Im trying to finish up on a design and id like to get it legally mine, you know? What do I go through to sell this design or something? Its all my work and id like to get it to the market, so any advice or help would be great. thanks

You may want to PM some of our resident designers here such as Dick Hanson and the like. You just have to be careful if it's a scale plane since I think the manufacturers are working on a "toy plane" legislation so you may have to pay royalty to the manufacturer. I think that has been overturned with warplane manufacturers. Good luck.

Butch

The 'poor mans' copyright is to registered mail a copy of teh plans, pctures, etc.. to yourself, and save it. If you need to proove you had it first, the judge will surely look at the registerd mail closely, as you actaully open teh envelope. it's dated material and a registered with a reputable & reliable agency, US post!

Don't post the plans on eh web!!

Ensure there is a written statement on eh plans taht states no reproduction for and by any means, and not to issue to a third party without express written concent. "These plans are the property of XX and may not in any way be reporoduced.. yadd yadda yadda...."

Do you intend a kit or an ARF? What do you excpect as your market? Sport? 3D? Sale? etc... taht will help you make a plan, and come up with an idea of what your forcast will be. With your forcast, you can then approach kit cutters and suppliers for parts. Usually you will get a discount (w-a-a-y cheaper than what you'd expect from the hobby shop) and some parts, like screws 7 such can be gotten from places like McMAster Carr & Microfastens a lot cheaper than, say, Du-bro. make a parts lsit 7 sprad sheet. Don't forget to include the 'silly stuff' like packing tape, and time to pack a kit.

Make a complete manual, and redo it. It's not easy to create a good manual. Make sure your plans are legible, and offer the details one requires to build what you intend. Give out (or sell at a very low price) a few kits to others [you can trust!!] for a 'pre productin build' to have others evaluate your intentins. Have them come to you with their constructive critisms. Get novice and experninece bulders / flyers for it. This may take a few trials to get right, so don't be discouraged!

Translating it all into antoher language will also open up a few markets, and give you an edge... Spanish and / or French woud be a good bet. Covers most of the Americas and Europe..

If you want to "get it to the market" in plans form, you'll want to see your copyright lawyer.

If you prefer to sell kits, you can contract with one of the many kit cutters. Contact several them for a competitive quote on per-kit cutting, and their minimum lot size. They may or may not help you with packaging. You'll want to check that out with them.

If, on the other hand, you want someone to buy the production rights from you, you'll want to create a killer design, and get some publicity by winning some contests and revolutionizing the hobby.

Do any of those align with what you had in mind?

Dave Olson

Is the design:
- Scale
- Stand-off
- Fun-fly
- Totally radical and unique

Think of the following:

What incentive would there be for someone to stock and try to sell your drawing, or why would a manufacturer consider putting it into production?
Keep in mind that all the risks are on the manufacturer, or reseller.

Things to consider:
- Marketing/advertising, what means, for how long?
- Are you providing packaged drawings, ready for resale?
- Is the seller responsible for the printing, labeling and packaging?
- Do you have a price schedule ie: wholesale vrs retail?
- Are you willing to provide support? Technical as well as parts?
- Are you considering a royalty based licencing approach?
- Is the design such, that a reseller would take a risk in carrying it?
- Is the design proven?
- Has the finished product ever been entered in competition? If so, who flew it?
- Have you prepared a market analysis for drawings vrs production for your design?
- Do you have financial backing to "showcase" your design to prospectives?

An example:
http://strategis.ic.gc.ca/app/cipo/c...1&language=eng

Not to discourage you, but this is the real life business world now, and it's very competetive.
pm me if you wish to further discuss it.

thats some things to think about.. Umm short on time but my plan is of a small lowwing sports plane that favors a goldberg tiger 2 or tiger 60 but with double tapered stab and counterballanced tail parts. I like trike langing gear but always rathered the tail draggers because i think they look better and doing a slow 3 point is still a challenge for me. Ive got maybe close to 500 flights under my belt so im still not really experienced but when it comes to a blank sheet or paper and a pen, to an airplane thats no problem. Ive builts planes before and the only one that didnt fly well was a 2 and a half pounder with a 46 fx and a pipe... Wonder why that didnt work? lol.

World models makes a small 20 size high wing arf called the Happy Fly that flies as well as any lowwing Ive flown in a while... When I crashed it the fuse was gone but the wing didnt break.. I didnt have much but I used an old peice of panneling like what you see on walls, and built a new fuse out of that junk.. Ended up with a 48'' lowwing that weighed 3 pounds and I put an old os 40 fp in it with a 10-7 prop... Flew wonderful for my first wet stab at designing things... Anyways ever since then I have wanted to design something better than a lot of what is out there. I know the edge 540T isnt gonna be beat anytime soon.. U know the guy that deisnged that plane supposedly couldnt even make it through high school? call me on it if im wrong but thats what I heard from an older man named Bob Baker from Amarillo Texas... Hes into designing boats and planes, and hes never told me wrong on anything

anyways thanks for the help people..