

I'm pleased to be the first poster to say YES!

Sounds fabulous to me

Cheers

R22CFI said:

The building process is something every father and son should experience and I want to highlight families, couples and friends all building together. And of course I want to highlight everybody flying together as well!

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I couldn't agree more.

My son played a significant role in building my RV-10. It would have taken me twice as long to build without his assistance.

It even got my daughter her first job after graduating college. In the interview process, she was asked about what practical application she had reading plans and building from them. She talked about the RV-10. Her interviewer was a pilot and they talked about RVs the rest of the interview.

My wife even joined in on the fun by doing a fair amount of the fiberglass work.

It was definitely a family affair!

Great idea

Sounds great
I just started a RV 14 build with my son. He also has his pilots lisence and I'm hoping to fly the RV 14 for several years before giving it to him.
Having a blast building this well made kit.
Good luck with your project

Sounds great. Keep in mind that not all of the key players in the Vans story still work there.

A doco like a great idea. If you need funding to get this off the ground, perhaps you could even list the project on some crowd funding site such as gofundme.com? I'm sure you'd get some members of this forum prepared to put a few dollars upfront to get this started. Just an idea I'm throwing out there to help this be a success, but in reality what I should be doing is getting back to finishing dimpling my wing skins.
Tom.

Gofundme or Kickstarter is a good idea. For $50 ($20?), contributors get a DVD and the rights to show it once at an EAA meeting.

Yes this is definitely in the works. We would like to offer some screenings around the country. We will have a Kickstarter fund up within the next week to two weeks so everybody can preorder a DVD or a digital download.

We will have a kickstarter fund going up within the next week or two. After we get everything lined out, then we make a time table so we can make plans to start shooting. I will keep everybody posted as it progresses.

This is a great idea! I would like to be the first to volunteer to provide a group build segment. Perhaps we could even do the shooting, with a little direction (the "videobobk" name speaks to 15 years as videographer.)

Great idea,

My only advice after working with a couple people that made budget aviation documentaries: Take your time, it is always inevitable the film makers want want to finish or meet a deadline. The more time you give it, the better the product will be and the less stress you will put on yourself.

With the amount of talent and resources in the RV community you will be able to to get tons of great aerial footage and will have countless volunteers. Next April will be the West Coast Formation Clinic where there may be 50+ willing to contribute fliying time.

Let me know if there is anything I can do to help.

Sounds like a great idea and I think the crowd funding idea is a really go way to go! You have a built in crowd right here!

Von and I were building our RV-8s at the same time, and were both on the RV-8 Short List (an email group). It was a real shock when he lost his life. I'm very sorry I never had the chance to meet him.

I'd buy a copy once the documentary is finished.