Posted for "Joe Bartels" <JoeB@lancair.com>:


 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.