Message-ID: <37456C6A.DC673BF7@regandesigns.com>
Date: Fri, 21 May 1999 07:23:38 -0700
From: Brent Regan <brent@regandesigns.com>
To: Lancair List <lancair.list@olsusa.com>
Subject: Call Sign (resend from Tuesday)
Mime-Version: 1.0

          <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<--->>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
          <<  Lancair Builders' Mail List  >>
          <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<--->>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> 
>>
Jim's comments on the regs being a little daft in this area are spot on.
To better
understand the situation, Timmy and I took the Way Back machine to an
earlier era
before Lancairs, before any EZ, to a time PPP (pre Paul Poberezny), back
when the
regs were written. We witnessed the first flight of an Experimental and
the three
most popular questions were "Will it fly?", "Will it keep flying?" and
"How much
are you willing to bet the pilot survives the crash?".

Notifying the tower of the experimental nature of the aircraft meant
that the
controller would shout down to Billy-Bob to warm up the fire truck and
find the
crash ax cuz some fool thinks he is one of the Wright brothers.

I tried to explain to one of the onlookers that one day Experimentals
would be
common, reliable and, in many cases better aircraft than factory built.
The
laughter was fading as I walked away.

"We should tell the FAA that their regulations are out dated." said
Timmy with the
earnest of youth. I nodded and smiled "That may not be wise. You see
Timmy, if we
point out that the regulations are a little behind the times they may
realize that
the whole experimental aircraft idea flies in the face of government
imposed
safety. In an era of airbags, seat belts, gun control and helmet laws
the freedom
to hurl yourself through the sky at half the speed of sound in a craft
you built
in your garage is certainly anachronistic! Best to let sleeping DARs
lie."

" What is an acron-is-tic?" Timmy queried.

Oh to be young again.

Brent


>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
LML homepage:   http://www.olsusa.com/Users/Mkaye/maillist.html