NH:Press 3/28/04

Finally! ByDanJohnson.com Goes LiveST. PAUL, MINN. – After three years of effort, Dan Johnson is pleased to announce that his Web site will go live on April 12th, 2004, the day before the season-starting Sun ‘n Fun airshow opens.
ByDanJohnson.com is intended to be a source for literally hundreds of pilot reports on a wide variety of light aircraft, accompanied by thousands of photos of these aircraft. Dan’s work to create pilot reports dates back into the mid-1970s and covers a large fleet of ultralights and light-sport aircraft made in the USA or abroad.
“This is one of those projects where if I’d known how much work it was going to be, I might never have started,” admitted Johnson. “But, at airshows and at speaking engagements, pilots often ask, ‘You’ve flown all these airplanes. Which one should I buy?’ The question is difficult to answer because each person has different skills and needs, and I don’t usually know the individual asking the question,” Dan explained. “In addition, after writing hundreds of aircraft evaluations, it becomes challenging to contrast the latest aircraft with another flown months ago, much less offer a comparison of five different models.”
ByDanJohnson.com offers visitors the chance to interactively research aircraft before a purchase. The database-driven Web site contains articles complete with photos, specifications, and contact information. Special features in final development include “PlaneFinder,” a question-and-answer system aiming to guide buyers to aircraft that interest them. “SpecCheck” helps visitors compare specifications of multiple aircraft without having to page back and forth through printed buyer’s guides. “PlaneView” allows a pilot to pull up photos of any aircraft reported on the site. “Pros & Cons,” an element of pilot reports appearing in Ultralight Flying! magazine, lets visitors contrast the positives and negatives of various aircraft in nine different categories so they can line up which meets their needs the best.
“The magazines for whom I write have been very cooperative and I’ve made it easy for visitors to go to their Web sites as well. But of all the aircraft companies covered, none are advertisers. “I’ve established this as a member-supported Web site,” says Johnson, who notes that members paying $29 a year get more than a dozen pilot reports free and can buy more for half price. Registered visitors can view plenty of free material and buy articles they like one at a time. After buying an article a current member can reread it anytime. Since Dan writes 40+ articles per year, the Web site will be continuously updated with new reports.
Dan Johnson is a well-known aviation writer submitting monthly to Ultralight Flying!, Kitplanes, EAA Sport Pilot, GA News, and Hang Gliding & Paragliding. In 27 years he has published pilot reports on over 280 light aircraft. Johnson is the 1999 winner of USUA’s Moody Award, the 2001 recipient of the Spirit of Flight Award from the Society of Experimental Test Pilots, and was awarded the 2003 Outstanding Leadership Award from ASTM International. Dan narrated the 1998 FAA/EAA video, First Flights in Your Ultralight / Lightplane. Two books plus an annual calendar have exclusively featured his flight reports.