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A friend of mine called last night to indicate that the new owner of
Lancair, Mr. Bartel, had a whole list of negative things to say about the
EngineAir engine that my friend intends on installing in his plane. The
history of this engine, its problems, its controversies, its growth, its
recent demise, my part as an investor, and the probability of the technology
continuing into the future are known by most of you. I am not here to talk
about EngineAir or any of its well known, well advertised history, but
rather the larger issue of how we as members of the experimental aviation
community - entrepreneurs, businessmen, pilots, etc. should seek to conduct
ourselves. For the reasons that follow, I believe we should adopt a code of
conduct that reflects the best in each of us. Here are some of my
reflections on this issue.
Mr. Bartel's comments are understandable in that he now owns Lancair,
profits from every Continental and Walter turbine that he sells, and has no
incentive, financial or otherwise, to promote any other powerplant,
expecially when it is difficult to make money in this line of business.
However, I am troubled that Mr. Bartels' business strategy with regard to my
friend involved misrepresenting the truth - for example, telling my friend
that I had two dead stick landings in my plane with the EngineAir engine (I
must have been asleep during the second one). This is a poor way to begin
your life as the new owner of Lancair and is an example of why we need to
develop a code of conduct among ourselves. I suggest:
Research your facts, communicate them accurately, allow issues to be
discussed in an open and honest way and state your conflict(s) of interest
so all will know where each party is coming from.
Concerning the general conduct of our group and its postings (and I include
myself as an occasional participant in this), I think the negativity and
bickering on a number of different issues has made us lose sight of our
priorities. At the top of our list should be safety. How do we facilitate
safety? By sharing our thoughts and ideas with one another in a mutually
respectful way and by always seeking to be constructive, not destructive.
Our second code of conduct should be:
Discuss, construct, don't criticize. Help, not hamper. Compete, but
not at the expense of each other.
Having experienced firsthand the money burn that accompanies trying to get a
new technology in the air (I know there are others who have traveled the
same road), and knowing that there are very few of us with millions of
dollars of resources to develop these technologies, we need to accept that
IF we want to see development, and IF there is not enough money or resources
to support that development, that the path to development will be longer,
more arduous and at times more uncertain. PROBLEMS WILL BE INEVITABLE.
Trying to kill new development because of problems that develop along the
way, because of competition between various parties, or one of a number of
other reasons serves no purpose other than to stifle new ideas and further
deplete the resources of those who have tried to bring new things to us all.
A third code of conduct should be:
Always seek to encourage development of new ideas and support those who
in good faith are undertaking these projects. It benefits us all.
The experimental world has been THE major source of change in aviation,
giving rise to all sorts of new technologies that have radically changed our
flying. I applaud the many individuals, popular and unpopular, who have
worked so hard and spent so much money on our behalf to make this happen.
Examples include the "big" guys like Lance Neibauer and Burt Rutan, the
"middle" guys like Jim Bede and the members of the Chelton group, and the
small guys like Rick Schrameck (supercharger), Bob McClellan/Henry Bouley
(deceased) and many many others. These folks are examples of the talent
that exists among us. We should help each other in any way we can because
our futures are truly tied together.
Thank you for considering these thoughts.
Doug Pohl
IV-P
N488SD
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