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Different Strokes for Different Folks.

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psm(at)att.net
Guest

Posted: Wed Apr 22, 2009 7:59 pm Post subject: Different Strokes for Different Folks.

First let me apologize to Jay for not addressing one of his big 

points when I was more interested in going to dinner.



The point is about why it is reasonable for each of us to reach 

different decisions given the same set of data.  The reason is we are 

actually facing different sets of issues even though our planes look the same.



For a S-LSA owner, the decision of whether to fly or ground your 

plane is based solely on the design and quality of the factory work 

and the NTSB finding.  For a kit or scratch builder there are 

additional issues.



A builder, like me, has to consider the risk associated with flying 

an otherwise unproven plane that was built by an amateur (me) to the 

best of his ability.  That could produce a really nice airplane or a 

death trap.  These variations are without even considering the 

engineering issues being so heavily discussed these days.  In essence 

they are about the actual quality of the individual builder's work.



If my plane were not grounded, I would be taking it in its maiden 

flight this week or next.  Even without the whole NTSB/Zen* mess I 

would be doing the most dangerous thing I have ever done in my life 

when I take that plane in the air for the first time.  S-LSA owners 

never face this sort of risk.  Their planes are built by 

professionals, tested by factory test pilots and delivered with some 

amount of dual instruction to help the new owner do a nice 

comfortable job of transitioning to flying his new plane which has 

already been proven to be airworthy.



Restated in neat sounding technological jargon:  The risk profile for 

my plane's next flight is considerably higher than the next flight 

for Juan or Jay.  This is true not matter what you might think of the 

NTSB and their finding.



If you look at it from my point of view, the risk for my first flight 

is very close to unbearable.  I have decided that after 4 years of 

building my plane it is going to be me at the controls for its first 

flight.  That adds another whole area of risk for me because I am 

only marginally qualified to perform such a risky flight in the first 

place.  When you add the new cloud of the NTSB ruling to my huge pile 

of risk it pushes me over the edge and I MUST ground my plane.



I can easily see that the total risk presented to Jay and Juan is 

nearly trivial compared to mine.  It seems quite reasonable for them 

to continue flying the same plane that has been working just fine for 

them up to now.  Given their circumstances I might make the same decision.



I hope this philosophical presentation helps us understand that 

indeed we are not all in the same boat.



Paul

XL grounded

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Juan Vega Jr

Joined: 13 Jan 2009
Posts: 157

Posted: Thu Apr 23, 2009 2:34 pm Post subject: Different Strokes for Different Folks.

Paul,

kidding asside, I will fly your first flight for you if you want. it is a scarty thing the first flight,  if that is the concern,  I will do it.  i just need to see the DAR report, the wing bolts propoerly torqued , the wired tensioned, with that, I can do it. Ids the plane in Florida?  the first three flightsd should be just hops  and brake burnins.  then the second should be 50 ft up then a controled glide to check the steering.  then upa dn away for a once around.  let me know.



Juan



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psm(at)att.net
Guest

Posted: Thu Apr 23, 2009 8:06 pm Post subject: Different Strokes for Different Folks.

Hi Juan,



Thanks, but no thanks.  I will fly my plane when it first goes up.



The plane is in Washington State - about 3,000 miles from Florida.



I wrote all that risk stuff to try to explain my new understanding of 

why it was perfectly reasonable for some of us to reach the decision 

to ground our plane while others are perfectly reasonable to not do 

that.  It was about how much risk we each already had before the NTSB 

letter was released last week.  The existing risk levels for the 

first flight of a kit built plane are considerably higher than the 

risks flying a factory plane that worked just fine the last time you flew it.



It looks like a significant portion of my frustration with this issue 

has been solved by the trip to Sun n Fun I am currently enjoying.  I 

found a guy who wants to lease me a Tecnam P92 for 6 months at a 

reasonable price.  This will give me an S-LSA plane to fly while my 

Zodiac is grounded.  It will help me get my pilot skills honed and 

also allow me to do cross country flights and carry passengers 

immediately instead of waiting for the completion of phase I 

testing.  I get to fly a nice plane with no "Renter" flight 

scheduling and no pressure to complete flights on cross countries 

which always have rotten weather for the day of the return flight.  I 

am looking forward to it.  It makes the grounding of my Zodiac a lot 

easier for me to live with.  The Zodiac will stay grounded until I am 

satisfied the aileron and stick changes have been installed in my 

plane.  The lease takes the personal issue of grounding me as well as 

the Zodiac away.



Best regards,



Paul

XL grounded

do not archive

At 03:33 PM 4/23/2009, you wrote:



 	  Quote: 	
		  Paul,

kidding asside, I will fly your first flight for you if you want. it 

is a scarty thing the first flight,  if that is the concern,  I will 

do it.  i just need to see the DAR report, the wing bolts propoerly 

torqued , the wired tensioned, with that, I can do it. Ids the plane 

in Florida?  the first three flightsd should be just hops  and brake 

burnins.  then the second should be 50 ft up then a controled glide 

to check the steering.  then upa dn away for a once around.  let me know.



Juan

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