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<< Lancair Builders' Mail List >>
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Jeff:
Your letter of 8/4 was sage advice, and right on point.
<<Just because it is experimental doesn't relieve the pilot from flying an airworthy aircraft (see FAR 91.7).>>
Based on experience with the "experimental mindset", I feared that your advice might fall on too many deaf ears. And guess what: it took only 9 hours to produce the following moronic emission, suggesting that you had somehow committed an unforgivable betrayal, to wit:
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Too bad this guy couldn't make it beyond the first sentence of 91.7(b). I don't really understand what makes so many of them think that they are exempt from the FAR's. The airworthiness certificates are issued under the generous provisions of FAR 21-191(g) and subordinate, but nowhere is there any suspension of the requirements for airworthiness, nor of the standards under which airworthiness is established. The intellectual arrogance which leads these people to think (forgive the loose terminology) that their knowledge is superior to the painfully-accumulated knowledge embodied in the FAR's is just baffling. But how in the world do they get to the belief that Part 91 doesn't apply to them?
In the past few years, the insurance companies have been establishing the de-facto standards. I think it began in the experimental world when patently-unqualified pilots began driving Glasair-3's into the ground. You just don't go from a 172 into a 250 knot, 30 psf-wing-loading, complex airplane without some significant transition training. Ten years ago, I did quite a bit of checkout and transition training for pilots moving up to moderate-performance twins like the 310. Currently, that has all but vaporized since the insurance companies have raised the requirements-bar so high for a 310 that not many qualify, and those that do hardly need any training. Looks like the same thing will continue to happen in the L4 world (and other high-performance experimentals) as long as the loss rate continues to spiral. Frankly, I've been surprised that insurance has continued to be available for exp's at all. And I believe that the attitude embodied in the response to your post will continue to ramp the losses upward. My guess is that soon, many will decide that the only practical option is to fly uninsured. (I know firsthand of exp-drivers who have already made that decision.)
Jack Kane
LML website: http://www.olsusa.com/mkaye/maillist.html
LML Builders' Bookstore: http://www.buildersbooks.com/lancair
Please send your photos and drawings to marvkaye@olsusa.com.
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