X-Virus-Scanned: clean according to Sophos on Logan.com Return-Path: Received: from [65.33.136.147] (account marv@lancaironline.net) by logan.com (CommuniGate Pro WebUser 5.0.9) with HTTP id 1112081 for lml@lancaironline.net; Sat, 13 May 2006 15:12:33 -0400 From: "Marvin Kaye" Subject: Re: IVP accident To: lml X-Mailer: CommuniGate Pro WebUser v5.0.9 Date: Sat, 13 May 2006 15:12:33 -0400 Message-ID: In-Reply-To: <56F61FFD4498E64DB11C90D0C2B618FF1F8F42@lindbergh.lancair.local> References: <56F61FFD4498E64DB11C90D0C2B618FF1F8F42@lindbergh.lancair.local> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="ISO-8859-1"; format="flowed" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit Posted for "Joe Bartels" : Mr. Ayers: I have read with interest your comments about the safety of the Lancair IV. Your comments come on the heals of a tragic accident which took the life of an associate and a friend. Having flown various Lancair models for over 900 hours, my comments are as follows. Lancairs are not to be flown out of their designed envelope, either intentionally or as in this last incident, in an emergency. The facts are that should you fly, even in the face of an emergency, as you have been taught, you will have a much greater chance of survivability. I have seen two types of loss of control incidents which take the life of my customers and friends. The first would be where the aircraft looses power and the pilot tries to make a particular landing spot but at the same time allows airspeed to diminish until the aircraft stalls. The second is where the pilot, after experiencing an engine failure upon takeoff, tries to make a 180 back to the field and in doing so loads up the aircraft, thus increasing the stall speed of the aircraft. One of the first things I was taught in pilot training was with an engine failure at low altitude, you must consider landing straight ahead. It might seem un-natural, especially where there are obstructions ahead or where to so do will cause damage to the aircraft, but, upon engine failure, it is your survivability and not the aircraft's that you should be worried about. If you fly by the numbers, your Lear Jet to Cessna 150 will not fall out of the sky. At 300 feet, even if you had a Cirrus with a BRS, you would not have survived when attempting a return to the landing field while executing a 180. I believe more emphasis must be placed on training for emergency operations. You can be assured that Pete Zaccagnino will be offering much more in this regard. Joseph C. Bartels, CEO Lancair International, Inc.