Message-ID: <375EC491.D67DCC25@regandesigns.com>
Date: Wed, 09 Jun 1999 12:46:25 -0700
From: Brent Regan <brent@regandesigns.com>
To: lancair.list@olsusa.com
Subject: Re: Brent Regan/Flap Actuator Tube Interference
References: <19990609042001.AAA24562@truman.olsusa.com>
Mime-Version: 1.0

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Dear Dave:

I sincerely apologize if you have taken personal offense at my comments. That was
not my intent. I have always found that presenting a case in a reasonable, factual
manner without making assumptions as to who is "at fault" consistently produces
the most favorable outcome.

Hyperbole aside, the situation here is simple, you know of one airplane that has a
flap actuator alignment problem and I know of two that do not. I was heavily
involved in the construction of the airplanes I am referring to (N170BR and
N114L). Both are IV-Ps, both have won Outstanding Workmanship Awards at OSH, both
have been inspected for flap mechanism interference and neither has a problem. I
call this an "existence proof". I proves that it is possible to assemble the
components as intended without a rubbing problem.

The quality of construction of the IVs out there (and all homebuilts for that
matter) varies widely. Some are better than you could hope to get from an assembly
line and some are not airworthy. More than one builder has failed to remove peel
ply from critical bond areas. These airplanes are complex machines and almost
every one is built by a guy who hasn't built one just like it before. All of them
have flaws. Uncovering these flaws and presenting them so that others may learn is
one of the objectives of this forum. My personal motivations are to keep abreast
of problems that develop in flying aircraft and the return the favor I received
from those who assisted me. Benefiting from this forum without contributing would
be very bad Ju-Ju.

One tip for you. You mention in your posts that various manufacturers ignore you.
I don't thing you want to be advertising that fact ;)

Dave, one thing I am confused about is this, what is it you want? You have brought
the problem you have had to the factory's attention, and ours, and it has been
noted. Since you are an engineer I would think that you could propose a solution.
If the problem is real and the proposed solution is workable it has been my direct
experience that the folks at Lancair are responsive.

Case in point. Early in the construction of my plane I visited the factory and saw
the pressurized prototype under construction. Ross was working on the hydraulics
and I noted that they were using electric solenoid actuated 4-way spool valves to
operate the main gear. These valves are very sensitive to contamination and will
stick it you look at them wrong. I proposed to Lance that they switch to the
manually operated rotary valve that is currently used. This solution was far more
reliable, cheaper and lighter. The only one who didn't benefit was poor Ross who
had to tear out all his fine work to use the new valves. Sorry Ross.

While I am passing out apologies, I am sorry for the bandwidth that rehashing
these issues has taken. Can we move on now?

Regards
Brent


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