Hello RAP newsgroup pilots, posters and lurkers,

I posted a message a couple weeks ago about a new product that I put out
called AirPlanLite. I was wondering how many people in RAP have actually
tried it, and if they have any feedback they would like to share.

I know that because I am asking for $5.00 per database update but not
charging for the software, certain individuals who frequent this newsgroup
believe that I am *gasp*, a spammer. I think that those individuals have an
over-inflated sense of self-importance, and don't undersand the egalitarian
nature of the internet or newsgroups. I fully expect a number of flames in
response to this post, so have donned my Nomex undergarments.

The truth is that I am a pilot who has created a piece of software that I
have decided to share in as low a cost way as I can. I have no illusions
about making any significant amount of money from my product. That has not
happened over the past 6 years. I certainly have not made enough money to
compensate all of the time and effort I have invested in writing this
software. I haven't broken even on the booth I had at Oshkosh this year
(first time there). I have had a few years where I have actually had to pay
some taxes on my earnings from AirPlan (side business). Being an engineer,
I'll be the first to admit that I'm not a marketing whiz, but that's OK with
me. I have met too many marketing types who have zero ethics.

The decision to create AirPlanLite in addition to my standard payware
version of AirPlan was to get back to my original intent of putting
something in the hands of pilots to aid their flight planning process in a
very affordable way. This is exactly what I was looking for back in 1997
when I decided to write AirPlan in the first place.

AOPA and the EAA have done pilots a service by putting out their freeware
planners, but the main limitation of both of those options is that they only
work on the internet. If you have a laptop but aren't connected, you can't
use them. AirPlanLite is meant to provide an equivalent level of capability
to what the EAA and AOPA are offering without having to be online.
AirPlanLite is capable of transferring planned routes between the EAA
(Aeroplanner) free planner and itself using the Import/Export functions.
Unfortunately this can't be done with the AOPA planner.

So, back to the original question. Have you tried AirPlanLite? Do you use
it? Do you like it? Am I annoying you with this post?

Sincerely,

Dean Wilkinson
Razor's Edge Software
http://www.razorsedgesoft.com/airplan.htm