REFLECTOR:Gear Up Landing - N6Q

Scott Derrick reflector@tvbf.org
Sun, 01 Jun 2003 11:55:44 -0600


Scott Derrick wrote:
>  From my reading of the NTSB reports the homebuilt record is poor to a 
> large degree because of very stupid things the builders have done. 
> Stands to reason as builders are flying most of the homebuilts.

I would like to retract the above statement as to simplistic.

What I meant to say was that all airplanes certified or experimental 
have the normal amount of pilot errors ranging from not knowing the 
aircraft systems, to vfr pilot flying into imc conditions and everything 
in between.

Experimental's have the added risk factors of unconventional layout or 
controls and just plain old builders/maintainers mistakes thus 
increasing the mechanical failure rate.  How many first or early flight 
failures do you read about with experimental's vs factory built?  I'm 
not saying its that the builder or maintainer made a bonehead mistake 
though that is part of it. It's that we are doing experiments! Some 
work, some don't. Of the ones that don't I think most of us skate by 
with a brief period of elevated heart rate and a story to tell, some 
break an airplane, a few get hurt or cash it in.

It does seem to me that there are more percentage wise "kit-built" 
experimentals owned by non-builders than there are plans built 
experimentals. This would exacerbate the non-standard controls problem 
and raise the errors caused by not knowing the aircraft systems 
intimately in kit builts like the Velocity.

Scott