Zoom; zooming v. (1970s) to deceive; betray; kid.  
     (Hear Aretha Franklin,"Who's Zoomin' Who?")  
     See "Zoom [one] out."

          "From Juba to Jive: The dictionary of African-American slang"
           by Clarence Major, 1994, page 521
           by permission of the author

At Sun ’n Fun 1990 I entered into an agreement for three magazine ads -
May, June and July 1990 - with Dawn Blackwell, the ad sales rep for US
Aviator.  I was told I could cancel at any time. Because we recieved only
2 responses in the first two months I sent a US Aviator a letter
cancelling our third ad, and included payment of $160 towards our account.
Mr. Campbell ran the third ad anyway and billed me for it. Mr. Campbell
then phoned me on Aug. 14, 1990 and left a very nasty message on my
answering machine, stating among other things that I had 24 hrs to pay in
full or he would send my account to a collection agency.

Which he did. I had intended to pay Mr. Campbell in full, even for the ad
that I canceled. But his coarse, rude, threatening attitude led me to deal
with the collection agency instead.  At this point I wanted nothing to do
with Mr.Campbell or his magazine.

In the 1993 affordable flyers section of US Aviator, we were listed in the
"not recommended" section. I felt I was being punished because of my
cancellation of my advertising. But after seeing how Mr. Campbell used the
magazine during his dispute with Don Jones and Max Air by telling only his
version of the story, I wanted no part of a fight with him. So I just kept
quiet about what he had written and hoped he would go away and leave me
alone.

Unfortunately my silence did not deter Mr. Campbell. In the March 1994
issue of US Aviator he wrote:

"Our complaint ratio on the Hawk is very high... and for a number of
different corporate iterations that this design has been subjected to. The
designer of this bird is an old friend of mine and it pains me to have to
do this,but the financial problems that he has had, and the people
(customers) who have gotten burned in the process of trying to work with
him do not make the Hawk a very safe bet, in our opinion,for your flying
dollar "

After reading his rating of my company my first thought was, how can this
be true and what can I do to rectify the situation. I wrote Mr. Campbell
and asked for the names of the people he said I had "burned ". If there
truly were people who felt that I had burned them, then I wanted the
opportunity to correct the problem. I also asked for some data on how he
compiled the "high complaint ratio". Since a ratio indicates relative
numbers, (ie: good reports vs bad reports), how many reports did he
receive? 5, 10, 50, 100? Mr. Campbell told me that the data I requested
was private and confidential and he would not disclose any information. I
then asked him to notify the people I had allegedly "burned" and have them
contact me so I may be allowed to rectify the situation. I have yet to be
contacted.

At this point I began to doubt the validity of Mr.Campbell’s claims, based
partially on my prior experiences with him and conversations I had with
other companys who were listed on the US Aviators "not recommended list."

This would have been a golden opportunity for Mr. Campbell to provide a
real service to his readers and my customers, by providing the medium for
resolving consumer problems. Yet Mr.Campbell refused to co-operate with me
in this matter. I then contacted all the major aviation publications to
see if they had received any negative reports about me or my company. The
answer was a resounding no.

How is it that disgruntled consumers only contact US Aviator?? How is it
that US Aviator can write about and grade companies they have never
visited?? How can US Aviator claim to know about a company's finances, but
never see a profit and loss statements??  How can US Aviator write a
review about CGS Aviation and do a company profile, but never interview
me?? How can US Aviator rate the engineering of a design while never
looking at any engineering data?? Who is the qualified engineer on staff
or retainer that evaluates the various designs? What educational
background does Mr. Campbell posses that qualifies him to be judge and
jury?  

It is my opinion, based on the treatment of CGS Aviation, and on
conversations with other manufacturers and former employees of US Aviator,
that very little real data exists. It appears that these ratings are based
primarily on how the editor feels about a particular company; on opinion,
rumor, and hearsay rather than on real, factual data. In fact, in US
Aviator, March 1994, p.21, Campbell says..."companies or aircraft kits
that we cannot recommend for one reason or another. Based solely on the
expert OPINIONS of my staff and I.."

Because of my doubts about Mr. Campbell’s credibility, I began to make
inquiries to verify some of the more dramatic claims that he has made on
line and in his magazine.  Among others I contacted the Oshkosh Police
Department and the Edwards Air Force Base Test Pilot School.

Statement: "threats of extorsion issued to us by Flightworks employee
Laurel Lee Ramey in early August 1993 at the EAA Oshkosh Fly-In (as
reported to the Oshkosh PD and other legal entities)" US Aviator July 1994
p.60.  Mr. Campbell also told me in a phone conversation that this
incident  was  "a matter of police record".

Fact: There is a police record of an incident involving Mr. Campbell at
Oshkosh Aug. 1993, but it’s not for an extortion attempt.  It was a
dispute between Mr.Campbell and Laurel Lee Ramey, Campbell’s former
fiance, over the ownership of a camera lens. There’s a very big
difference. It was a civil matter, not a criminal one as Mr. Campbell has
claimed.  

Statement: recently Mr. Campbell has written about being asked to give a
talk at the Edwards AFB Test Pilots School.  It sounds very impressive.  

Fact: he was a guest at a meeting of EAA Chapter 1000, which met in the
TPS auditorium.  While there he introduced himself to the group.

            "falsus in uno, falsus in omnibus"

This and other information strengthens my opinion that much, perhaps most
of the information in Mr. Campbell’s magazine and promotional literature
is not accurate, and is the result of fabrication or embellishment.

Once I started asking Mr. Campbell for hard, factual proof of his
statements about my customers his attitude toward me hardened further.
The following are some exerpts of communications from Mr.Campbell to or
about me:

     "you posted some libelous mat'l on the Inet....are younuts???

     "do you know how easy it will be to get a libel judgementagainst
you???"

     "in the morning I'm going to take action."

     "Jesus Christ ....is that jerk out of his mind??"

     "our attorney has already started action against you for
     your libelous actions"

     "you've broken the law, told lies and acted like a true space cadet"

     "look Chuck you have been behaving like an ass"

     "We are working with law enforcement as regards to your
      harassment efforts"

     "be assured that I will see you in court and I will see justice
done."

     "your reprehensible personal conduct and illegal attacks
     on my staff, magazine and I"

   and finally,

     "please note we treated you professionally and responsibly.."

All this because I wanted to know the names of the people he said I
burned, and because I questioned his data. I have studiously avoided
contacting his staff in any way, shape or form. I have never harassed Mr.
Campbell or his staff, nor have I ever, as he has alleged, threatened to
bomb his office, rape his staff or girlfriend or kill his dog. I have
committed no criminal acts.  

In the hours that followed my posting of part I I received a phone call, a
fax and a E mail message from Mr. Campbell, threatening me with a variety
of lawsuits   and criminal prosecution for writing about my experiences
with him.  I will deal with those and other threats by him in a future
post.

The real issue, then, is simply one of credibility.  When Zoom Campbell
makes an accusation, should it be believed?  Should the person on the
other end of the accusation have to defend himself in order to stay in
business?  Can Zoom Campbell and US Aviator stand up to the same standards
it sets for others??

          End Part 2 (to be con't.)