“Tom,

Thanks for your input and I will try to consider my tone--  it is awfully hard to convey in tone an email but I will try.

Yes, I agree that everyone makes mistakes. Some admit it and few like Don Barnes last year even descibe what they did wrong so that others may not make the same error. (Thanks Don, you are a BIG MAN in my book). Others post messages about errors of judgment without telling the audience how they can avoid the same hazard. Others see no error in their mistake but use the forum to brag about how they "cheated death". Its these last two categories that should not go unanswered by us. What went wrong and how can we avoid it?

Unfortunately, we are not peers in the world of aviation. There are weekend fliers and professional pilots on this list. There are folks with little time in their Lancair to guys with over 2000 hours in Lancairs. There are brand new private pilots with 200 hours to professional pilot ATP's with over 20,000 hours. Yes, we are brethren in the air, but we are not peers. For many here this flying stuff is a hobby-- for others it is a profession.

It is relatively easy to learn to fly an airplane. The mechanics of piloting are not that hard but, it takes a lot of time, experience and training to fly one well and safely. It takes decades of experience to learn be a good PIC-- to exercise good judgment when things go south. Unfortunately, as a goup, Lancair pilots do not exhibit good judgment.  We kill 15-20 people a year in these things. Some are very good friends of ours. We need more discussion of how to fly these things safely-- not less.  

Regards,

Jeff”

I don’t think WE kill anyone in these things.

Some accidents will bear similarities, most will be for reasons which are individual to the circumstance.

The core factor is, as has been noted many times in these hallowed electronic pages, these things are by design, serious aircraft.

The BIG difference is that they are flown by a huge range of pilot experience, and one of the great advantages of being a professional pilot is being professional.

That, by the way, doesn’t mean private pilots are necessarily any less professional, but it does mean that they have not been exposed to the level of professional discipline required in the particular area of operation.

It has been my experience that those who adopt the attitude that is easy to learn to fly, carry an attitude they can never err.

This has the effect of being carried over into any type they transition to.

The pilot who says he/she has never made a mistake, or frightened themselves fartless is either a fool or a liar.

Cheers

Dom Crain

VH-CZJ