I can add to that comment. As a TBM owner with knowledge of many of the fatal incidents on that airframe and as a hangar partner with an MU-2 owner I have some background that suggests group involvement can help achieve higher levels of safety.
Socata contracted early on for a sim (PanAm at that time) and gives training with each airframe. They give trainings certificates at the annual meetings (in exchange for charity donations to local needs). The owner group (I was an original founder) now has matured into a full fledged organization with a safety arm. The recurrent training takes into account all the latest issues and accidents and helps prevent similar occurrences. Manufacturer assistance is really needed, even if in name only. The largest TBM distributor has his own training program specifically for low time buyers so that they can both acquire coverage and be safe.
The MU-2 program was successful, but it also had a large support from the original manufacturer, Mitsubishi, who had no obligation, but a moral need to improve the safety of those ships.
Lancair does not likely have the capital to throw at training. HPAT has been really helpful for me but is spotty in curriculum and really has no visible tools for evaluating pilots. Flightsafety and SIMCOM banned measuring tools but now have come back with thresholds for passing mostly because of the lawsuits that have followed a trainee's accident. As a Lancair pilot, I can get affordable training but is it what I need and what is the measurement for adequate training in my Legacy, for example?
A mature step would be an organization that both promotes a safety curriculum (no matter who provides the training) and challenges the group in total to rise to a higher level of proficiency in the areas that matter. We may or may not have the resources yet for that step.
Then, challenge the insurers to provide coverage and benefits for those that meet those proficiency standards. Its not enough to get "recurrent training" because that is a checkbox on a form only. Maybe it is an emblem on your ship, maybe a extra million in liab coverage, maybe a discount on the policy or other tangibles. There are lots of ways to motivate pilots to attend but the motivation has to be more than a good friendly meeting and gathering because many pilots have businesses and time limitations so it must be valued. Anyone remember the FlightSafety Pro Card?
As the original TBM website founder, I note that the group evolved into a paid organization with a private site. It generates a ton of cash now and I believe throws a lot of it at safety being a 501c(3). I'm not throwing any rocks at LML or LOBO whatsoever and both are a great tool for organizing Lancairians. But, I recognize that people value memberships for what they provide and things that are free are generally valued as such. Not my way of thinking but that's what the numbers tell me.
Paul
Legacy
Dico,
You raise a good point. Last year there were six serious Lancair accidents with ten fatalities. One involved a LOBO member. There have been three fatal accidents involving members since 2008. I cannot recall the total since then. I can give you a more complete picture later. Type club members (Lobo, Cirrus, Bonanza, etc.) typically have an accident "rate" that is less than half of the overall numbers because they participate. The PIC in the latest accident was not a member and did not attend the Sedona Lobo fly out where we had three days of training and seminars and just good fun.
Jeff
Sent from my iPad
If the accident rate for Lancairs is 500x that of commercial aviation... do we have a break down of what the rate is of LOBO members vs. Non-members. I would hope that by just being a LOBO member and reading/learning from this group that the accident rate for us is more in line with the 300x experimental or even better than that.
Have we gone through the Lancair accidents to see if the PIC was a LOBO member. It would be interesting.
-DIco
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Regards,
Dico Reijers
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