Posted for Charlie Kohler <charliekohler@yahoo.com>:

FWIW--  For every pilot out there -there is an opinion. Where you come from
probably influences your thoughts. Here's where I come from.
 I am a career aviator. I learned to fly in the front seat of a Champ on a
grass strip in Indiana in 1947 with G.I. Bill students in the backseat.
 I came up through the mechanic/professional flight engineer route. Flight
engineering and instructing/Examiner on C124's and 141's.
 Some might say this is a natural route for someone who needs to know the
mechanical/systems of a homebuilt airplane as well as how to operate it as
well as fly it.
 All the professional years saw me operating in the flight engineering
department at National Airlines and Pan American World Airways. Engineering,
but nonetheless qualified to fly the very airplane we were operating.
 I worked with the Air Force reserve in 141's and with the Aero club as a
check airman/instructor all the while.
 As such, I've been trying to keep the pilots from killing the passengers,
crew and myself for years.
 Now, I'm trying to keep us from landing gear up/ or running into someone/ or
Trying not to do nothing dumb- like flying into thunderstorms.
 I've sat in the back of 727 and 747 simulators for thousands of hours. I
can't tell you how many hundreds of touch and go's I've made at TnT airport in
Miami.  During the "hijacking" years, we trained FBI agents to fly 727s--  and
they did a great job.  I would've put my wife and children in that airplane at
any time.
 So why can't these highly intelligent and trained people stay out of
thunderstorms and quit  trying to fly stalled airplanes.
 I can't put my finger on any one thing in regards this latest spate of
accidents.
 I wonder about the mindset of the individuals involved. Did they really
understand the danger they were in? Do we fully appreciate what a serious
undertaking flying this little rocket is?
 I have tried to instill the "zero tolerance" toward mechanical problems.
(Especially fuel and oil) Do they really understand how important it is to
keep this thing running?   Who did you say overhauled that engine??  Do you
really want to put non-bypass fuel filter between the fuel valve and the
engine driven fuel pump?
 Will more training result in fewer accidents?  Not necessarily.
 Will better training?  Yes -- and holding pilots to the practical test
standards.
 By the way, in case you were to wonder, I have given three down checks in the
last several months. It wasn't pretty but all appreciated it, I believe, at
least they said so.
  
 By the way, My IV-- N100 DQ-- has 2200 hours above 60 kn. It is never been
flown by someone else.
 And I have been training others in their Lancair IV's and Legacies since
1996. Over 200 pilots.
 Are you one?
 What do you think?
  
 Charlie K.
 See me on the Web at  www.Lancair-IV.com