Builders,
About 9:30 tonight, this webpage which has been running for 25 months crossed over the 400,000 mark on ‘page reads.’ The term is used by the counter on the site. If a builder shows up and reads the main story of the day, every day for a week, that is 7 ‘page reads.’ If he reads the top 5 stories on one day, It counts just 1. If he clicks on links to read other stories or finds them through the search box, they count individually.
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This doesn’t make the Corvair the most popular experimental engine, but it is a really good indication that the builders we have are in aviation for the traditional values of ‘learn, build and fly.‘ Many websites are just an on-line catalogue and a store. Here we have a setting of more breadth and depth, a place to return to, understand more about what we are building, and read thoughts on why we value making things with our minds and hands.
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This website has really good data counters built into it. It does not tell me who read what but it does keep a good count on what was read. Below is the data chart on the most popular stories of the 25 months we have had the site up. We have 464 stories here, but these top the list. You can click on any of the titles to read them.
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The Counter on the main page is high because if a guy checks in to read a story by going to the main page first, it gets recorded in that box. The individual stories below, like the Getting Started page with 2,258 reads reflects people going directly to that story. If a builder goes to our original site, and clicks the ‘Getting Started’ link, he goes directly to this story, and it is counted individually , not added to the home page total. Not bad, considering that the ‘Getting Started’ story is just 7 weeks old.
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Some of the other stories are near 2 years old, but I try to write the technical pieces so that the data is still useful a long time into the future. Unlike to posts I used to write for discussion groups, I can, and do, go back, update, add to, and clarify these stories.
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There is a particular kind of internet personality who reads that last sentence as proof that I am Orwell’s Winston Smith, working at the Ministry of Truth to rewrite history. I would like to allay such thoughts by pointing out I often speak of mistakes I have made, and how I have a long track record of being open-minded enough to get smarter. I find it ironic that it’s usually the people who have never met a person who are certain they can see the person’s motives and ethics.
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If not for your hard work and dedication builders and flyers like myself would not have an economical and reliable engine like the Corvair in our planes. I read this webpage every evening and I always learn something from it . Thanks William.
Jeff
Jeff,
It works both ways. We have a lot of builders in the Corvair world who put in all kinds of effort, large and small, to put back a little more than they took. Your flying films and comments have inspired many people. The stories on your plane have hundreds of re-reads logged.
In our industry, number of ‘engine gurus’ are good with machines, but don’t really like humans. I like both I have been to Oshkosh more times than I can count, and I have pretty much seen all the machinery I need to. Yet I look forward to going back to see people every year. Not the giant crowds, but the hours like eating dinner late in the evening last year with you and your better half and the brothers Johnson. Quality time.
I agree with Jeff, and add that what I’ve learned about how to think about safety, simplicity, and risk management from you is invaluable. Your posts are simply the most anticipated emails I receive, bar none. Question…the whole post appears in my email, where I read them many times. Does the counter add that initial email to subscribers as a viewing?
Greg,
Some of the subscribers just get a notice, others like you get the whole story, there are different settings, but the majority of readers just show up to follow what is new. We have been averaging 1,400 page reads a day this week, but only 102 people are subscribers. Monday drew 1,741 page reads from more than 600 different readers.
WW, I rarely got to the site, I’m getting emails from it though. Do those count too?
Ron,
A small part of the readership signed up as a subscription, like you did, but most people just check in several times a week. It doesn’t count subscribers unless you return to the site. By grouping the stories on the ‘reference pages’, I have made it easier for occasional readers to cover topics that they would like to follow in depth. If you have not read stories in 90 days, they function as an effective index.
I stop by nearly every evening. Great reading happens here! Many valuable lessons are given and many of them are directly related to Corvairs. 8~)
As the owner of a couple of Yahoo Groups (flying related) and a member of many more groups I have been guilty of linking to the stories and information on this site quite a bit.
Thank you William for you continuing and tireless efforts in giving builders a great conversion to build and for never shying away from the truth even though it can be a bit stark and painful at times.
Dale
N319WF
Myunn – “Daughter of Cleanex”