lml@lancaironline.net Mailing List Archive

Skip,

You've just corroborated a very important concept. VERY few, if any, DARs or FAA inspectors have much of a clue about whether your plane is airworthy or safe to fly. They know very little about plastic airplanes and less about your particular model. They are there to check out your paper work and find obvious flaws in design or workmanship. That is all. The flaws they are looking for are the ones that will get them in trouble if you prang your ass. They are going on the CYA (their own) principal. The ones who are anal and spend hours nitpicking your project are probably doing you very little service. The obvious exception is the DAR who has built and flown Lancairs - better yet, the Lancair model that you have built.

The last paragraphs in your post are the important ones because your test pilot/inspector from Lancair or wherever is the guy who really knows what he's looking at and will make darn sure your complicated bird will soar appropriately. He does this for two reasons: first he doesn't want to crash in it on the first flight, and second for your safety/his reputation as an inspector/test pilot.

In your shoes, I'd have zero complaint about the DAR's perfunctory inspection. I'd be grateful, because I would expect no more useful service from him anyway.

Cheers,

John Barrett

-----Original Message-----
From: Lancair Mailing List [mailto:lml@lancaironline.net]On Behalf Of Skip Slater
Sent: Monday, January 24, 2005 4:36 AM
To: Lancair Mailing List
Subject: [LML] Re: (DAR) Inspection

"Who was your DAR? Was his whole inspection only 4 hours?"

   I wish my DAR had been that thorough when I had my ES inspected. The guy I had was a total joke. He showed up, asked to see my paperwork, did about a five minute walkaround during which he stuck his head in the door for a quick peek at my panel, then went to a desk where he filled out his forms, gave me my airworthiness certificate and operating limitations, collected a $400 check for his services and left. When I offered to show him my builder's log and photo album, both of which which I'd taken great pains to put together, he wasn't interested. I got the feeling I was keeping him from a tee time or something. I don't think he was there for more than half an hour total.

   One of the guys in the builder assist shop where I was at the time knew the DAR and he'd told him that he could tell within a few minutes if a plane was airworthy or not. Since my plane was built at a shop he knew about and who's work he was familiar with, I guess he didn't feel it necessary to do a thorough inspection. I was very tempted to lodge a complaint with the local FSDO, which in retrospect, I probably should have done.

   Thankfully, when Orin came to do my first flight about a week later, he spent several hours over two different days going over EVERYTHING from nose to tail with me, pointing out several things that needed tweaking in the process. Only when he was done did I feel fully confident that the plane was ready to fly.

   In contrast to my inspector, I've heard of some DARs that go way overboard, going so far as to check control travel down to a tenth of a degree and nitpicking over some incredibly obtuse items. Jeff's sounds like a pretty good one to me, somewhere in the middle - thorough without being obsessive. Wish I'd had him myself!

   Skip Slater