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Sun Mar 9 12:52:58 CDT 2008


various<br>
lists:<br>
<br>
From: flynby_80918<br>
Sent: Saturday, August 14, 2004 8:41 PM<br>
Subject: [RV10] Hello-New uilder<br>
<br>
&quot;I wanted to introduce my self. My name is Dan Lloyd, I have been =
building
a<br>
<br>
7A, and after <st1:City w:st=3D"on"><st1:place =
w:st=3D"on">Oshkosh</st1:place></st1:City>,
my wife and I decided to sell the 7 kit and start a<br>
10. I will be ordering the Emp on Wed. I look forward to to meeting =
and<br>
working with you all over the life of this project!!<br>
If I can ever be of some help let me know. We are in NW PA, so if you =
are<br>
ever in the area feel free to contact us.<br>
Dan Lloyd&quot;<br>
<br>
And shortly thereafter he posted his Bio:<br>
&quot;Bio: 34, IT Manager for Werner Ladder, PP-SEL, Instrument Student, =
150<br>
Hours TT, Cherokee Driver, till 10 is done. Based in Hermitage, PA. It =
is on<br>
<br>
the Ohio Border, 1 hour North of PITT. Have 2 Kids, 11 and 6, not adding =
any<br>
<br>
more, (they do not make a larger kit plane!) Finishing Emp/Cone, have =
wings<br>
ready to start. I agree with Tim, seems like a lot of geeks are into =
plane<br>
building, maybe we like the many hours of alone time in the garage? =
&quot;<br>
<br>
As time progressed, he was also very happy to get from me my original =
RV-10<br>
wooden model, after I finally got one painted with my own paint scheme. =
He<br>
loved having this thing around.<br>
<a =
href=3D"http://www.myrv10.com/N104CD/misc/RV200507010122.html">http://www=
myrv10.com/N104CD/misc/RV200507010122.html</a><br>
<br>
Down the road a ways, when we had the big axle extension group buy, you =
may<br>
remember Dan offered his help for some of the overseas people:<br>
&quot;Tim for everyone in <st1:place w:st=3D"on">Europe</st1:place> and =
further
East I will help with the packaging<br>
and sending. Just send me the list of people and I will make sure it =
gets<br>
out to them. I think there was one from <st1:country-region =
w:st=3D"on"><st1:place
 w:st=3D"on">Germany</st1:place></st1:country-region>, and I do not know =
how many<br>
others, but I can help.<br>
Dan<br>
N289DT &quot;<br>
<br>
You get the picture....Dan was a guy who was known by lots of people, =
very<br>
nice to most everyone, and was a good participant in the RV-10 =
family.<br>
<br>
When good people do bad things...<br>
<br>
Much of my info is from other people who Dan discussed some things with =
more<br>
<br>
often than myself. I have always tended to express the opinion that =
care<br>
and safety be used, and to &quot;do it right&quot; to him, to encourage =
him to
not do<br>
things that could cause him problems. That caused him to have a tendency =
to<br>
avoid telling me things he thought would just bring him a lecture. =
That's<br>
understandable, but I think he really just didn't feel that some things =
were<br>
<br>
as risky as they may have been. I always pointed out to him though =
that<br>
even though he's heard lots of people have good luck with Subaru engines =
in<br>
planes, that his particular installation was a first, and he needed to =
be<br>
extra cautious with everything related to his engine. Luckily he did =
tell a<br>
few other people his stories though, and I was able to observe from a =
bit of<br>
<br>
a distance.<br>
<br>
Dan's first flight occurred 7/12/2007, and per an email from him to an =
email<br>
<br>
list, lasted 40 minutes, and said they had &quot;just a few small issues =
to fix<br>
tomorrow&quot;<br>
On 7/13/2007 in the early a.m. he emailed the group this:<br>
&quot;39 hours and 20 minutes to go, and if I follow the plan I will =
make it
with<br>
<br>
a little to spare, but God controls the weather.....I think we will make =
the<br>
<br>
40 hours and flying on Thursday evening and park at Eggenfellners =
booth.<br>
Dan<br>
N289DT Now Flying.. &quot;<br>
<br>
On the 13th, he had added on another hour and a half or so from what I =
had<br>
heard from others. By that point they had experienced some high oil =
temps,<br>
and I heard talk that they were thinking of flying the aircraft down to =
Jan<br>
Eggenfellners shop to work on it before Airventure. Remeber that Dan had =
a<br>
completely new iteration of experimental Subaru, with a completely new =
prop,<br>
<br>
and that caused him to have a 40 hour flyoff requirement, so it was a =
bit<br>
shocking to hear that he was contemplating flying to <st1:State =
w:st=3D"on"><st1:place
 w:st=3D"on">Florida</st1:place></st1:State> right away.<br>
The fact that he spent a vast majority of his time in N289DT with =
another<br>
person on board wasn't surprising, as he indeed probably did need =
Jan<br>
Eggenfellner aboard on many of those flights to help work through the =
issues<br>
<br>
on the engine.<br>
<br>
On 7/14/2007 I heard that they indeed had left for <st1:State =
w:st=3D"on"><st1:place
 w:st=3D"on">Florida</st1:place></st1:State>, and that they<br>
planned to be back at KOSH by Thursday for the show. The Thursday date =
did<br>
end up slipping, due to delays in getting things working, but they did =
make<br>
it to <st1:State w:st=3D"on"><st1:place =
w:st=3D"on">Florida</st1:place></st1:State>.<br>
<br>
He did email the email list on 7/13, and stated &quot;You have it right =
a<br>
certified combo will be 25 hours and an uncertified combo is 40 hours
--Dan&quot;<br>
<br>
That indicates that he did indeed know the rules about flyoff time as =
it<br>
applies to his engine and prop and airframe.<br>
On the trip to <st1:State w:st=3D"on"><st1:place =
w:st=3D"on">Florida</st1:place></st1:State>,
I had heard that they experienced the same high oil<br>
temps, and had pretty slow cruise speeds that were down in the =
sub-140kt<br>
range. They also had experienced some strange vibrations that they =
were<br>
unsure of the origin of, and wanted to investigate those when they made =
it<br>
to <st1:State w:st=3D"on"><st1:place =
w:st=3D"on">Florida</st1:place></st1:State>.<br>
<br>
On I believe 7/14 or perhaps 7/15, (for sure by 7/15) Dan emailed or =
called<br>
me, I can't remember which, to ask how to disable &quot;bitching =
betty&quot;.
He had<br>
complained that his alarms were annoying him, and wanted to know how =
to<br>
silence it all. I told him that once he had finished calibrating his =
EFIS<br>
and alarm setpoints during his test flights, they would<br>
be in the green most of the time, that he'd not be bothered so much. =
Alarms<br>
only go off when you're out of the specified green range, so I told him =
it<br>
was up to him to set proper ranges and make sure his sensors were setup =
and<br>
calibrated properly so the readings were right. But once you did all =
that,<br>
you should not receive many false alarms. I realized by talking to him =
that<br>
he had never calibrated ANY of his avionics, so headings were off (I =
had<br>
heard by 30 to 70 degrees), engine items were alarming all the time and =
he<br>
had issues with chosing to display propeller RPM or engine RPM (due to =
the<br>
reduction unit), he had no pitot test, and nothing had been debugged =
much at<br>
<br>
all. I had heard that on his flight to <st1:State w:st=3D"on"><st1:place =
w:st=3D"on">Florida</st1:place></st1:State>,
he had an INOP transponder<br>
part of the time, that neither of his 2 EFIS systems were working =
right<br>
(because they were never set up), and that they navigated to <st1:State =
w:st=3D"on"><st1:place
 w:st=3D"on">Florida</st1:place></st1:State> above<br>
an undercast with just a handheld 396/496 type GPS, which was =
basically<br>
their only operational navigation instrumentation. They had decided just =
to<br>
plug their headsets in using some alternative method to avoid having =
to<br>
listen to alarms, and had to swap plugs to make radio calls. His =
Autopilot<br>
was also non-operational on this trip. It really started to worry me =
that<br>
he and Jan Eggenfellner were showing such lack of pilot judgement in<br>
participating in such a trip. If you look at all the popular engine<br>
companies like Aerosport, Barret, and all the other good ones, how many =
of<br>
those companies do you know that would endorse taking off on such a =
trip<br>
after such a short flying experience...even though the engines they =
install<br>
and run they have extensive track records with?<br>
<br>
It was apparent to me that he was trying to snow the rest of the =
community<br>
into believing he was indeed doing his diligent flyoff time, because he =
then<br>
<br>
made a post to the email list saying how he was so very tired every =
day<br>
because they had been flying taking turns, sun-up to sundown trying to =
get<br>
the 40 hours flown off. He was trying to conjure up the image to the =
public<br>
when in fact he had not planned to fly off the 40 hours at all before =
going<br>
to <st1:City w:st=3D"on"><st1:place =
w:st=3D"on">OSH</st1:place></st1:City>. During
the time they were in <st1:State w:st=3D"on"><st1:place =
w:st=3D"on">Florida</st1:place></st1:State>,
it sounded from reports I<br>
heard that they spend most of their time doing things like swapping out =
the<br>
gear drive unit (one or more tiems) and attempting cooling improvements =
to<br>
get the engine to <st1:City w:st=3D"on"><st1:place =
w:st=3D"on">OSH</st1:place></st1:City>,
and that they actually were flying very little.<br>
<br>
Sent: Tuesday, July 17, 2007 3:56 PM<br>
To: <a
href=3D"http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SoCAL-RVlist/post?postID=3DdbXx7jqn=
__0_Xg-lu_9ZITyo1Z5Kk5FOOioC4GLDvKUWp9mVuYB3wQCTCSdmR1wF5b2tPpQVFZo_dkrbC=
n6z">rv10-list at ...</a>
&lt;mailto:rv10-list%40matronics.com&gt;<br>
Subject: RE: RV10-List: Surreal experience realized today...<br>
--&gt; RV10-List message posted by: &quot;Lloyd, Daniel R.&quot;<br>
I have been asked by many people for pictures and I apologize I forgot =
to<br>
post them. I have been having so much fun flying, and falling into =
bed<br>
exhausted every night that I left the camera at the hanger. Jesse and =
John I<br>
<br>
promise I will post the pics tonight for all to see...as long as no =
one<br>
makes fun of the paint or lack there of!!!<br>
Dan<br>
N289DT RV10E Flying<br>
<br>
Prior to 7/19 I heard a very disturbing comment that I can't verify that =
he<br>
also skipped doing a proper Weight and Balance on his plane, and that he =
had<br>
<br>
simply used MY weight and balance numbers and modified them to be =
roughly<br>
what he believed his plane would be. This I though was so entirely<br>
ridiculous, especially after telling us how much lighter his Subaru<br>
installation and prop would be, that I had to call in on it. So, on 7/19 =
I<br>
made a public post, trying to urge him to tell people how his W&amp;B =
had
turned<br>
<br>
out with his Subaru. I had heard that on his flight to <st1:State =
w:st=3D"on"><st1:place
 w:st=3D"on">Florida</st1:place></st1:State>, they<br>
realized in flight that his C.G. was too far aft, based on some =
flying<br>
qualities. He planned now to move the battery forward eventually,<br>
which was something he did within the day or two before his death. =
His<br>
flight that he died on may have actually happend on the first flight =
after<br>
moving the battery forward, because on the phone he told me he was =
moving<br>
the battery and planned to weigh it and fly it. This is not to indicate =
it<br>
as a cause in the crash, but it does both point to something he knew =
needed<br>
to be done, and a mechanical task performed just prior to the crash.<br>
<br>
During the days down at Eggenfellners in <st1:State =
w:st=3D"on"><st1:place w:st=3D"on">Florida</st1:place></st1:State>,
I had heard that they were<br>
<br>
also disappointed in the speed that the aircraft flew on the way down. =
They<br>
had expected much more with that engine and 4-bladed prop. But, when =
it<br>
arrived at <st1:City w:st=3D"on"><st1:place =
w:st=3D"on">OSH</st1:place></st1:City>
they had removed 2 blades from the 4-bladed propeller and<br>
flew it up that way. The engine was also planned to be a =
turbocharged<br>
engine, but that turbo hadn't been completed yet so they flew it for all =
of<br>
the preliminary flights, and for many weeks after, without the =
turbo.<br>
Another interesting happening that was largely un-discussed is that on =
the<br>
trip to <st1:City w:st=3D"on">OSH</st1:City> from <st1:State =
w:st=3D"on"><st1:place
 w:st=3D"on">Florida</st1:place></st1:State>, they had a failure of a =
bracket
that caused them<br>
high oil temps suddenly, grounding them in <st1:State =
w:st=3D"on"><st1:place
 w:st=3D"on">Kentucky</st1:place></st1:State> until they could get<br>
some parts to fabricate a new bracket at a local store.<br>
<br>
At <st1:City w:st=3D"on"><st1:place =
w:st=3D"on">OSH</st1:place></st1:City> he was
making claims that he had something like 48 hours on the<br>
airplane, and he and Jan Eggenfellner displayed the airplane and engine =
and<br>
tried to attract buyers for the engine package. There was no discussion =
of<br>
working through issues, but only stories of smoothness and success, as =
it<br>
was important to keep the positive image up. They had removed the =
cowling<br>
during the show for the whole time because they had quickly put =
together<br>
many cowling mods to try to increase cooling and were left with lots =
of<br>
unfinished fiberglass edges, and other things that would make it look =
awful.<br>
<br>
I had heard, but not seen myself, that there were stringers of epoxy =
covered<br>
<br>
fiberglass cloth that were poking out from various places that were =
sharp<br>
and un-filed down, so the cowling was hid away.<br>
<br>
After <st1:City w:st=3D"on"><st1:place =
w:st=3D"on">OSH</st1:place></st1:City>, with
the problems they had experienced, they wanted to work on it<br>
<br>
some more so instead of heading to <st1:State w:st=3D"on"><st1:place =
w:st=3D"on">Pennsylvania</st1:place></st1:State>,
they flew it back to<br>
<st1:State w:st=3D"on"><st1:place =
w:st=3D"on">Florida</st1:place></st1:State> for
the work. It stayed down there until sometime in about<br>
mid-October, but I don't know the exact date. Around 10/10 they posted =
some<br>
performance numbers, but by 10/25 the airplane was back home with Dan. =
A<br>
video was put out of him departing <st1:State w:st=3D"on"><st1:place =
w:st=3D"on">Florida</st1:place></st1:State>.
During the second time in<br>
<st1:State w:st=3D"on"><st1:place =
w:st=3D"on">Florida</st1:place></st1:State>, they
did cowling development work, to try to fix all the remaining<br>
cooling problems and clean up the cosmetics, and install a cowl flap. =
I<br>
heard that they got the temperatures much better with the redesigned =
cowl<br>
and cowl flap. What struck me as strange though was they hadn't yet<br>
installed the turbocharger, and I thought it was strange that they would =
do<br>
all that cowling development work prior to getting a turbo installed =
that<br>
would definitely affect the cooling requirements. Towards the very end =
of<br>
the stay in <st1:State w:st=3D"on"><st1:place =
w:st=3D"on">Florida</st1:place></st1:State>,
the turbo was finally ready, so they installed that.<br>
They took it for a speed test to 14,000' and compared numbers with the =
ones<br>
that had been gathered by Ray and myself on Lycoming equipped RV-10's. =
But,<br>
in the process of getting their numbers, they had actually destroyed =
the<br>
turbocharger, so they had to do another turbo swap. Incidently, I've =
heard<br>
that aircraft turbos are built substantially heavier to handle the high =
duty<br>
<br>
cycle involved in aircraft power generation, whereas automotive turbos =
have<br>
a lower duty cycle....but I'm not sure what the type of turbo used on =
this<br>
install was. Of course, the information about the turbo being destroyed =
was<br>
not presented along with the numbers, because that again would result =
in<br>
more 2nd guessing by would-be interested parties. But, in not much =
time<br>
after that, however (within a week or two), Dan was down to pick up =
his<br>
plane, and they had a new turbo on it. It was posted on =
eggenfellners<br>
website and still is as of this writing.<br>
<a =
href=3D"http://www.eggenfellneraircraft.com/News.htm">http://www.eggenfel=
lneraircraft.com/News.htm</a><br>
<br>
Interestingly, when they did their speed tests, they took photos of =
their<br>
Chelton's as proof, and on the website you can see photos of the =
Cheltons<br>
that clearly show that they never did calibrate the AHRS or set up the =
unit.<br>
<br>
It is still set to display info from a strikefinder, which he did not =
have,<br>
the heading is off by 30 degrees or so (I had heard they had =
mis-alignment<br>
up to 70 degrees), and when you compare the skid ball with the Dynon, =
they<br>
do not match at all. When installing avionics of this nature, there is =
a<br>
lot of setup and calibration that needs to be done in the airframe =
before<br>
flight, and that has to be taken on by the builder. In his case, =
almost<br>
nothing was ever done to calibrate any of the systems. At the time, I =
had<br>
also questioned the accuracy of the numbers they presented, because =
if<br>
nothing is calibrated, how can you guarantee that your speed numbers =
are<br>
accurate?<br>
You will notice in the photos that the ENGINE and AUX SENSOR alarm flags =
are<br>
<br>
also going off. I understand that they flew the plane up the busy =
East<br>
coast and right over <st1:City w:st=3D"on"><st1:place w:st=3D"on">New =
York City</st1:place></st1:City>
like this to bring it home, stopping in<br>
<st1:City w:st=3D"on"><st1:place =
w:st=3D"on">Boston</st1:place></st1:City> on the
way back too. He flew it home with a friend of his, so once<br>
again he had a co-pilot onboard during his flights. This perhaps =
actually<br>
extended the amount of time that the RV-10 actually survived, because =
there<br>
were apparently some very workload-intensive things in his airplane, =
the<br>
least of which was inaccurate instrumentation.<br>
<br>
At one point within 2 or 3 weeks of his crash, he had called me to tell =
me<br>
he was having problems with power vs. RPM control. I was surprised =
and<br>
wondered why, with a constant speed prop. I had never dealt with =
electric<br>
propellers before, so it puzzled me why he would be having problems. =
He<br>
said it was because they had not yet finished designing the prop =
control<br>
unit, so he had to manually make power adjustments, which would change =
the<br>
engine and prop RPM greatly, but then with the prop now changing RPM<br>
drastically (affecting pitch too) he would have to manually move a =
prop<br>
pitch lever to bring the RPM to it's desired setting. So every power<br>
increase or reduction required a corresponding adjustment of the =
propeller.<br>
With this and all the other instrument issues, it was really a busy =
plane to<br>
<br>
fly, and I can see why you'd want a co-pilot along on most flights. It =
to<br>
me seemed very strange that Jan Eggenfellner would have him fly home =
and<br>
consider the engine &quot;delivered&quot; without such equipment =
operational.
Dan did<br>
not have that many hours of total time (under 200, and other than =
the<br>
transition training, all lower performance) and flying a slick, fast =
plane<br>
is a handful. Combine that with not having calibrated any avionics, =
hearing<br>
alarms going off all the time, and the prop control issues, and this =
plane<br>
was much more complex to deal with than most planes would be. I know =
it's<br>
&quot;Experimental&quot; aviation, so sure, we can play with new things, =
but
Dan<br>
wasn't the engine designer...he was just the guy stuck with flying such =
a<br>
complex plane.<br>
<br>
Also along the way in the past couple weeks he had emailed to indicate =
that<br>
he thought his Chelton wasn't displaying correctly. He said he had<br>
indicated 2300 G's (G-forces) when flying with his wife, and he emailed =
a<br>
photo.<br>
<br>
&quot;This should make you laugh, I bet your RV10 can't pull =
2300G's&quot;<br>
<br>
Well, of course an incorrectly calibrated system won't read properly, =
and<br>
since I knew he still hadn't calibrated things, it didn't surprise me, =
but<br>
as it turned out, he was reading &quot;2300G&quot; which means 2300' AGL =
GPS
Based, as<br>
<br>
2300G's. He had never really read through any operation manuals for =
his<br>
avionics. He had in the past, complained that on his trip to <st1:State =
w:st=3D"on"><st1:place
 w:st=3D"on">florida</st1:place></st1:State> his<br>
Autopilot didn't work, and criticized one avionics dealer for not =
telling<br>
him that he had to hook up pitot and static lines to his<br>
Autopilot...something that is a definite<br>
normal part of the autopilot installation per the manual. It was very =
clear<br>
that he hadn't spent much time checking out his installation, or reading =
any<br>
<br>
manuals to ensure they were correct.<br>
<br>
On 10/25, he emailed me this:<br>
<br>
&quot;Eww I am an idiot!! I had no clue because yesterday I was at =
6000ft and
it<br>
did the same thing, listing 2330 g's with the same reading, and then =
tumbled<br>
<br>
to the right. I am scarred of it and that is why I have not been using =
it.<br>
It is difficult for me to process everything it is telling me. I can<br>
understand some of it, but then it starts putting up all this other =
stuff<br>
and it is just easier for me to look out the window for now. But I do =
need<br>
to learn it so I can feel comfortable before I ask an instructor to fly =
with<br>
<br>
me. I called stein and he said it is because I have not calibrated it, =
for<br>
that matter this is the first couple of times I have turned it on =
for<br>
anything. So yes I need to read the manuals and build many hours using =
it<br>
before I get in the clouds. I need allot of help to learn all of this =
stuff<br>
because I am not having a clue on how to do it. Definitely a case of =
money<br>
versus intelligence. But I have to learn it to use it. Does that mean I =
can<br>
come up and get some lessons? Or do you know anyone who will teach =
behind<br>
it? I have been using the Dynon and G496 because they are easy. =
Everything<br>
else is still uncalibrated, including the AP etc. I am definitely =
behind<br>
the power curve on this and need help! And they say that is the first =
step<br>
to recovery, realizing that there is an issue and asking for help! =
-Dan&quot;<br>
<br>
That scared the CRAP out of me. Period. I mean, it's one thing to know =
all<br>
of the stuff you just got done reading, but clearly, here was a guy who =
was<br>
not up to speed on the airplane, the avionics, and some other comments =
he'd<br>
been heard to make even made me wonder if he didn't just need a =
general<br>
pilot refresher.<br>
<br>
Trying to keep him open to listening, I replied back and tried to =
come<br>
across as not lecturing too much, knowing that he'd tune me out if I =
did...<br>
<br>
I wrote:<br>
&quot;You know, what might work better for you until you calibrate it, =
is to
get<br>
yourself some some nice sticky paper or 5x6 post-it notes and write =
these<br>
letters on it. &quot;INOP&quot;. Then just paste it over your screens. =
;)<br>
<br>
But seriously, you really need to just first sit down and read the =
manuals.<br>
Chelton has user manuals on your site, and I have them posted on the =
EFIS<br>
forum. Then, there's Keith's book that you said you bought....that =
will<br>
give you the more detailed stuff for later. And of course, the =
install<br>
guide. That one you'll need if you ever want to see things working =
well<br>
enough to trust for navigation. It's all in the manuals to start. If =
this<br>
thing were calibrated and working, you wouldn't have that feeling =
that<br>
looking out the window is better for you, because it would actually =
work<br>
well.<br>
<br>
&lt;Note that I'm not saying you shouldn't look out the window, but you =
want<br>
instruments that work properly to make it easy to fly the plane&gt;<br>
<br>
As far as training goes, Josh the old D2A guy does EFIS training and =
he'd be<br>
<br>
the absolute best option. He's a hired gun who can come out and give<br>
training that will set you on the fast track quickly. Beyond that, =
it's<br>
really not worth learning until the stuff is set up properly. When you =
come<br>
up this way, I can take you out for a flight and show you some things =
too,<br>
but really, once it's set up, you'll get the basics very quickly from =
flying<br>
<br>
and the manuals. All the things that a trainer would really be valuable =
for<br>
are the things like flight-planning and approaches, and things like<br>
that....but that's way beyond what you should be doing with the system =
until<br>
<br>
you're A) comfortable, and B) have all the stuff working right. You'll =
find<br>
later that it's really a very easy system to use, much more so than a =
430 or<br>
<br>
480.<br>
<br>
Also, if you have an airline pilot friend, they'd be a good victim to =
bring<br>
along, because they know the symbolism on the glass pretty well, even =
though<br>
<br>
this system has more than theirs for features.<br>
<br>
Don't worry, I only bill $800/hr for my EFIS instruction... and I do it =
in<br>
my own airplane since there's an EFIS on both sides. ;)<br>
Tim &quot;<br>
<br>
He followed upwith another reply:<br>
<br>
&quot;I just got off the phone with XXX, and he said it is like trying =
to drink<br>
from a fire hose, and I tend to agree. I need to get my hands around =
flying<br>
the airplane and getting everything calibrated. Then I can sit down and =
read<br>
<br>
the complete manuals. I have read the first 4 chapters of the =
Chelton<br>
manuals but that is just basic symbology and the tapes, and those I =
do<br>
understand. IF you take all of my owners manuals and stack them up they =
are<br>
over 3 feet high!<br>
I am lucky the dynon and 496 are already familiar because I can use them =
to<br>
navigate and get myself out of trouble if absolutely necessary. Remember =
I<br>
have only flown a Cherokee140 for 200 hours, so I am learning how to =
fly<br>
high perf stuff too, I feel more comfortable, but still learning the =
Egg<br>
stuff/ and the variable pitch prop is also more stuff to learn. I am =
getting<br>
<br>
there and in a couple of hundred more hours I will maybe be ready to =
start<br>
IFR training again. I have passed the written, and have 10 hours towards =
it,<br>
<br>
but with the new plane I can already tell it will be time to start =
over.<br>
Right now I am working on how to slow down and make sure I have enough =
pitch<br>
<br>
on the prop for a go around, once that is done, I will move up the =
ladder a<br>
rung and work on additional stuff. Calibration, troubleshooting =
other<br>
electronics etc is also going on at the same time. XXXX and you both say =
I<br>
have to just laugh at myself and the various issues I am having =
because<br>
everyone has something or another happen. But it just seems like lately =
I am<br>
<br>
way out of my comfort zone and clawing my way back in.<br>
<br>
THX for the guidance and glad I could make you laugh this afternoon. =
&quot;<br>
<br>
I had one more follow-up for him:<br>
<br>
&quot;No prob. You're right, there's a lot of stuff there to learn even =
without<br>
the avionics. Now you see why I say the -10 isn't something I'd =
recommend<br>
to a basic beginning student pilot. It's not a hard plane to fly or =
land,<br>
but there's more to the -10 than a cherokee, and it would be nice to get =
the<br>
<br>
time in a $50K cherokee so if you smack it up you don't waste all your =
cash.<br>
<br>
The -10 is high performance, slippery, and there's a <st1:place =
w:st=3D"on">LOT</st1:place>
going on with the<br>
C/S prop and engine stuff. Then, throw in high tech avionics and it's =
just<br>
too much to use as a trainer, as you can see it's a handful with a =
couple<br>
hundred hours.<br>
<br>
I would encourage you to calibrate a.s.a.p. because you really will =
be<br>
hindered in improving skills and having the experience go well until =
that's<br>
done. Things like Bitchin' betty are there for a reason, and just =
flying<br>
without them will not add to the safety. It would be better to HAVE =
the<br>
warnings when they happen, but have them happen appropriately. None of =
it<br>
is that hard to set up, but it all takes time.<br>
<br>
I flew 70-100 hours before I did anything other than normal stuff for =
the<br>
most part. Just take your time.<br>
Tim &quot;<br>
<br>
See, I almost feel like a father when I read that....You've got this =
kid<br>
that you know is doing stupid things, and he's not going to listen to =
a<br>
lecture, but during that one chance when he finally comes and asks for =
help,<br>
<br>
you try not to be an ass and come down on him, but give him all the<br>
encouraging advice you can. You can tell he was in over his head in =
both<br>
airplane and avionics, because he hadn't taken the time to really =
learn<br>
either, and almost 100% of his flying time up to this point was with =
someone<br>
<br>
else in the plane to help keep an eye on things. Unfortunately, it =
leaves<br>
me feeling guilty that I never just strangled him into getting some =
good<br>
sense and judgement. His statement about his comfort zone is very =
scary<br>
indeed.<br>
<br>
On 11/1/2007, the day before his crash, Dan emailed me to ask what =
landing<br>
speeds I use at full gross, and I replied to him. Here are some =
excerpts<br>
along with a follow-up comment from him:<br>
<br>
&quot;What speeds do you carry on base and final when at max load? I am =
taking<br>
the family on our first trip and I am being paranoid but this is the =
first<br>
time I have taken more than 1 passenger. So just doing due =
diligence.&quot;<br>
<br>
For what it's worth, I wrote:<br>
<br>
&quot;I fly pretty much every landing the same even with or without =
passengers.<br>
80-85kts around base (keep it below 87kts once the flaps are out) Then =
once<br>
you get on final it's either 75Kts on a bumpy, windy day, or a strict =
70kts<br>
and no slower if it's relatively smooth out. Just don't let it get below =
70<br>
until the runway is right under you, and you're in the flare.&quot;<br>
<br>
And he replied again:<br>
<br>
&quot;Good that has been what I have been flying, but I float awhile and =
was<br>
thinking I was carrying to much speed because Mike had us carry 70 mph =
on<br>
final, and since I switched to knots I was thinking that was my issue, =
but<br>
until I get allot more comfortable I will bleed the speed over the =
runway,<br>
instead of slowing on the approach, much safer in my mind! Going to =
the<br>
airport to redo W&amp;B after I moved the batteries forward, then I get =
to fly<br>
this afternoon and tomorrow to get ready to take the family to <st1:City =
w:st=3D"on"><st1:place
 w:st=3D"on">Boston</st1:place></st1:City> on<br>
Saturday! THX for being there for questions, it is always good to have =
a<br>
friend that can double check my thoughts.&quot;<br>
<br>
That was the last communication I had with Dan before I learned of his =
crash<br>
<br>
just over 12 hours later. I had heard prior to this that Dan had really =
had<br>
a hard time on landing the plane, having to go-around sometimes =
multiple<br>
times before a successful landing. Since he had 10 hours of =
transition<br>
training, albeit a few months earlier, I figure it HAD to be because of =
his<br>
extra workload with the propeller controls, and his low-time status, =
because<br>
<br>
it absolutely isn't a hard plane to land. Given the fact that he =
probably<br>
didn't even have 5 hours in his airplane as a sole-occupant though, it =
is<br>
easy to see how he actually was able to put on some hours without =
incident<br>
before this.<br>
<br>
All of the above comes from either conversations I've had with him, or =
other<br>
<br>
people had with him and passed on. Much of it is second hand, but to =
me,<br>
all of it indicates a pilot and engine builder who spent all their =
time<br>
rushing to complete an install to display at <st1:City =
w:st=3D"on"><st1:place
 w:st=3D"on">OSH</st1:place></st1:City>, and they would be willing<br>
to break just about any rule to accomplish that. Then, throughout =
the<br>
process, there was a pilot who was in way over his head with a very =
much<br>
more complex mess of an airplane than anyone else had flown.<br>
It's extremely sad and hard for me to say, but I saw it as a =
completely<br>
expected conclusion that some day he would end up in a smoking hole in =
the<br>
ground, and in fact the night before, when we heard he was taking his =
family<br>
<br>
to <st1:City w:st=3D"on"><st1:place =
w:st=3D"on">Boston</st1:place></st1:City>, at
home we said that we needed to pray for his family if he was<br>
going to take them for a flight. Why would someone who just very =
recently<br>
described his flying the -10 as &quot;scary&quot;, be now racing to =
share the<br>
experience with his family before he truly felt comfortable? It =
truly<br>
distrubs me that I could see the end coming so clearly from back as far =
as a<br>
<br>
week or two before <st1:City w:st=3D"on"><st1:place =
w:st=3D"on">OSH</st1:place></st1:City>.
As I talked to him and learned more and more of the<br>
above info, and many more things that I can't even remember at this =
time, it<br>
<br>
was readily apparent that no matter how nice, friendly, and capable Dan =
was<br>
as a member of the RV-10 building community, he had a serious lack =
of<br>
caution about flying his Eggenfellner Subaru, and very poor judgement =
about<br>
his piloting in general. He was my worst fear for our RV-10 =
world...someone<br>
who would not only bring insurance issues, and a negative image of =
homebuilt<br>
<br>
aircraft, but someone who would kill himself doing it.<br>
<br>


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