REFLECTOR: Accident in Las Vegas

Andy Millin amillin at sbcglobal.net
Thu Aug 28 12:08:32 CDT 2008


Milt,

I don't even know if you can, or are supposed to log the taxi time as part
of the fly-off restrictions.

Lots of questions.  Doesn't make sense.  I doubt we will ever have answers.

Andy

-----Original Message-----
From: reflector-bounces at tvbf.org [mailto:reflector-bounces at tvbf.org] On
Behalf Of Milton Mersky
Sent: 08-28-2008 12:48
To: Velocity Aircraft Owners and Builders list
Subject: Re: REFLECTOR: Accident in Las Vegas

Andy:
 
Was the extensive taxi time part of the 5/1 hours?  Were there any flights
as part of the 5.1 hours? 
 
Milt 

	----- Original Message ----- 
	From: Andy Millin <mailto:amillin at sbcglobal.net>  
	To: 'Velocity Aircraft Owners and Builders list'
<mailto:reflector at tvbf.org>  
	Sent: Thursday, August 28, 2008 11:32 AM
	Subject: REFLECTOR: Accident in Las Vegas


	Apologies for a long post.  It does not involve building, or other
technical issues.  You may want to delete this now.

	 

	I met Mack a couple of times at OSH.  I remember the first time.  It
was at the Velocity dinner.  Duane Swing was addressing the room and Mack
raised his hand to speak.  Mack wanted to explain a recent Lycoming AD to
the group in detail.  Duane told him "we don't care, and sit down."  I
remember this as Duane did not add "Please."  I knew Mack's heart was in the
right place, and I could tell this was a guy that knew a great deal.

	 

	I am saddened by this loss.  I am saddened by the way the media has
treated.  And dang it, I'm frustrated that I don't have an answer.

	 

	When I entered the home building arena I took a workshop at Oshkosh
on the rules.  I learned about the 51% rule, commercial assistance, the 25
or 40 hour fly-off period, etc.  It is good to learn the rules.

	 

	I think it was sometime around 2000 when I was at Oshkosh and I met
a guy that had just flown in.  He had a Velocity that was a little rough,
and it was in primer.  He told me he was a professional builder and he built
the airplane to sell it.  What, not recreation and education . pure
commercial venture . that's not what the rules say.

	 

	He continued to tell me that the airplane had 40 hours on it. He had
flown off the restrictions as he was flying it in from California.  That
ain't what the rules say.

	 

	This was my earliest recollection learning that some people might
not take the rules to be rules.  Some are treating them as a "nice
suggestion."

	 

	Through the years I have seen most builders play straight.
Unfortunately I have seen others that have not.

	 

	When it comes to accidents, there can be all kinds of speculation.
I have been guilty of it myself.  The unfortunate part is that I have been
around long enough to see enough.  The only constant fact in looking at an
accident is there are always things that are not known.  You must read the
accident report, and mentally add "and a bunch of other factors that we just
don't know."

	 

	When it doesn't make sense to me, like Ueli's accident, then I know
something else happened, and I just don't know what it is.  An accident is
rarely as simple as the obvious.  And trying to put a puzzle together when
you know you don't have all the pieces is just futile.

	 

	I don't think this is a jaded point of view.  It is a matter of
acceptance.

	 

	The aircraft in Las Vegas had 5.1 hours of flight logged.  The
restrictions said it had to have 5 hours on it before it could be operated
at the North Las Vegas airport.  It just happened to have 5.1 hours . 

	 

	This just doesn't seem right.  I don't know the owner. I don't know
if the aircraft was Full Build, Fast Build, or Check Build.  I don't know
who flew the aircraft for 5.1 hours.  I don't know where this flying was
done.  I don't know a bunch of stuff.  I do know that the log book shows
just enough time to make it legal to operate at that airport.  Shoot me, I'm
skeptical.

	 

	If the 5.1 hours had been flown at a rural, non-congested airport,
then why would the owner move it to a congested airport to start testing the
supercharger?  I have no idea if this is hindsight, or my version of common
sense (probably both), but if I was already at a rural airport and I still
had testing of that nature to do, wouldn't I stay at the rural airport until
I had confidence in the system?  I might.

	 

	Then, how did he get the aircraft from the other airport to North
Las Vegas?  Fly it in from KSOW (stated home base) and then have 5.1 hours
on it?  Airnav says it is 279.7 nautical miles between the two airports.
Yes, he could have dismantled it and trucked it in.  Who would do that with
what is supposed to be an airworthy aircraft?

	 

	Mack was helping the guy.  If there is anyone that would know the
rules, it would have been Mack; and Mack was helping.

	 

	Bunch of questions, not many answers, don't have all the facts. 

	 

	Sorry for the rambling.

	 

	Andy

	 

	=====================================

	 

	Andy Millin

	amillin at sbcglobal.net

	 

	
________________________________


	

	_______________________________________________
	To change your email address, visit
http://www.tvbf.org/mailman/listinfo/reflector
	
	Visit the gallery!  www.tvbf.org/gallery
	user:pw = tvbf:jamaicangoose
	Check new archives: www.tvbf.org/pipermail
	Check old archives:
http://www.tvbf.org/archives/velocity/maillist.html




More information about the Reflector mailing list