Peter Van Arsdale wrote:

I am finding the discussion on Lorn Olsen's flight with a dead battery to be a bit too judgmental with regard to the operation being unsafe, as under some circumstances it is not unreasonable to fly an airplane with inoperable equipment.

And under what conditions do you find resetting the breaker repeatedly in flight to be reasonable?  If you find that repeatedly resetting a breaker is an acceptable procedure, then why even have a breaker?  

When a breaker pops, it indicates that something is wrong.  You need to figure out what is wrong and fix it before resetting the breaker.  I can see resetting a breaker once in flight, but if it pops a second time, I can not think of any scenario where I would consider resetting it again -- not unless I manage to determine the source of the problem and definitively fix it, an unlikely event in flight.

My biggest concern with the whole incident is the mindset that led an individual to keep resetting a breaker and see absolutely noting wrong with it.  Yes, the issue is with mindset and attitude not the minutia of the language of FARs and the legal meaning of "airworthy"

In the end, the worst thing that a violation of the letter of the FARs can bring you is a revocation of your pilot certificate.  But the worst thing that the violation of the spirit of the FARs can bring you is a revocation of your birth certificate.  Which is worse?

Unfortunately, far too often Darwin's natural selection process seems to be the ultimate arbiter of these deficiencies.

I would not have a problem if Darwin did his work in isolation.  However, when Darwin does what he needs to do, the rest of us are affected by a worse reputation, higher insurance rates or nonexistent insurance and the scars that we as humans invariably receive as we learn of the passing of yet another acquaintance in a senseless accident.

The simple fact is that there are people flying Lancairs who shouldn't be doing so for a number or reasons.

There are people flying that should not be flying anything -- not even RC planes.  Similarly there are people building airplanes that should not even be building dog houses if they care about their dog.

Regards,

Hamid